51 - 60 of 84 results for: ARCHLGY

(Formerly CLASSART 113/213.) Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology.

(Formerly CLASSART 112/212.) Archaeology of Greek, Roman and early Islamic cities and urbanism in the Mediterranean and western Asia. Comparison and contrast of the shaping role of religion and politics; definitions of public and private space, monumental buildings, houses, streets, infrastructure. Special themes are city and country connections; the problems of giant cities; cities in the longue durée. Case studies include Athens, Olynthos, Rome, Pompeii, Constantinople, Damascus and Cairo.

Long-term, comparative and archaeological view of urban planning and design. Cities are the fastest changing components of the human landscape and are challenging our relationships with nature. They are the historical loci of innovation and change, are cultural hotspots, and present a tremendous challenge through growth, industrial development, the consumption of goods and materials. We will unpack such topics by tracking the genealogy of qualities of life in the ancient Near Eastern city states and those of Graeco-Roman antiquity, with reference also to prehistoric built environments and cities in the Indus Valley and through the Americas. The class takes an explicitly human-centered view of urban design and one that emphasizes long term processes.

This interdisciplinary research workshop will critically engage the issue of the growing currency of human rights discourse within cultural heritage. Epistemological and practical areas of tension between rights discourse and cultural discourse will be surveyed within the context of current global challenges facing heritage practice, conservation and archaeology. Topics will include the inequities of cultural recognition between North-South globalizations, questions of cultural property and rights, the role of tourism, and the impact of environmental conservation discourse on cultural rights.

In modern America, gladiators are powerful representatives of ancient Rome (Spartacus, Gladiator). In the Roman world, gladiators were mostly slaves and reviled, barred from certain positions in society and doomed to short and dangerous lives. A first goal of this course is to analyze Roman society not from the top down, from the perspective of politicians, generals and the literary elite, but from the bottom up, from the perspective of gladiators and the ordinary people in the stands. A second goal is to learn how work with very different kinds of evidence: bone injuries, ancient weapons, gladiator burials, laws, graffiti written by gladiators or their fans, visual images of gladiatorial combats, and the intricate architecture and social control of the amphitheater. A final goal is to think critically about modern ideas of Roman ¿bloodthirst.¿ Are these ideas justified, given the ancient evidence?

(Formerly CLASSART 105.) Ancient and modern ideas about the body as ideal and site of lived experience. Themes include representation, portrayal, power, metamorphosis, and replication. Works that exemplify Roman ideas of heroism and power versus works portraying nude women, erotic youth, preserved corpses, and suffering enemies. Recommended: background in ancient Mediterranean art, archaeology, history, or literature. May be repeated for credit.

Life in the Roman Empire: this course is a broad introduction to the archaeology of one of the best known provinces of the empire.

Anyone interested in how objects, places and customs become heritage should be interested in bureaucracies. Given that dealing with bureaucratic procedures often cause something of an allergic reaction among people, heritage researchers included, it is perhaps no wonder that they have long been neglected as acts of heritage-making; considered less attractive research subjects than archaeological field ventures, World Heritage sites and grass root heritage communities. Yet it is precisely in the everyday practices of regional, national and international bureaucracies in the administrative tasks, paper shuffling and decisions taken across shiny tables that much of the power to define, select and configure the values of heritage lie. nThe main task of this course is to introduce bureaucracies as agents in sustaining and producing heritage regimes, and to discuss how to go about the study of such institutions. Drawing on the research of an emergent group of scholars dealing with UNESCO, the European Union, international corporations and national governments, the first set of seminars will explore the logics of Western bureaucracy and discuss specific examples relating to heritage. The second set of seminars will discuss some methods and analytical approaches to studying heritage bureaucracies, particularly ethnography and Actor Network Theory. Leaning on contemporary research in political anthropology, the points and pitfalls of document analysis, participant observation and interviewing will be covered, as will the challenges of analyzing such knowledge and turning it into academic text.