Course Description
Exploration of digital/internet issues related to archaeology, geography, and the digital humanities, e.g., who owns the past, and how do we disseminate (or withhold) information about our shared national and global heritage?
Athena Title
Digital Dimensions of Arch
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online. Activities will consist of chat, blogs, discussion forums, email, journaling, blogging, wikis, and web posting.
Prerequisite
ANTH 1102 or ANTH 2120H or GEOG 1101 or GEOG 2010H-2010D
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The course will focus on archaeology, but it will engage with several larger themes in anthropology and geography as well as the digital humanities. Students will tackle questions such as: •Who owns the past and how do we deal with issues of privacy and security in the internet age? •How do we disseminate -or withhold- information about our shared national and global heritage? •Does online and open access really mean accessible? •What are some of the challenges of public and professional archaeology? •How are archaeology and its practitioners portrayed through the online medium? •How can we use digital tools to access the past and make sense of large and often disparate datasets? Within this framework, students will gain hands-on experience in digital applications of archaeology. The course will explicitly consider a number of topics that lend themselves to online instruction, such as: •Consider temporal and spatial dimensions of archaeological sites and landscapes •Using GIS to map sites •Critiquing 3D computer visualizations and/or gaming representations •Build digital data management strategies, including databases building, management, and sharing •Discuss digital representations of archaeology, such as videos, podcasts, blogs, mass media versus social media archaeology-related content and issues surrounding public engagement
Topical Outline
1. Introduction: New directions for the digital past 2. Mass media representations of archaeology online 3. Social media and alternative archaeologies 4. Blogging and digital publication 5. Issues in digital public archaeology 6. Global digital heritage 7. Digitizing collections 8. Digital data management 9. Data sharing and data accessibility 10. Data modeling 11. Data visualization 12. Gaming and virtual archaeologies 13. Mapping culture 14. Visualizing social networks 15. Digital archaeology in review
Syllabus