Our new book — Creative Pragmatics for Active Learning in STEM Education is published this week. Here’s a personal introduction and the first chapter. edited by Connie Svabo, Michael Shanks, Chungfang Zhou, Tamara Carleton with contributions from (in order of appearance): Andrew Pickering, Jesper Bruun, Søren Nedergaard, Gabriele Characiejiene, Martin Niss, Amalie Thorup Eich-Høy, Maiken…
the academy
Colin Renfrew, Mark Leone, John Barrett — passing through archaeology
I have been bringing to mind again three archaeological colleagues, friends of long-standing. No longer with us. Passing on. Mundanities in the life of ideas. So much loss in the fleeting ephemeral. Of Colin Renfrew. A sympathy of interest and concern, from when we first got to know each other. We met regularly but not…
Applied Archaeology — Applied Humanities
Studio Michael Shanks Stanford University Newsletter 2024 Stanford Archaeology Center Archaeological mission and vision? Ivory tower as lighthouse? In a recent newsletter for Stanford Archaeology Center [Link] I talked of slow archaeology, of the benefits of long-running projects that afford time for unfolding reflection. Three interrelated projects remain ongoing. A kind of archaeological triptych. —…
A day for Chris Tilley: reflections on the performance of academic life
University College London November 15 2024. This morning I was online at a gathering of colleagues, friends, former students, to reflect upon the life and work of Chris Tilley who died earlier this year [Link]. Appreciative memories; what remains; hindsight and legacy; influences. There were the regular, standardized, and orthodox accounts of Tilley’s part in…
In Tilley’s garden – a summer long ago
Reflections on the work of Christopher Yates Tilley 1 This is Part 1 of a reflection upon the works of Chris Tilley, prompted by his too-early death in March 2024. I want to do justice to the range and depth, the significance of his work in anthropology and archaeology. My reflections are based on memories,…
Studio update – Spring 2022
This academic year I am on sabbatical leave finishing three long-running projects and planning to focus more on applications of the archaeological imagination to matters of common and pressing contemporary concern, especially through design foresight and futures literacy. This is why I have put to one side my critical commentary on all things archaeological and…