Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Open Access Class: Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
Taught by Ethan Watrall
This course will introduce students to one of the most fascinating societies in human history: ancient Egypt. The class will challenge students to explore the origins and fluorescence of the rich cultures of Egypt, ranging from the earliest foundations of the Egyptian state in the 5th century B.C. to the splendors of Roman Egypt under the rule of Cleopatra. By exploring case studies that highlight the extraordinary archaeological heritage of ancient Egypt, the course will focus students’ attentions on key anthropological concepts, such as kinship, ritual, political economy, mortuary practices, and cultural contact . . .

This class adheres to the philosophy of open courseware and open access.  As such, all course materials are open and accessible to the public.  This includes all assignments (blog entries/responses, research articles, etc.).  As such, students should think of themselves as not just taking a class, but as contributing to the pool of scholarship on egyptian archaeology.  This also means that you need to think about how you want to license your work (aka. how you would like other people to be able to use your work).  I would strongly urge all students to choose a Creative Commons license for each of their posts that meets with their needs.
Do you know of other open access classes dealing with the Ancient World?

1 comment:

  1. Sir
    I don't know of any other open class project but I know there is a big Open Video (or mp3) Lectures Movement. Here are some examples related to Ancient Studies:
    Roman architecture (prof Diana E Kleiner Yale)
    http://oyc.yale.edu/history-of-art/roman-architecture
    Introduction to Ancient Greek History (prof Donald Kagan Yale)
    http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/introduction-to-ancient-greek-history/
    You can find much better selection on websites such as these:
    http://freevideolectures.com/
    http://academicearth.org/
    http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
    http://www.nalandau.com/
    http://videolectures.net/

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