The American Academy in Rome announces new Summer Skills Courses in Archaeology: http://aarome.org/news/features/aar-launches-summer-skills-courses-in-archaeology. This year’s course will be on the Documentation and Analysis of Ancient Architecture and will provide students the skills to produce plans, sections and structural analysis of ancient buildings, using a variety of methodologies. The course will involve hands-on study of a Roman temple – Temple A at the Largo Argentina in downtown Rome.
2015 will see the return of the Roman Pottery Summer School.
These courses have been designed to be as affordable as possible, packing maximum information and field work into a three-week schedule.
SUMMER SKILLS COURSES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
These intensive courses are intended to provide graduate students and other professionals in archaeology, history, classics and historic preservation (plus occasional upper-level undergraduate students) with hands-on training in skills essential for contemporary practice. With opportunities to put into practice skills learned during the course, these courses are taught by specialists in the field and are offered in rotation in sequential years.
2014 Program
Documentation and Analysis of Ancient Buildings
2014 Dates
June 3-21, 2014
Application Deadline
January 17, 2014
Lead Instructor
Stephan Zink, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich
In collaboration with ETH Zurich (Institut für Denkmalpflege und Bauforschung, Prof. U. Hassler) and the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali.
Architectural remains represent the largest and most conspicuous body of material evidence for the study of Antiquity. At the same time, ancient buildings are fragmented and highly modified artifacts with long life cycles of construction, decay and reconstruction. The analysis and documentation of ancient buildings is thus an opportunity to understand buildings in time, to make sense of them as social and historical artifact and to address the issues of interpretative documentation and recording of the past.
This three-week course offers an intensive introduction to the documentation, analysis, and interpretation of ancient architecture. Designed for students from all backgrounds, the course will introduce students to buildings analysis through three types of experience. Students will carry out original fieldwork at a Roman temple (the so-called Temple A at Largo Argentina), where they will learn how to produce plans and sections of a complex site using a combination of digital surveying and hand drawings. Afternoon classroom lectures will introduce students to the basic principles of ancient design and construction, as well as to some theoretical questions related to the study and documentation of historical architecture. Finally, weekend field trips to architectural sites in and around Rome will provide an occasion to discuss examples of historical and modern preservation strategies and their approaches in creating ideas of the past through “designing” a ruin.
Instructor: Dr. Stephan Zink is a research fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich where he teaches courses on building archaeology, documentation and construction. He has a PhD in classical archaeology from the University of Pennsylvania, and is the author of a forthcoming book on the architecture of the Palatine sanctuary of Apollo. He specializes in the architecture and design of Roman buildings of the Augustan age, and has worked for many years on the Palatine.
This course will be offered every other year.
Costs
Tuition: $3550
This includes tuition, a shared room, self-catering facilities, two AAR dinners/week and course trips.
Not included: airfare/travel to Rome, contribution to self-catered meals, lunches and weekend meals.
Lodging
Students will be housed at the American Academy in shared room, self-catering apartments, with some meals taken with the Academy community. Days will be hot, long and strenuous and all applicants should be prepared with the proper level of fitness and appropriate clothing.
Eligibility
Admission is competitive as the class size will be limited. The course is intended for graduate students and professionals from archaeology, history, architecture, historic conservation and preservation and other allied fields. Advanced undergraduates should consult the instructor before applying. Applicants from outside American universities are most welcome.
How to Apply
A complete application consists of a cover letter explaining why the program is of interest, a curriculum vitae and two letters of recommendation. Applications and all supporting materials, including recommendations, should be sent by email. The letters of recommendation must be sent directly by the individual referees.
Applications should be sent to Stephan Zink at [email protected].
