Interdisciplinarity in Twenty-First-Century Medieval Studies: Archaeoscience, Advanced Methodologies, and Consilience
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Dept. of History, Univ. of Southern California
Organizer Name
Justin Haar
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Southern California
Presider Name
Patrick Wyman
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Southern California
Paper Title 1
Old Hermeneutics and New Faces
Presenter 1 Name
Andrew Eichel
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Tennessee-Knoxville
Paper Title 2
Cloud Sourced Data: Working with Lidar in Landscape Archaeology
Presenter 2 Name
Jennifer L. Immich
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Paper Title 3
Respondent
Presenter 3 Name
Bonnie Effros
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Florida/Institute for Advanced Study
Start Date
10-5-2014 3:30 PM
Session Location
Bernhard 158
Description
Given the relative paucity of our source material, interdisciplinarity has long been a hallmark of medieval studies. Disciplines ranging from archaeology to philology have left their marks on the study of the medieval past. Today, this fruitful process continues with the application of archaeoscience, genetics, palaeoepidemiology, advanced landscape analysis, behavioral modeling, and environmental studies to historical analysis. These exciting new tools have the capacity to transform our understanding of lived experience during the Middle Ages, yet offer substantial challenges in terms of adapting new methodologies and integrating multiple lines of evidence. Should we expect radically different kinds of evidence to agree with one another and in what ways? How can we integrate multiple bodies of source material into a holistic whole? Should we? Most importantly, what opportunities and problems do these methods offer us as medievalists?
This will be a broad panel, ranging from the practical application of these modes of analysis to the epistemological consequences of introducing new methodologies to the study of the Middle Ages.
Justin D. Haar
Interdisciplinarity in Twenty-First-Century Medieval Studies: Archaeoscience, Advanced Methodologies, and Consilience
Bernhard 158
Given the relative paucity of our source material, interdisciplinarity has long been a hallmark of medieval studies. Disciplines ranging from archaeology to philology have left their marks on the study of the medieval past. Today, this fruitful process continues with the application of archaeoscience, genetics, palaeoepidemiology, advanced landscape analysis, behavioral modeling, and environmental studies to historical analysis. These exciting new tools have the capacity to transform our understanding of lived experience during the Middle Ages, yet offer substantial challenges in terms of adapting new methodologies and integrating multiple lines of evidence. Should we expect radically different kinds of evidence to agree with one another and in what ways? How can we integrate multiple bodies of source material into a holistic whole? Should we? Most importantly, what opportunities and problems do these methods offer us as medievalists?
This will be a broad panel, ranging from the practical application of these modes of analysis to the epistemological consequences of introducing new methodologies to the study of the Middle Ages.
Justin D. Haar