PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGY

The course has two main topics and modules: Public/Community Archaeology and Digital Archaeology. These subdisciplines will be considered a complex intertwined system of theories, tools and practices to provide a contemporary global concept of archaeological activity. Archaeology is deeply entrapped in western value systems and epistemologies, which follow geographical and chronological patterns. This course will offer an alternative global perspective to archaeological practices reconsidering the role of the archaeologist in present-day society.

Module 1, Digital and Cultural Heritage: The course also will challenge a comprehensive understanding of the main theoretical and practical aspects of Digital Archaeology, taking advantage of the most recent tools and methods. The course will provide a general overview of the methods to identify, investigate, document and analyse archaeological contexts and objects. Students will learn how to approach the past by combining multiple 2D and 3D data sources. Students will also acquire skills to manage and exploit such kind of data in a GIS environment devoted to CRM practices (Cultural Resource Management).

Module 2, Public and Community Archaeology: The classes will review the legislation that shapes archaeological exercise, media representations of archaeology, and the transformative partnerships between archaeologists and the public. The classes will focus on the bottom-up critical concepts of participatory archaeology and community archaeology as opposed to the top-down archaeological perspective in public and heritage tourism. The course will study the concepts of sustainability and ethics applied to archaeology, underlying the importance of civic engagement.

Expected learning outcomes Module 1, Digital Cultural Heritage
1) Knowledge and understanding:
- Familiarity with the concepts of Digital Cultural Heritage and Digital Archaeology and their implication in the management of the cultural heritage and in the archeological research;
- Familiarity with the theoretical background of Digital Archaeology; knowledge about practical issues and implementation of digital products for research and dissemination;
- General knowledge of the leading digital techniques and digital methods applied to archaeological research and archaeological communication;
- General knowledge of the methodological approaches to document digitally archaeological sites and landscapes through community base and citizen science strategies;
- Ethics in digital archaeology.
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Ability to recognize suitable methodologies of Digital Archaeology for specific cases and planning the research;
- Ability to manage GIS environment and exploit multiple 2D and 3D data.
3) Judgement skills:
Ability to critically investigate and evaluate digital archaeological sources;
Ability to develop critical thinking skills concerning Digital Archaeology.

Expected learning outcomes Module 2, Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
- Ability to recognize the roles of public opinion and the tourism industry in the protection and interpretation of Cultural Heritage;
- Ability to recognize suitable methodologies of Digital Archaeology for specific cases and planning the research;
- Ability to manage GIS environment and exploit multiple 2D and 3D data.
3) Judgement skills:
Ability to mediate the recent debates about ownership, responsibility, and definitions of Cultural Heritage.
Ability to critically investigate and evaluate digital archaeological sources;
Ability to develop critical thinking skills concerning Digital Archaeology.

Students who want to attend this course are not required to possess any other prerequisite for admission

Module 1, Digital Cultural Heritage, Specific Topics:
1. What is Digital Cultural Heritage? Theory and practice
2. What is Digital Archaeology? Digitizing archaeological data and narrating data digitally
3. Maps, Digital Maps and spatial and geographic thinking: digital data and mindscapes
4. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Cultural Heritage: mapping the past for interpreting the present days
5. GIS application in archaeology: the relationship between spaces and cultural objects in the past and the contemporary world
6. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for archaeological research: theory, practice and ethics in the application of automatic analysis of archaeological contexts
7. CRM, Cultural Resource Management and the digital revolution. Managing Heritage through the digital tool
8. Digital Museums e Digital born Heritage: when 'data' is "The Heritage";
9. New frontiers in digital disseminations: hybrid technologies for sharing the past;
10. Digital data and narratives.
11. Learning Cultural Heritage by playing serious games. Videogame and archaeology. Modelling and communication: virtual reality heritages.

Module 2, Public and Community Archaeology, Specific Topics:
1. Cultural Heritage Definition. What is Cultural Heritage? Who protects it? From what? For whom? Who does own the Heritage? Heritage / Modernity / Materiality
2. Histories, Memories, and Heritage. The Authorized Heritage Discourse. Subaltern and dissenting Heritages. Heritage as a cultural process
3. Uses and Abuses of the Past: Politicians, Propaganda, and Nonsense. The political character of archaeological Heritage. Past and present propaganda.
4. The Rules and the Manuals: Cultural Heritage Law, Principles, and Guides Today
5. 1945-2020: Heritage and European Identities. National cultures, European approaches.
6. Archaeology of Localities/Nationalisms/Identities.
7. What makes archaeology Public? Defining research, value, and impact.
8. Community-Based Participatory Research. Inclusive archaeology.
9. Tourism and Presenting Cultural Heritage to the Public. Sustainable Heritage and Tourism.
10. Archaeological Heritage and Tourism.
11. Archaeology as activism. Contemporary archaeology and its impact. Changing world, Migrations, climate change and archaeology. Archaeology "on the fields": migrations/wars/famines.
12. Tag it. Like it. Post it. Archaeology, Heritage and social media. Social media narratives. Social media communications and communicators.

Module 1, Digital Cultural Heritage:
- Class notes and pdf of the lessons will be available on Moodle.
- An array of specific paper and book chapters and internet videos that will be available on Moodle

Referral text will be:
- T. L. Evans, P. Daly (eds.), Digital Archaeology, bridging method and theory, 2006
- M. Forte, S. Campana S., Digital Methods and Remote Sensing in Archaeology. Archaeology in the Age of Sensing, 2016
- M. D. McCoy, The site problem: a critical review of the site concept in archaeology in the digital age. In Journal of Field Archaeology, vol. 45, No. S1, pp. S18-S26, 2020
- S. Campana, Drones in Archaeology. State of the Art and Future Perspectives. In Archaeological Prospection 24, pp. 275-296, 2017
- R. S. Opitz, D. C. Cowley (eds.), Interpreting Archaeological Topography. 3D Data, Visualization and Observation, 2013
- E. Watrall, L. Goldstein, Digital Heritage and Archaeology in Practice: Presentation, Teaching, and Engagement, 2022
- M. Forte, N. Dell’Unto, K. Jonsson, N. Lercari, Interpretation Process at Chatalhöyük using 3D. In Assembling Çatalhöyük; Hodder I., Marciniak a. (eds.), 2015
- P. Verhagen, Spatial Analysis in Archaeology: Moving into New Territories. In: Siart, C., Forbriger, M., Bubenzer, O. (eds.) Digital Geoarchaeology. Natural Science in Archaeology, 2018
- A. Argyrou, Agapiou A. A., Review of Artificial Intelligence and Remote Sensing for Archaeological Research. In Remote Sensing 14, 2022
- L. Deravignone, Macchi Janica G., Artificial Neural Network in archaeology. In Archeologia e Calcolatori, 17, pp. 121-136, 2006
- L. Magnini, Bettineschi C., Theory and Practice for an Object-based Approach in Archaeological Remote Sensing. In Journal of Archaeological Science, 107, pp. 10-22, 2019
- J. Casana, Global-Scale Archaeological Prospection using CORONA Satellite Imagery: Automated, Crowd-Sourced, and Expert-led Approaches. In Journal of Field Archaeology, 45:sup1, S89-S100, 2020

Module 2, Public and Community Archaeology:
- Class notes and pdf of the lessons will be available on Moodle.
- An array of specific paper and book chapters and internet videos that will be available on Moodle
Referral text will be:
C. Westmont, Critical Public Archaeology: Confronting Social Challenges in the 21st Century, 2022
G. Moshenska, Key concepts in Public Archaeology, 2017
L. Smith, E. Waterton, Heritage, Communities and Archaeology, 2013
R. Harrison, "Heritage. Critical Approach.", 2013
T. Ireland, T. Schofield (eds.), "The Ethics of Cultural Heritage", 2015
L. Meskell, "A Future in Ruins. Unesco, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace", 2018
L. Meskell, P. Peels, "Embedding Ethics", 2005
R. S. Peckham (ed.), "Rethinking Heritage. Cultures and Politics in Europe", 2003
H. Rued-Cunliffe, A. Copeland (eds.), "Participatory Heritage", 2017
L. Smith, "Uses of Heritage", 2006
A. Stille, "The Future of the Past", 2002
G. Volpe, "Patrimonio al Futuro. Un Manifesto per i Beni Culturali", 2015
S. West (ed), "Understanding Heritage in Practice", 2010
M. Forte, S. Campana S., Digital Methods and Remote Sensing in Archaeology. Archaeology in the Age of Sensing, 2016
E. Watrall, L. Goldstein, Digital Heritage and Archaeology in Practice: Presentation, Teaching, and Engagement, 2022
F. R Cameroon, The Future of Digital Data, Heritage and Curation: in a More-than-Human World, 2021

Grades: Minimum of 18 to a maximum of 30/30 cum laude.
Criteria:
- comprehensiveness and clarity in the presentation of the acquired information;
- aptitude in critical and personal assessment;
- capacity to make the attained knowledge relevant to the personal experience and original contents/cases.

Assessment of knowledge:
Assessment will grade the class participation (25%) and the final oral examination (75%), in which students will be evaluated as to the knowledge and the competencies they acquired during the course.

asses with activities in and outside the class, interaction between professor and students, GIS exercises. Attendance is strongly recommended. Whenever needed, the didactic material will be made available through the Moodle e-learning platform.

English

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