Please note: This course description is provisional and still subject to changes.
Admission requirements
This is a seminar with a limited number of participants (20 students), for Archaeology students exclusively.
Description
This seminar will be an introduction to maritime and underwater archaeology and cultural heritage management. The students will be exploring these themes within the context and definition of the maritime landscape. How can we investigate the landscape when we put water as a means of transport and connectivity right in the middle? And how has this influenced the people living in it? How do the people living in it influence the maritime landscape and shape it according to their needs? Why do boats and ships say so much about the environment and society in which they were made? These questions will be addressed during this course.
Each week information will be published on Brightspace, which will relate to an assignment and is focused on the analyses and problems of the maritime landscape. This seminar will introduce the students to the definitions used in maritime archaeology, maritime landscape, and cultural heritage management.
This class is about the above three components. What do they mean? How do they interact? Through lectures, films, discussions, and assignments we will look into the concept of maritime, what it means in understanding the past, an area, and also the persons who live in it. The course will show you that maritime heritage management is a way of investigating, experiencing, and understanding an area with water as the central figure. It does by no means mean you cannot do that in the more traditional way where the land is placed as a central figure in the understanding of the place where we live or lived. What I am trying to do is to give you an alternative. It should therefore also be interesting for those who will not necessarily be pursuing a career in underwater or maritime archaeology and maritime or underwater cultural heritage management.
Together we go on an exploratory tour. In each class, we will investigate one or two subjects. We start with the definition of maritime, we dig into the theories of maritime landscapes and how these are layered in practice. We investigate the relation between land, water, and the activity of the people, we go from adaptive use to control. We also look at the way people have taken control and how the landscape has been redesigned in the past, how ship designs have been influenced by the environment. We look at the intangible maritime landscape and its past influences on modern society. We will be investigating mentality and identity and finally, we will see how this all influences our ideas on how to manage the landscape, the place in which we live. This course will use archaeology as a tool to investigate societies, alongside other disciplines. The final aim is to apply what we learn from these methods and techniques to cultural heritage management. We investigate the role of maritime heritage in society.
Course set-up
Each week on the same day, materials and assignments will be published on Brightspace;
Each week there will be a 2-hour class;
Each week a small assignment will be given to explore elements of the maritime landscape;
The class will be concluded with a final written exam, which is exists of the lectures, readings, small assignments, and excursion.
Course objectives
Learning about and introducing the definitions in maritime archaeology, maritime landscapes, and cultural heritage management;
Learning about taking the maritime perspective;
Learning how to dissect the (cultural) landscape;
Learning how to manage a maritime cultural landscape;
Learning about using archaeology as a tool for heritage management.
Timetable
Course schedule details can be found in MyTimetable.
Log in with your ULCN account, and add this course using the 'Add timetable' button.
Mode of instruction
Lectures;
Readings;
Field trip;
Assignments (pass/fail);
Group assignments (pass/fail);
Final written exam (Your final grade).
Assessment method
Attendance;
Cooperation during class;
Fieldwork/excursion;
Assignments;
Final written exam.
Each week will have its individual assignment. This will be graded (pass/fail). All assignments can be retaken once, and only one can be submitted late: no more than 1 day. To pass the course all assignments need be graded with a pass.
Two group assignments must be completed during the course. One involves leading a discussion on a course-related theme during a lecture, while the other takes place during the excursion as a general stakeholders' meeting. In this meeting, each group assumes a specific role and demonstrates an understanding of the interests and priorities of different stakeholders. Both group assignments will be graded on a pass/fail basis.
The final assessment is a written exam (2 hours) which is taken in person on the university campus consisting of open and multiple-choice questions. To pass, you’ll need a 5.5 or higher.
The excursion is an obligatory component and will take a whole day. At the beginning of the course the excursion will be scheduled together. This may be in a weekend as well!
Assessment deadlines:
The dates of exams and retakes can be found in MyTimetable. The deadlines of papers, essays and assignments are communicated through Brightspace.
Reading list
The reading list will be announced on Brightspace prior to the course and sometimes articles during the course.
Registration
Registration start dates for the BA2 seminars differ from the registration dates of the regular courses.
Registration will take place with the use of forms. These will be e-mailed by the Administration Office to all BA2 students at the beginning of March.
Contact
For more information about this course, please contact dr. M.R. (Martijn) Manders.
Remarks
Compulsory attendance, including the excursion. The excursion will be a full day and probably in a weekend. You need to be in the Netherlands, and not being able to participate in the excursion means that you cannot complete the course.