Professors Hannah Cobb (University of Manchester) and Karina Croucher (University of Bradford)
Why should we talk about teaching and learning in archaeology and heritage? Why does teaching and learning matter for our discipline? And why does learning about the past matter for people today and in the future?
Conversations about teaching and learning happen all the time across our discipline, yet often these conversations are given less attention and perceived as having less value than traditional research topics. Yet they are essential for the very fabric of being an archaeologist or a student of archaeology, and are essential for the future of archaeology. In this keynote, we bring this conversation to the fore and discuss the value of teaching and learning, highlighting why education is essential for emancipatory purposes and tackling inequalities, and what archaeological education has to offer to the modern world. We examine how we make space to include, hear and learn from the multiple voices in our classrooms. We will also explore the future potential of teaching and learning in archaeology and heritage, as a transformational tool, and how our teaching and learning is itself being transformed today – with the challenges and liberations this brings.
We are also keen to hear about the experiences of our audience members, whether in academia or not, and from any career stage, so please come and share your inspirational, challenging, and transformational learning experiences.
Hannah and Karina have been researching and publishing on teaching and learning in archaeology and heritage since the mid 2000s, including Assembling Archaeology: Teaching, Practice and Research (OUP, 2020). During the COVID-19 pandemic they established an online forum for teaching and learning in archaeology and heritage – attracting a global community that has continued beyond the pandemic. In 2021 they organised the first global conference on Teaching and Learning in Archaeology and Heritage, many contributions from which are being edited into Archaeology to Transform and Disrupt (Routledge), a sequel to the seminal work of Heather Burke and Claire Smith’s Archaeology to Delight and Instruct (2007). With Laura Hampen, Hannah and Karina are founding member of STeLaH – the Society for Teaching and Learning Archaeology and Heritage.
Hannah Cobb (MCIfA, FSA, PFHEA, NTF) is a Professor of Archaeology and Pedagogy at the University of Manchester and the University’s Academic Lead for Academic Development. She is an author, with Kevin Greene and Tom Moore, of the textbook Archaeology: An Introduction (6th edition, Routledge, 2024). Hannah is also one of the creators of the Archaeology Skills Passport. Through her teaching, research and leadership she passionately advocates for inclusion, equity and diversity in the past, present and future. Hannah is a founder of #everyDIGsexism, a founding trustee of the Enabled Archaeology Foundation, and she also founded and chaired the CIfA Equality and Diversity Group between 2015 and 2022.
Karina Croucher is a Professor of Archaeology, Heritage and Wellbeing at the University of Bradford. She is passionate about Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity in Higher Education, and embeds EDI principles in her teaching and research, where she seeks to break down boundaries between teaching and research. She is a trustee of the Theoretical Archaeology Group and is currently the University of Bradford’s Academic Lead for Bradford’s City of Culture. She leads teams in interdisciplinary research – bridging subjects as archaeology, psychology, end-of-life care, peace studies and health studies – that use the past to tackle some of today’s societal challenges.
