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.
Description
Do we need archaeological theory or is ‘common sense’ enough? This fundamental question once posed by Matthew Johnson in his textbook Archaeological Theory now seems to have been answered 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’. Note, however, that the handbook chapters will only form a point of departure for the individual lectures that may wander in very different directions!
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 one’s own research.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in the MA time schedule.
Mode of instruction
Lectures.
Course load
The course load will be distributed as follows:
7 lectures (2 hours each, 1 ects);
500 pages of literature (4 ects).
Assessment method
Essay-type exam (100%).
All exam dates (exams, re-sits, 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
Registration for the course is not necessary, registration for the exam is mandatory. For instructions, see the Registration in uSis page.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact prof. dr. J.C.A. Kolen.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance.
This course is taught in blocks 1 and 3. If you are starting your 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.