Egyptologically Speaking: An Interview with Joyce Tyldesley:
Interview by Barbara O’Neill. Published in Magazine Articles on Egyptological. April 3rd 2012.
River and valley first attracted ancient settlers to Bolton in the north of England, whilst agriculture, wool and cotton brought the town its wealth at the dawn of the Industrial revolution. Fast-forward through the centuries and it was a completely different river in another agricultural valley which caught the attention of Dr. Joyce Tyldesley, a native of Bolton, whose academic career has largely focused on the culture of ancient Egypt.
After earning a first class honours degree in the archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean from the University of Liverpool in 1981, Joyce Tyldesley went on to complete her doctorate in Archaeology, earning a D.Phil from the University of Oxford in 1986. Tyldesley began her teaching career at Liverpool before taking up her current post at the University of Manchester. Aside from her teaching commitments on the Masters programme and in the supervision of PHD students, Dr. Tyldesley oversees an impressive range of online Egyptology delivered via Manchester University’s Virtual Learning Environment.
Students from many different countries are currently enrolled on Tyldesley-designed and led six week ‘Short Courses’ covering a range of topics including; ‘Weapons and Warfare’; ‘Queens of Ancient Egypt’ and ‘Gods and Goddesses’. The latest in the Short Course series, available for the first time this October, focuses on the ever-popular subject of Tutankhamen, also the subject of Dr. Tyldesley’s latest book (published in the UK as, “Tutankhamen’s Curse: The Developing History of an Egyptian King” and in the USA as, “Tutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian King”).
The ‘Certificate in Egyptology’ offers a three-year syllabus covering the main periods of Egyptian history. All Manchester’s online Egyptology courses are delivered through the ‘Blackboard’ e-learning system; an innovative ‘Virtual Learning Environment’. The availability of digital resources from the University itself; from Manchester Museum’s Egypt and Sudan collection and with online access to the impressive John Rylands Library, have placed Manchester in a leading position at the sharp end of distance learning.
Distance learning at Manchester has developed from an initial correspondence format to today’s digitally delivered programme which draws on state-of-the-art pedagogic technology still in development when the University first went online with the Certificate course in 2004.
In February 2012, Dr. Tyldesley announced the latest in the University’s impressive portfolio of online courses. The Diploma in Egyptology is set to receive its first intake of students in October; some (not all) will be tech-savvy graduates of previous Tyldesley-designed distance Egyptology. Recently, this busy academic took some time out to discuss Manchester’s pioneering online Egyptology programmes:
Please tell us about the new Diploma course ........ see full article for the rest of Joyce's interview Egyptologically Speaking: An Interview with Joyce Tyldesley
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2 comments:
I really enjoy the books that Dr. Tyldesley writes. She is able to write entertaining narratives that are accessible both to experts and those who are just interested.
I agree her books are both scholarly and a cracking good read. As a tutor she is brill
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