Course Title

Environmental & Climate Perspectives on Cultural Heritage

Course Code

DCH 424

Course Type

Elective

Level

Master’s

Year / Semester

1^st / 2^nd (Subject to change)

Instructor’s Name

Andriana Bruggeman (Lead Instructor), Nikolas Bakirtzis, Sturt Manning

ECTS

5

Lectures / week

1 (1h)

Laboratories / week

1 (2h)

Course Purpose and Objectives

This course will provide an introduction to the role and impact of environmental and climate studies in cultural heritage and archaeology, whether related to the past or in regard to issues of preservation, monitoring and planning for a sustainable future. Increasingly depending on digital technologies and the accumulation of data, environmental sciences have become extremely important in the way we study, protect and manage sites and monuments. In this contexts experts in natural resources management, hydrology, climate change, paleoclimatology, dendrochronology will provide a comprehensive introduction to the challenges and more importantly the relevance of the environment in heritage studies with digital technologies becoming the common language for the documentation, visualization and communication of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

Students will gain a preliminary, yet important understanding of the range as well as the importance of environmental and climate studies in the way we study, document, manage and protect our heritage. They will be exposed to the expertise of leaders in the field thus gaining an appreciation of the necessity for scientific interdisciplinarity in the field of heritage studies and the related role of digital technologies.  

Prerequisites

None

Course Content

The course will be organized around a series of lectures, supplemented by focused modules and short hands-on training sessions.

Teaching Methodology

Lectures, modules, laboratory work

Bibliography

1. D. Harvey and J. Perry (Eds.). The Future of Heritage as Climates Change: Loss, Adaptation and Creativity.
2. M.A. Torres de Souza and D. Menezes Costa. Historical Archaeology and Environment.
3. J. L. Brooke, Climate Change and the Course of Global History: A Rough Journey.
4. C. Sabbioni, P. Brimblecombe and M. Cassar (Eds.), The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage: Scientific Analysis and Management Strategies.

Assessment

75% exam; 25% coursework

Language

English