CLASS-UA 100 - Art and Archaeology Ancient Art at Risk: Conservation, Ethics, and Cultural Property

Institution:

New York University

Subject:

Description:

Examines the environmental, material, social, and political forces that put ancient art at risk, including exposure to natural elements, acid rain, pollution, dam building, tourism, urban development, armed conflict, looting, theft, and the illicit trade in antiquities. Issues of conservation, preservation, and ethics are considered through case studies that focus on sites, monuments, and materials. Team-taught with physical chemistry professor Norbert S. Baer of the Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center, this course reviews a range of applied technologies used in the analysis of ancient objects: radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence, dendrochronology, stable isotope analysis, dedolomitization, and elemental analysis. Authenticity and forgery, dating and provenance, and the sourcing of ancient materials are among the issues examined. The use of coins, inscriptions, and stamped amphora handles and ceramics is evaluated as criteria for establishing absolute and relative chronologies. Consideration is given to the role that stylistic analysis and connoisseurship have played in our understanding of ancient art. This interdisciplinary course is ideal for students who are interested in the intersection of classical archaeology with law, science, ethics, public policy, cultural resource management, and the environment. We track developments in global cultural property laws, international conventions, and the repatriation of cultural materials.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nyu.edu

Phone Number:

(212) 998-1212

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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