Duration
30h SEM
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course invites you to explore the built heritage from Late Antiquity to the 20th century. This approach will be developed through an in-depth architectural, archaeological, and historical analysis of a building or a built complex. The investigation conducted is therefore deeply material. Each part is dissected, analyzed, and interpreted in order to trace the history of the building, a complex, or a neighborhood over time, from their construction to their rehabilitation, or even their abandonment. The studied item is also integrated into its architectural, historical, and cultural context. All types of buildings are considered: from prestigious monuments (castles, churches, etc.) to more common structures (rural or urban housing, agricultural buildings, warehouses, etc.) or engineering works (bridges, tunnels, etc.). Understanding the design and architectural program through its material expression is one of the goals of this approach. Through this investigation, it is the human being and, more broadly, society at a given time that are observed and revealed.
The pedagogical approach is intended to be original and in line with professional reality. You will thus be led to interact and work with students from the Faculty of Architecture.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
This course serves as an initial introduction to research in building archaeology. It provides a stimulating field for you to develop your understanding of territorial, urban, and "parcel" contexts, as well as spatial, structural, and compositional construction.
By the end of this course, you will have acquired or deepened your understanding of the analytical methods specific to archaeology and more specifically to building archaeology.
You will have enhanced your mastery of the broad architectural vocabulary, understood at different scales (from the topographic and landscape context to the material).
You will have acquired and deepened your knowledge in the history of construction, the history of architecture, and history through an approach to the historiography of the site, the spatial and topographic context, the iconography of the city and the studied site, the architectural composition specific to the investigated periods, the materials, their implementation, etc.
You will also have engaged with questions of epistemology and methodology to sharpen your critical thinking skills, which are fundamental intellectual approaches in your academic career and scientific research.
Additionally, you will have developed your ability to read the historical environment based on construction methods and materials used.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The courses will alternate between ex-cathedra sessions, which include the theoretical content necessary to master the methodological foundations of the discipline, and site visits, allowing you to see the material reality of ancient construction in situ. It will also offer you the opportunity to meet experts-architects, archaeologists, art historians, and craftsmen-specialized in heritage restoration and conservation.
Finally, practical exercises carried out in interdisciplinary teams on the field will complement this teaching, allowing you to acquire practical knowledge.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Additional information:
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
Further information:
Readings will be suggested during the various sessions. Students will be encouraged to stay engaged by enriching their knowledge through reading books and listening to podcasts.
The course will not rely on a syllabus. However, PDF versions of the presentations uploaded to the course website before each session will allow students to familiarize themselves with the material and can serve as a support for note-taking.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Out-of-session test(s)
Further information:
A personal research work will be submitted. The written paper will then be handed in and defended in an oral examination during the examination session.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
A larger part of the course will be devoted to visits and practical workshops in situ. The course timetable can be adapted accordingly.
Contacts
Line Van Wersch
line.vanwersch@Uliege.be
Philippe Sosnowska
philippe.sosnowska@uliege.be