Course: HIS 4936/6939 Digital Public Archaeology

This course aims to provide an overview and practical understanding of how digital technologies can be employed for the study and dissemination of archaeological data in both academic and public contexts. Students will be introduced to key digital methodologies and their applications, and will gain some basic practical skills in techniques that are changing the way we interact with archaeological source materials. They will also develop their knowledge of how to reflect critically on digital methods, helping them to assess the relevance and potential of new techniques they encounter in future. Students will tackle from the different angles the implications of digitizing the practice of archaeology, and interacting with the past digitally. What are the implications for understanding the past and making the archaeological heritage accessible beyond archaeology, as it becomes engaged with, challenged, and re-imagined online and within social media and a global digital community? Although this is not a how-to course, and digital novices as well as seasoned veterans should easily manage the expectations for this course, four practical sections held at the Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) will be dedicated to 3D scanning and digital photogrammetry of cultural heritage artifacts.