The Politics of Archaeology

Catalog description

The present cannot be separated from the past. This idea is reflected most recently in the destruction of the confederate statues in the US, and in the assaults on museums, places of worship and archaeological sites in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. None of these events occurred in a vacuum, but the intrinsic past-present linkages contextualizing them are not always evident. This course considers how the 'Near East' today has been shaped by the discipline of archaeology, so closely tied to 19th century European colonial and imperial ambitions in the region. By illuminating through diverse voices how the past reverberates in the present in the Near East, students will be better equipped to challenge the scholarly frameworks that shape so much of our thinking today. Employing a seminar style format, we think through confronting issues including how terminology shapes our understanding of a region, its people and its material cultures.