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Recovering the Humankind's Past and Saving the Universal Heritage

Approx. 13 hours to complete

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Course Summary

Preserving Cultural Heritage is a course that explores the importance of preserving cultural heritage, the challenges that come with it, and the strategies used to ensure the conservation of cultural heritage.

Key Learning Points

Learn about the importance of cultural heritage preservation
Discover the challenges and strategies for preserving cultural heritage
Explore the intersection of cultural heritage and modern technology

Learning Outcomes

Understand the importance of preserving cultural heritage
Develop strategies for conservation and preservation of cultural heritage
Apply modern technology in cultural heritage preservation

Prerequisites or good to have knowledge before taking this course

Basic understanding of cultural heritage
Willingness to learn preservation and conservation strategies

Course Difficulty Level

Intermediate

Course Format

Online
Self-paced

Similar Courses

Cultural Heritage Conservation
Museum Studies: An Introduction
Archiving: Principles and Practices

Related Education Paths

Notable People in This Field

Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies
Professor of History and Heritage Preservation

Related Books

Description

Archaeology is, among human sciences, the discipline with the strongest importance for the rediscovery, but also for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage, as Humankind’s universal patrimony. You will be introduced to the way we ourselves reflect on and are engaged with the study of human past: from the practical and material recovery of ancient traces in the field to the study and interpretation. On the other hand, the discovery of human past implies the correct conservation and presentation for both experts and general public: the study and protection of the past we share every day prevent from any possible destruction, misuse, abuse and thus cancellation of human memory.

“Recovering the Humankind's Past and Saving the Universal Heritage” presents to a large public Archaeology as a historical discipline: through an inter-disciplinary perspective you will follow the evolution and change of archaeology to the moment when natural sciences contributed to make the historical reconstructions scientifically sound; the aid of informatics and of virtual reconstructions gives new fascination to the already strong suggestion of Archaeology, as the discipline of discovery par excellence. Within this frame, Ebla, which is the glory of the Sapienza school of Oriental archaeology, will have an exemplary meaning in the course development as a long lasting experience on the field and an excellent example of the scientific results of combined researches and disciplines. Moreover, the course will focus on actual, innovative instruments to preserve, monitor and give value to cultural heritage through a multidisciplinary approach, based on a deep archaeological and historical knowledge but also on ICT technologies. The wide adoption of ICT technologies in our daily life is also impacting in the way in which we interact with our cultural heritage in particular in terms of preservation and dissemination of cultural objects. In this course you will learn the basic techniques to digitize cultural objects and obtain 3D digital copies of a physical objects such as statues, vases or archaeological sites. We will also discuss how to structure the raw data in order to facilitate and make effective the access to digital contents. In particular, we will present the European Data Model, a framework for collecting, connecting and enriching data on cultural objects provided by a number of museum, archives, sites and libraries in Europe.

Outline

COURSE INFORMATION & COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITIES
Getting Started
Course Format
Communication within the class
Quiz Availability
Lectures Availability
Lecture 1
Lecture 2
Collaborative Activities

Week 1 - The recovery of the human past and the protection of the universal heritage.
Section 1.1 - What is archaeology? - (min. 14:29)
Section 1.2 - The memory of the past in ancient civilizations - (min. 15:43)
Section 1.3 - Preservation of the past and reference to the past - (min. 18:45)
Section 1.4 - The appropriation and destruction of the others' past - (min. 19:23)
Quiz Week 1

Week 2 - The birth of archaeology and its role in the contemporary world.
Section 2.1 - The scientific rediscovery of the past and the first forms of protection of the past - (min. 17:43)
Section 2.2 - Renaissance in the western world, and the Renaissance - (min. 13:38)
Section 2.3 - The birth of Archaeology as a historical discipline - (min. 17:58)
Section 2.4 - The Archaeology of prehistory and the Archaeology outside the Old World: the enlargement of horizons from the Americas to India, and China. - (min. 15:44)
Quiz Week 2

Week 3 - The birth of archaeology and its role in the contemporary world.
Section 3.1 - The devolution of the New Archaeology - (min. 11:18)
Section 3.2 - Scientific methods in Archaeological Reconstructions - (min. 10:05)
Section 3.3 - Archaeology as Science - (min. 07:40)
Quiz Week 3

Week 4 - The birth of archaeology and its role in the contemporary world.
Section 4.1 - Discovery in Archaeology, the responsability of discovering, to discover is to destroy - (min. 11:21)
Section 4.2 - Stratigraphical Archaeology .... - (min. 15:28)
Section 4.3 - The Archaeological excavation as operation of Harmony .... - (min. 12:07)
Section 4.4 - The Archaeological interpretation .... - (min. 10:18)
Quiz Week 4

Week 5 - The birth of archaeology and its role in the contemporary world.
Section 5.1 - Pioneer Archaeology: The Case of Nineveh - (min. 18:33)
Section 5.2 - Historical Archaeology: The Case of Ebla - (min. 18:18)
Section 5.3 - Archaeology of Territory: Surveys in Southern Mesopotamia - (min. 18:33)
Quiz Week 5

Week 6 - Digitizing Cultural Objects and 3D virtual reconstruction
Section 6.1 - Titolo - From Physical Cultural Heritage to Digital one - Part 1 (min. 17:28)
Section 6.2 - Titolo - From Physical Cultural Heritage to Digital one - Part 2 (min. 18:31)
EXTRA: Tutorial Section 6.2.2 - make your copy of Visual SFM (min. 3:43)
Section 6.3 - Titolo - From Physical Cultural Heritage to Digital one - Part 3 (min. 17:33)
Quiz Week 6

Week 7 - Digitizing Cultural Objects and 3D virtual reconstruction
Section 7.1 - Sharing digital resources on the Internet - (min. 08:35)
Section 7.2 - Modeling digital data - (min. 11:53)
Section 7.3 - Europeana Data Model - (min. 18:06)
Section 7.4 - Europeana Data Model - (min. 15:21)
Quiz Week 7

Week 8 - Digitizing Cultural Objects and 3D virtual reconstruction
Section 8.1 - Cultural Heritage Assets - (min. 17:56)
Section 8.2 - The Risk of the Destruction of Cultural Heritage - (min. 19:10)
Section 8.3 - The Future of Cultural Heritage - (min. 13:47)
Quiz Week 8
Final exam
Collaborative Activities Quiz (Only for active Collaborative Activity members)

Summary of User Reviews

Find out what people are saying about the Preserving Cultural Heritage course on Coursera. Discover the course's strengths and weaknesses and whether it's worth your time. Overall, users have found the course to be informative and engaging, with many commenting on its practical approach to cultural heritage preservation.

Key Aspect Users Liked About This Course

Many users appreciated the practical approach to cultural heritage preservation taken by the course.

Pros from User Reviews

The course is well-structured and easy to follow
The instructors are knowledgeable and passionate about the subject matter
The course provides practical skills and knowledge that can be applied in real-life situations