The seminar’s overarching theme is ‘teaching the ancient past’ and the session will consist of two exciting papers – by Prof. Dr. Monica Hanna and Dr. Heinz Felber and by Dr. Aris Politopoulos – followed by a shared discussion. The topics of the talks are:
Prof. Dr. Monica Hanna (Aswan/Cairo) and Dr. Heinz Felber (Cologne)
‘Teaching the Past from a Heritage Perspective: Cologne Aswan Summer School in Heritage Studies (CASSHS)’
CASSHS started as a project of the University of Cologne Research Forum “Cultural Heritage in Africa and Asia – Discourses and Practices” in 2014/5. From its inception it has been a successful interdisciplinary project, bringing together students from Aswan and Cologne for three weeks in Egypt and in Germany during the summer months. This summer school was implemented through class room teaching, trips to sites and museums and learning about methods of empirical social research in theory and practice. Such curriculum was administered by lecturers from Cologne and Aswan. This was carried out through a partnership between University of Cologne and the College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at the Arab Academy in Aswan organised by Dr. Heinz Felber and Prof. Dr. Monica Hanna.
The lecture will give a short overview on the topics of the five summer schools organized since 2015. The main part will be dedicated to a reflection on different aspects of heritage studies to be included in the syllabus, based on three core areas introduced and defined by Sharon Macdonald: telling the past, feeling the past, and selling the past. What does it mean, finally, to teach the past from a heritage perspective? And why is it important for students of historical disciplines and beyond?
Dr. Aris Politopoulos (Leiden)
‘Virtual Past, Playful Present: Video Games and Learning about the Past’
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought digital education tools to the fore. And while various digital media like videos and podcasts have, by now, been established educational tools, the potential of video games in the classroom remains largely untapped. In this lecture I will be exploring the use of commercial video games as an innovative method and tool for formal and informal education within the academic classroom and the teaching of archaeology, as well as the communication of the past to a wider audience. For the former, I will be reviewing a number of classes conducted at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, and the Past at Play Class, an honours course dedicated to the playful investigation of the past. For the latter I will present the RoMeincraft project, a public outreach project conducted by the VALUE Foundation since 2017.
Please join us online on Thursday 05 May at 16:15-18:00 EEST (UTC +03:00)
Click here for the Zoom link. Meeting ID: 678 8979 2118.