Contemporary Issues and Debates in Archaeology

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• identify appropriate theoretical tools to plan and carry out research for the dissertation in Year 3;
• employ analytical skills appropriate to the study of social archaeology;
• undertake data collection, synthesis and presentation.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply aspects of current archaeological thought to archaeological examples;
• demonstrate written communication skills;
• critically evaluate key themes and debates in social archaeology;
• critically interrogate the social and political role of archaeological practice;
• appreciate the contested nature of the past, the variety of values placed upon it, and the sensitivity of academic research.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• a range of current inferential, social and critical archaeological thinking;
• the nature of archaeological practice as an often contested activity in the present;
• the links between archaeology and other disciplines including anthropology, philosophy, sociology, human geography, postcolonial studies and behavioural science.
• how contemporary social, political and economic contexts influence contemporary theory-building and archaeological practice;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• demonstrate written communication skills;
• gather information from a variety of sources, analyse and evaluate it critically.

Through lectures and related seminars, this module will cover:

* the influence of contemporary political, social and economic fields on archaeological practice and inference;

* contemporary theory in archaeology;

* how the archaeological past is valued, owned and contested, by both academic and public communities;

* how the past is represented through the media, museums and other modes of display.

Where appropriate, students will be directed to recent debates within the media and in academic circles that focus on issues relating to heritage and public engagement with archaeology (e.g. heritage at risk stories, TV portrayals, new legislation, and so forth). These may be used as the basis for seminar discussions.

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures followed by group seminars/discussions.

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Holtorf, C. (2005). From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as Popular Culture. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.

Meskell, L. (ed.) (2009). Cosmopolitan Archaeologies. Durham: Duke University Press.

Renfrew, C (2000). Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership. London: Duckworth.

Hodder, I. (ed.). (2012). Archaeological Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity.

Harris, O.J.T. & Cipolla C.N. (2017). Archaeological Theory in the New Millennium: introducing current perspectives. London: Routledge.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External