| Unit name | Archaeologies of Space, Place and Landscape |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCH30055 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Gillings |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important:
This unit is vitally important for one simple reason - all Anthropological and Archaeological questions have a spatial component, and the centrality of spatial concerns to the disciplines of Anthropology and Archaeology has resulted in the development of a detailed (and distinctive) set of theoretical and methodological approaches for interrogating and answering inherently spatial questions. Concepts such as ‘space’, ‘place’ and ‘landscape’ have become vital lenses through which we have explored a host of pressing questions relating to social life in the past and present. These range form the origins of human settlement and spread of agriculture, to the exercise of power and control in the industrial workplace; why we find prehistoric monuments in some places and not others and how kinship can quite literally be inscribed into the ground. Yet despite over a century of academic endeavour the precise meaning of these terms remains slippery and indeterminate. In this unit we will unravel their varied meanings and learn the skills and methods we need to interrogate and understand them.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study:
Its relevance to your programme of study is the way in which the unit weaves together all of the thematic and critical thinking skills you will have developed up until this point. To stress a point alluded to above, all of the questions archaeologists and anthropologists ask are, at some level, spatial questions. By learning how to best approach and answer them the unit will serve to effectively complete your academic journey and hone your critical-thinking and practical skills. If you are an Undergraduate it will prepare you for a wide range of Masters courses as well as professional roles. For existing Masters students it will hone the intellectual and practical skills you will need for doctoral study or a career in the profession.
An overview of content
Archaeological and Anthropological studies of space, place and landscape have a long and rich history of academic study. Yet despite all of this disciplinary attention and focus, they remain slippery and indeterminate, with (for example) a variety of different meanings attributed to the terms ‘space’ and ‘place’ as well as to the relationship that pertains between them. Looking to ‘landscape’, researchers in Archaeology and Anthropology are variously defining it as: synonymous with the natural environment; a physical cultural modification of the natural environment; a conceptual cultural modification of the natural environment; an otherwise blank spatial canvas which records the physical traces of past and present human activity; a mode of representing the world unique to the modern capitalist west; a locus of affect; a convenient classificatory scale for heritage management, and the list could go on. These are sometimes used in combination, but often in isolation. Which is the most persuasive? How do they relate and intersect? How can we put these ideas into practice to shed better interpretations of past and present societies? The unit will explore the history of spatial thinking across the humanities and social sciences, looking at how understandings of each of these individual terms have developed and evolved. Key distinctions between what we might think of as ‘abstracted’ and ‘embodied’ notions of space will be explored alongside the emergence of place as a key heuristic. The varied ways of conceptualising landscape will also be studied through a series of detailed case-studies and examples. Although the primary focus is archaeological, the themes and topics have direct relevance to anthropological research (not least in the role of ethnography in shaping archaeological thought). Integral to the unit will be a critical study of the range of methodologies researchers have used to explore, map and measure spaces and landscape. You will learn and practice the skills needed to carry out a range of spatial studies - from quantitative spatial analysis to thick description, phenomenological walks, creative cartographies, story-telling and folklore.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
At the end of the unit you will never take the commonplace terms space, place and landscape for granted. You will gain a detailed understanding of the many dimensions of each of these terms and the different kinds of explanation that can emerge by following different paths. You will also be equipped with the critical, intellectual and practical skills you carry out your own piece of original spatial research.
Learning Outcomes
The unit will be delivered via a series of 2 hour lecture-workshop sessions accompanied by a series of 1 hour seminars and a field-trip.
The lecture element (first hour) will introduce and explore a given theme in order to provide core intellectual scaffolding. In the workshop (second hour) students will be supported in exploring the theme in more detail through case-studies and a set of exercises and challenges. The latter will be problem-based, interactive and reflective and seeks to exemplify the key aspects of the theme under discussion.
The seminars will enable topics to be explore in more student-centred detail, allowing space for critical reflection, debate and discussion. Allowing students to explore and test the limits of their understanding of a given theme or topic.
The field-trip offers a unique interactive and applied opportunity to take part in a spatial study.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Formative tasks will take the form of a range of task-based in-class exercises/workshops, and seminar discussions, with verbal feedback given by the unit leader.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Critical Review (40%) [ILOs 1-2]
This will comprise a comparative critical review of two published research articles that are focused upon a specific theme or methodological approach. This will comprise a 1,500 word written piece of work.
Project (60%) [ILOs 3-5]
This will take the form of a small project on a spatial topic of the student’s choice. It can involve any of the theoretical and methodological approaches introduced during the course and its focus can be archaeological or anthropological. This assignment will comprise a 2,000 word (or equivalent) written report.
When assessment does not go to plan
Reassessment of summative 1 (critique) will follow the same format. Reassessment of summative 2 (project) will involve a preprepared desk-based practical exercise (i.e. removing the requirement for active fieldwork or the design of a wholly new project).
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ARCH30055).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
