Free Online Maritime Archaeology Course

Shipwrecks-and-Submerged poster

Registration is now open for Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds,  a free four week online course offered in conjunction with FutureLearn and starting on the 6th October 2014.

Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds gives you a unique opportunity  to gain an insight into the fascinating world of maritime archaeology, in an open access and engaging format. Drawing on the expertise of the staff and students of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology, participants will be guided through humanity’s changing relationship with the world’s oceans and seas over the last 2.5 million years.

We will discuss the impact of changing sea-levels on the geography of our planet and the legacy they may have left behind in myths and legends of Atlantis and Lyonesse; the development of seafaring technologies; and the emergence of globalised economies. We will explore the traditions of seafaring that gave birth to such diverse historical and social phenomena as Polynesian exploration and colonisation, Viking age expansion, the ‘Golden Age of Sail’ and piracy. We will examine the transformative impact that levels of preservation found on wrecks such as the Mary Rose and Vasa have had on our understanding of past societies, through to what can be learned from more modern maritime sites such as the Titanic. The science and technology behind data collection will be explained, from diver based research to cutting edge remote sensing techniques. We’ll also consider the key questions and that continue to challenge researchers today and shape the future direction of the discipline.

Whether you are a student wanting a taster of our archaeology degrees or a lifelong learner with a passion for our oceans, we’ll introduce this exciting discipline to you in an accessible way. The course is suitable for anyone and there is no need for any previous experience. Although the course runs throughout October 2014, it is likely to be repeated in 2015.

You can keep up to date with what’s happening on the course (and our research more broadly) via our blog and on our Twitter account @UoSShipwrecks with the hashtag #FLShipwrecks

 

Written by

My work centres on ethnographies of seafaring and oceans, particularly of the Indian Ocean past and present. I study the history and material culture of south Asian seafaring - from traditional boatbuilding and watery landscapes to lascars and piracy (and the politics and ethics of maritime archaeological heritage management). I am interested in the embodied knowledges of seafaring, the materiality and temporality of oceans and the larger philosophical question of how we imagine and understand maritime space. Or, as it was recently put to me: 'you do bodies on boats, don't you?' Which is definitely true. Boats. People. Water.

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