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 skillsessential 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.

Description:
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 atzink@idb.arch.ethz.ch.

Posted by:
Dr. Kim Bowes
Prof.ssa di Studi Classici/Andrew W. Mellon Professor-in-Charge, School of Classical Studies
American Academy in Rome
Via Angelo Masina, 5
00153, Roma
Italia
kimberly.bowes@aarome.org