Studiegids

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Methods and theory

Vak
2013-2014

Compulsory attendance

Yes.

Admission requirements

Degree students (including Dutch BA graduates): BA degree (or equivalent) in Archaeology or a relevant discipline. Knowledge of archaeological theory on BA3-level is required.

SAP and Exchange Students: BA degree. Admission only after formal application.

Description

Do we need archaeological theory or is ‘common sense’ enough? This fundamental question once posed by Matthew Johnson in his textbook Archaeological Theory seems to be answered now positively: we do need it. One reason is that we do no longer accept an empiricist point of view, the facts do not speak for themselves. No archaeologist can think about the past independent of his/her own cultural background, political perspectives, national context. So it is better to accept that they influence thoughts and to identify them. Thus archaeological theory is not just about the past, it may even be more about the present.
Moreover, if archaeology claims to be a scholarly activity embedded in society it will have to confront its results with contemporary fundamental discussions about the nature of society. These days we find ourselves in a situation where there is no longer a single paradigm guiding all of the archaeological interpretative work. The postmodern ‘anything goes’ seems to be the prevalent stance in the theoretical debate.
So we are left with fundamental questions: what theory to use? How does theory relate to my pottery, postholes and architectural remains? Should I be a value-free scholar, can I be a value-free scholar? And how feasible is it, intellectually, that archaeology is changing from being part of the Enlightenment project towards being part of the industry of identity politics?

This course will give an overview, by no means exhaustive, of what archaeology theory is about. Students will have to read and reflect upon a recent handbook that provides something of a ‘state of the art’. Each week chapters of the handbook will be discussed, commented and elaborated upon in the lectures. Note however that the handbook chapters will only form a point of departure for the individual lectures that may wander in very different directions!

Lecture 1: Archaeological theory: what, where, why and how? (Chapters 1 and 2) (lecturer: Versluys)
Lecture 2: Human-thing entanglement: the agency of material culture (Chapters 9 and 10) (lecturer: Versluys)
Lecture 3: Connectivity: on style, identity and globalisation (Chapters 11 and 12)
Lecture 4: Understanding space (Chapters 5 and 14) (lecturer: Stöger)
Lecture 5: Understanding space in house and settlement (Chapter 8) (lecturer: Theuws)
Lecture 6: Culture and its conceptualisation (Chapters 4, 5 and others) (lecturer: Theuws)
Lecture 7: Is thinking about Power and Authority (and its unequal distribution in society) out of date in post-modern archaeology? (Chapters 6 and 12 ) (lecturer: Theuws)

Course objectives

  • Development of in-depth knowledge of the most important issues and debates in current archaeological theory;

  • Critical view on these issues and debates in current archaeological theory;

  • Evaluation of the relevance of these issues and debates for his/her own research.

Ects distribution

The course load will be distributed as follows:

  • 7 lectures (2 hours each, 1 ects);

  • 500 pages of literature (4 ects).

Timetable

Course schedule details can be found in the MA time schedule.

Mode of instruction

Lectures.

Assessment method

Essay-type exam (100%).

Assessment deadline

All assessment deadlines (exams, retakes, paper deadlines etc.) can be found in the examination schedule.

Reading list

  • I. Hodder (ed.), Archaeological Theory Today (2nd edition 2012), 350 pages);

  • Additional articles, to be posted on Blackboard.

Registration

Register for this course via uSis.
Instructions for registration can be found in the uSis manual.

Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Prospective students website for information on how to apply.

Contractonderwijs: all information (costs, registration, entry requirements, etc.) for those who are interested in taking this course as a Contractstudent is on the Contractonderwijs Archeologie webpage (in Dutch).

Contact information

For more information about this course, please contact prof. dr. F. Theuws or dr. M.J. Versluys.

Remarks

This course is taught in blocks 1 and 3. If you are starting your MA-programme in September, you take this course in block 1. If you are starting your programme in February, you take this course in block 3.