Course abstract
Archaeologists have long recognized religion, and as part of this memory politics, as central elements the constitution of the societies they study, being formative of tradition, morality, and perceptions of time. People and societies need conviction, ritual, monuments, recollection, and myth to deal with crisis and loss, and to project their pasts into new futures. Religion and memory can be embroiled in violent conflict and be abused to manipulate people, to project historical narratives or to defend territorial claims or privileges legitimized with reference to tradition or ‘heritage’ (whether perceived or real, or a combination). Today’s world religions as well as ethnic religions evoke images of mass gatherings and strict rules of conduct, and ongoing negotiation and conflict around collective memories and past events that serve as prototypes for the anticipation of the future. On a deeper level, religion can be both mundane and unspoken, the things people do to manipulate their lifeworlds, to control chaos and anxiety, to predict the future, to deal with death, and to forge relations with other beings. Religion, although in its essence conservative, can be a transformative force that dramatically changes social identities. Spontaneous ritual innovation can occur when an individual, group or larger collective is emotionally challenged.
The concepts of religion and memory remain elusive, especially in archaeology. What did religion and remembrance mean in the distant past? Is religion necessarily about the supernatural? Is memory about the past? How can we approach belief systems, without access to written sources? How do we explain sudden changes in ritual or tradition over large areas? And more than such conceptual challenges, religion continues to pose formidable epistemological challenges to archaeology, residing at the top steps of Christopher Hawkes’ infamous ladder of inference (from his 1954 article in American Anthropologist): the more human, the less intelligible (Hawkes 1954: 162). How can archaeologists even establish plausible statements on religion in the deep past based on material remains?
Archaeological approaches to religious phenomena tend to be practice-oriented, and increasingly so with new paradigms like new materialism, the ontological and affective turns, post-humanist and human-animal studies, thanatology, lived religion perspectives, indigenous knowledges etc. The question still remains how such approaches – and their embedded critique of earlier research paradigms – affect archaeological ways of studying religion in the past (and present). To explore this question, this seminar offers a multi-angled approach to past religions. It aims to reflect as well as to challenge ongoing discussions in archaeology, and this will be done by contrasting two currently popular trends: memory politics and lived religion. The seminar will explore the lived and political aspects of memory and religion at the interface of mundane, ephemeral, small-scale performativity and other more authoritative, lasting and discursive expressions.
The purpose of the course is thus to offer the PhD student a grasp of conceptual, methodological and instrumental possibilities and challenges in the archaeology of religion. The course invites the scrutiny of a number of questions fundamental to the archaeology of religion, such as:
- How do archaeological interpretations of religion change if these are perceived as emergent rather than stable?
- What are the limits of archaeological knowledge of religion without living interlocutors?
- In what ways can we discuss the interplay between practice and religion?
- How can archaeology consider affective and sensuous experiences of religion?
Course work
The course will consist of introductory lectures from invited lecturers as well as presentations and discussions of student papers. Before the course begins, each student will prepare a paper for pre-circulation, addressing their research project in relation to the course theme. In the seminar, each student paper will be allotted c. 45 minutes. Excursions will be planned to sites in or near Athens which are suited to the topic of the course.
Organisers
Lecturers
- Jenny Wallensten, Swedish Institute at Athens
- John Robb, University of Cambridge
- Caitie Barrett, Cornell University
Deadlines
- Application deadline: January 31st 2027
- Paper submission deadline: April 15th 2027
Credits
5 ECTS
Location, Travel, and Costs
The course takes place at the Swedish Institute in Athens, Greece. Dialogues with the Past (DialPast) will finance and arrange accommodation, a welcome dinner, and supply lunch during the course for all participating PhD students who are part of the DialPast network. Participants affiliated with institutions outside of the DialPast network will have to arrange and finance their own accommodation.
The PhD candidates will need to finance and arrange their own travel to Athens, as well as dinners during the course (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 meriem.boulaziz@iakh.uio.no.
Enquiries about practical matters regarding course organisation should also be sent to meriem.boulaziz@iakh.uio.no.
Registration
The Graduate school invites all registered PhD students in the DIALPAST network to apply for participation.
From these applications, 10 PhD students will be admitted to the workshop.
Registration deadline: 31st January 2026