Workshop description
Archaeologists practicing in the twenty-first century are routinely faced with a wide range of ethical challenges, often directly linked to disciplinary decolonisation. Answering these challenges demands self-reflexivity and an awareness of both moral and legal codes. The workshop will provide a forum for the in-depth discussion of the ethical choices being faced by participants, with the opportunity to learn from the experiences of the workshop leaders and of peers. Issues may include the appropriate treatment of human remains; how to engage with communities of interest; how to navigate conflicts between individuals, community members, team members, private interests, and local authorities; the role of archaeologists when faced with subsistence looting and the antiquities trade; the ethical challenges linked to the business requirements of commercial archaeology; navigating conflicting narratives about the past; making choices about which stories to tell, how to tell them, and where to tell them; open access and open data; and, fundamentally, how to balance responsibilities to contemporary people as well as to people in the past. A core value of ethical archaeology is a proscription against doing harm, but how to we identify potential harm? How do we balance the needs of science and society; or of one community versus another? What do we do when we find our own research being appropriated or used in a manner to which we object? Ethical archaeological practice demands recognition of conflicting values and responsibilities, and can involve hard choices, such as walking away from a project or choosing not to excavate or engage in destructive analysis.
Holding the workshop in the city of Derry/Londonderry, situated in the post-conflict but still divided society of Northern Ireland, provides multiple tangible opportunities to consider the ethics of how archaeology and built heritage in the walled city is mobilized in aid of competing narratives. These narratives directly relate to the 30-year period of violence known as The Troubles (1968-1998), a sectarian conflict rooted in the seventeenth-century imposition of British power in Ireland, and materialised through the building of the fortified city of Londonderry. The workshop will incorporate visits to the Museum of Free Derry, the Siege Museum, and the Tower Museum. Students will evaluate the ethical choices made in each institution, and consider how one navigates multiple narratives and communities of interest.
Learning Outcomes
We expect participants to emerge from the workshop with greater confidence in their ability to recognize and respond to ethical challenges in their archaeological practice and interpretation through greater exposure and critical engagement with both the direct example presented by the Derry/Londonderry case study, and through engagement with the lecturers and each other. By the end of the workshop, participants will be better equipped to 1) identify the range of ethical challenges common in contemporary archaeological practice, 2) address challenges in their own work through familiarity with global dialogues and practice-based examples, 3) understand the range of choices and responsibilities.
Course Work
Before the course starts, each PhD student will prepare a brief statement of an ethical challenge they are faced with in their current work. This statement should include a summary of the problem (no more than 1 page), include a concrete question for discussion, and include a list of three to five sources that address similar ethical concerns. These statements and lists will be circulated to all students and lecturers. During the workshop each student will introduce their challenge and then workshop it with the other participants through discussion.
At the end of the workshop the students will write a brief response paper (1-2 pages) that reflects over how the workshop (including the lectures, group discussions, and site visits) have affected their view on their identified challenge.
Lecturers
- Course organiser: Audrey Horning, Professor of Anthropology, William and Mary and Fellow, Senator George J. Mitchell Institute of Global Peace, Security, and Justice, Queen’s University Belfast)
- Sarah Tarlow, Professor of Archaeology, University of Leicester
- Liv Nilsson Stutz, Professor of Archaeology, Linnaeus University
For questions about the workshop, please contact meriem.boulaziz@iakh.uio.no (with cc to oliver.reiersen@iakh.uio.no).
Credits
3 ECTS
Location, travel and costs
The Graduate School will finance and arrange accommodation (from 24 to 28 June), a welcome dinner, and supply lunch during the seminar week for all participating PhD candidates who are part of the Dialogues with the Past Network.
Two and two PhD students will be accommodated in twin rooms according to gender.
The PhD candidates will have to arrange and finance travel to and within Derry as well as dinners during the course week (except for the welcome dinner). If you are in the DIALPAST network and do not have travel funding to cover these costs, please get in touch with oliver.reiersen@iakh.uio.no.
Registration
The Graduate school invites all registered PhD students in the DIALPAST network to apply for participation.
From these applications, 8 PhD students will be admitted to the workshop.
Click here to apply for the workshop
For more information, please contact: oliver.reiersen@iakh.uio.no
Important dates
Application for participation: 21st April, 2025. Confirmation on your participation will be sent out shortly after this date.
Submission of the brief statement of an ethical challenge: 10th June 2025.