Reflections on Reflexivity

Three realizations about developing an intercultural code of ethics for WAC that may be useful to the next series of discussions.

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Résumé Trois réflexions au sujet d'un développement des valeurs inter-culturelles pour le CMA qui pourront servir aux séries des discussions qui suivent.

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Resumen Tres reflexiones acerca de desarrollar un código de ética intercultural para WAC que pueda ser útil para la próxima serie de discusiones.

     

Revealed by Waves: A Stratigraphic,Palaeoecological, and Dendrochronological Investigation of a Prehistoric Oak Timber and Intertidal Peats,Bay of Ireland,West Mainland,Orkney

An oak timber was discovered in 2013 within intertidal peats at the Bay of Ireland, Stenness, Orkney, representing a unique archaeological find. Subsequent excavation and rescue of the timber took place in 2014 to investigate its stratigraphical relationship before further eroding. Dendrochronological and morphological study identified the timber as a possible radially split log, c. 150 years of age when felled. No dendrochronological match was possible, and a wiggle-match date obtained provided a Later Mesolithic felling date of 4410–4325 cal BC. This timber is the first and only evidence so far for the use of oak in Mesolithic Orkney. The timber is significant palaeoecologically, suggesting oak may have been indigenous to Orkney. This adds to a growing argument for the existence of areas of “true woodland”. Pollen evidence shows the timber was deposited within reedswamp, fringed by willow-birch carr-woodland, with oak unlikely to have been growing in the immediate location. High microscopic and macroscopic charcoal values indicate Later Mesolithic communities exerted influence on this wetland using burning as a tool for landscape modification. It is unknown what the timber represents; it may have been for construction purposes or as a marker/possible landing place showing the path to the Loch of Stenness.     

Learning by doing: enhancing hydrology lectures with individual fieldwork projects

Hydrology teaching deals with processes happening outside the classroom, which calls for active-learning methods to complement lectures. In a geography undergraduate course, new teaching methods and assessment were designed, in which students investigated a river of their choice by completing homework tasks and presenting their results on a poster. During a 3-year implementation process, the changes were evaluated using a combination of formal and informal student and lecturer feedback. Students mentioned that they enjoyed doing the project and that it helped their understanding of theory, their research skills, and their ability to select, organize and present information. Questionnaire results showed that, over the implementation period, students’ perceived value of homework increased strongly, while their perceived value of lectures remained high. In informal feedback, students noted that they enjoyed learning about where they live, preferred doing the projects individually and seeing each other’s projects, and spent more time on the coursework when assessed. When looking back in interviews, students commented that the projects had prepared them well for their dissertation and summer job. The advantage of using homework-based projects complementing lectures is the strong link between theory and practice, which could be further enhanced by discussing the homework in the lectures.     

Converting a large lecture class to an active blended learning class: why,how, and what we learned

Faced with diminished faculty resources and increased student enrolment from 2010 to 2017, we sought to use blended learning to achieve active learning in a large c.400-student introductory geography class. Working iteratively over seven years and eight classes and using smart classrooms, better timetabling, experimentation with peer review and learning management system (LMS) technologies, as well as the expertise of Queen’s University Continuing and Distance Studies instructional design team to improve integration between course elements, we closely approached the quality of learning achieved in a much smaller enrolment class. It is possible to teach large classes of 400 students in an active and engaged manner. The greatest obstacle to the development and maintenance of this model is institutional culture.     

Participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites: the case of Oberschöneweide,Berlin

In recent years, the significance of the debate concerning the participation of local communities in the reuse and management of industrial heritage sites has grown considerably. However, the question of how participation takes place in practice has received little attention. This article shows how participation in the reuse of industrial heritage sites has functioned in the planning process in Berlin-Oberschöneweide. The article is theoretically grounded on debates on labour and community heritage. The field of planning, which is closely interwoven with that of heritage management, provides another important theoretical horizon. The qualitative investigation consisted of interviews with different actors. The findings show that Oberschöneweide’s industrial heritage site is important to the local community. Thus far, the community has been able to participate in the reuse and development process in a number of ways. In addition to the provisions made for community participation by the relevant authorities, and local initiatives have exerted an influence on the development of the area. Nevertheless, this participation has been limited and is in some respects problematic. Furthermore, the participation process referred not only to the industrial zone itself, but to the development of the district as a whole.     

Dying Embers: Fire-lighting Technology and Mortuary Practice in Early Bronze Age Britain

In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire

Consum’d with that which it was nourish’d by.

Shakespeare, Sonnet 73

We examine the known examples of strike-a-light kits within prehistoric mortuary contexts in mainland Britain. Building on the seminal work of Clarke in the 1970s, and Needham’s recent work on Beaker grave groups, many further examples of this burial practice are documented from both historic and recent excavations. It is evident that strike-a-light kits have a considerable longevity in prehistoric mortuary practice, with all but one dating to between c. 2500 cal. BC and c. 1500 cal. BC. Our analysis presents new radiocarbon dates and data from stable isotope studies of human remains that indicate the practice reached a peak between c. 2200 and c. 2000 cal. BC. Strike-a-light kits appear to be associated both with individuals born local to their burial place, as well as those born at a considerable geographical distance. It is argued that strike-a-light kits had a particular significance in the burial of adult males, and that kits were symbolic inclusions rather than being linked to the practice of fire-lighting during the men’s life-time in this period.     

Nutrition and food production: Not as anthropologists see them

Hamilton, Sahni, Barry Popkin, and Deborah Spicer. Women and Nutrition in Third World Countries. South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin and Garvey, 1984. x + 147 pp. including notes, appendices, and references. $24.95 cloth.

International Rice Research Institute. Report of an Exploratory Workshop on the Role of Anthropologists and Other Social Scientists in Interdisciplinary Teams Developing Improved Food Production Technology. Los Banos, Philippines: IRRI, 1982. 102 pp. including references, workshop summaries and recommendations, and list of participants, (n.p.) paper.