Abstract
With reference to the author’s experiences of teaching university classes on the topic of the archaeology of war (and also undertaking research into historic military sites), this chapter addresses the practicalities, and moral challenges, of teaching subjects such as “war,” and so the social utility of archaeology in contemporary cultural debates such as the place of conflict in “civilized” society. The practicalities of implementing different types of teaching strategy in relation to contentious subjects like war are discussed, as are the choice of case studies and field-trip opportunities, and the possibilities of involving the wider public – including veterans – in such teaching. What becomes clear is that a riveting, topical subject such as that of war provides useful alternative teaching opportunities, but that generating longer-lasting and deeper sociocultural impacts from such moments is a challenging goal.
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Snead, J.E. (2011). Teaching the Archaeology of War. In: Rockman, M., Flatman, J. (eds) Archaeology in Society. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9881-1_15
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