“Artificial Intelligence” (AI) is not a recent development. However, with increasing computational capabilities, AI has developed into Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, technologies... Show more“Artificial Intelligence” (AI) is not a recent development. However, with increasing computational capabilities, AI has developed into Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning, technologies particularly good at detecting correlations and patterns, and categorising, predicting, or extracting information. Within archaeology, AI can process “big data” accumulated over decades of research and deposited in archives. By combining these capabilities, AI offers new insights and exciting opportunities to create knowledge from archaeological archives for contemporary and future research. However, ethical implications and human costs are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we question whether AI in archaeology is a blessing or a curse? Show less
Onlangs verscheen in de Volkskrant een satirisch bedoelde advertentie ‘Creatief met archeologie, tips voor projectontwikkelaars’. Samen met een bijbehorende website is het een korte handleiding hoe... Show moreOnlangs verscheen in de Volkskrant een satirisch bedoelde advertentie ‘Creatief met archeologie, tips voor projectontwikkelaars’. Samen met een bijbehorende website is het een korte handleiding hoe de archeologische onderzoeksplicht te omzeilen. De advertentie bracht veel archeologische ophef teweeg. Hij heeft ook een positief neveneffect gehad. Kamerleden Sandra Beckerman en Peter Kwint dienden naar aanleiding van de ophef een twintigtal kamervragen in. De antwoorden (pdf) van minister Van Engelshoven geven een inkijkje in haar standpunten over archeologie. Tijdens een symposium over het functioneren van de Erfgoedwet aan de Universiteit Leiden eind januari kwamen soortgelijke problemen als in de advertentie en kamervragen naar voren. Wij plaatsen op basis van de uitkomsten van het symposium een korte kanttekening bij de antwoorden van de minister. Show less
Ariese, C.E.; Con Aguilar, E.O.; Martin, J.A. 2015
This workshop is connected to the presentation ‘Transforming global theory to local practice: Case studies from museums and education in the Caribbean’ and provides a practical and creative... Show moreThis workshop is connected to the presentation ‘Transforming global theory to local practice: Case studies from museums and education in the Caribbean’ and provides a practical and creative exercise for participants. The objective of the workshop is to support participants in exploring how to apply global theories to their own practices and how these theories can be adjusted or re-scaled for their own needs. Sites visited during the conference’s study visit tour will function as examples around which participants will work together creatively to translate a few global theories, such as the constructivist educational approach and community engagement in museology. The workshop will consist of a number of hands on activities in which participants will develop exhibition plans, program activities or generate ideas for other hypothetical changes to these example museums. This practical exercise will create space for the exchange of professional experiences and encourage participants to reflect on their own practices and to revisit their own museums with new insights. The workshop is aimed at museum staff and educators from all over the world with or without formal training. Show less
Museums are often seen as objective providers of the truth. In this thesis, that notion is contested and, instead, the idea is explored that museums actively construct representations. These... Show moreMuseums are often seen as objective providers of the truth. In this thesis, that notion is contested and, instead, the idea is explored that museums actively construct representations. These representations are steered by politics and discourses. Nonetheless, most visitors to historical museums are unaware that they are being confronted with representations of the past, that they are shown only specific histories and that these representations are displayed towards certain ends. The thesis focuses on the history of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its representations in the Netherlands and in Australia. In both countries, this history is seen with a certain amount of pride. Literature and museum exhibitions have been investigated to see how these countries represent the VOC and analyzed to understand why these representations are used. Discourses and political movements such as nationalism, colonialism and post-colonial theory are revealed behind some of these representations of the VOC. The representations in each country are very different, due to the different reigning discourses which have influenced museums and literature. In the Netherlands, these representations have altered over time along with changes in the dominant discourses. In Australia, the discourses have changed but the representations have not yet followed suit. Therefore, a suggestion is made for the use of reflexive representation, through which museums, in their exhibitions, uncover representations and the political powers behind them. Visitors will then be confronted with the subjective and interpretative work of museums and will no longer accept a museum's representation of history as an objective fact. History is revealed for what it is: merely one version of the past. Show less
Museums are often seen as objective providers of the truth. In this thesis, that notion is contested and, instead, the idea is explored that museums actively construct representations. These... Show moreMuseums are often seen as objective providers of the truth. In this thesis, that notion is contested and, instead, the idea is explored that museums actively construct representations. These representations are steered by politics and discourses. Nonetheless, most visitors to historical museums are unaware that they are being confronted with representations of the past, that they are shown only specific histories and that these representations are displayed towards certain ends. The thesis focuses on the history of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and its representations in the Netherlands and in Australia. In both countries, this history is seen with a certain amount of pride. Literature and museum exhibitions have been investigated to see how these countries represent the VOC and analyzed to understand why these representations are used. Discourses and political movements such as nationalism, colonialism and post-colonial theory are revealed behind some of these representations of the VOC. The representations in each country are very different, due to the different reigning discourses which have influenced museums and literature. In the Netherlands, these representations have altered over time along with changes in the dominant discourses. In Australia, the discourses have changed but the representations have not yet followed suit. Therefore, a suggestion is made for the use of reflexive representation, through which museums, in their exhibitions, uncover representations and the political powers behind them. Visitors will then be confronted with the subjective and interpretative work of museums and will no longer accept a museum's representation of history as an objective fact. History is revealed for what it is: merely one version of the past. Show less
