Suchergebnisse

The past can be characterized by periods of changing and stable relationships between human groups and their environment. In this article, I argue that use of "resilience theory" as a conceptual framework will assist archaeologists in interpreting the past in ways that are interesting and potentially relevant to contemporary issues. Many of the authors in this "In Focus" section primarily concentrate on the relationships associated with patterns of human extraction of resources and the impacts of those human activities on the continuing condition of the ecosystem. These processes are, of course, embedded in a complex web of relationships that are based on multiple interactions of underlying patterns and processes of both the ecological and social domains. In this article, I introduce a resilience theory perspective to argue that these transformations were characterized by very different reorganizations of the socioecological landscape and were the product of a variety of factors that operated at different scales of geography, time, and social organization.

The core of this article was first presented as the Distinguished Lecture in Archeology at the 88th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 17, 1989, in Washington, D.C.

The systematic study of historic civilizations is now attracting the attention of a growing number of anthropologically trained archeologists. The objectives of these investigators are not simply to repeat or to verify what is already known from textual evidence, but to extend the scope and fullness of our understanding of these important cultures (Moore, ed., 1974; Sabloff & Lamberg-Karlovsky, eds., 1975; Redman et al. ed., 1978). The study of historic civilizations offers a series of unique opportunities that equal and sometimes surpass those provided by the more commonly studied prehistoric cultures. First, the existence of historical documentation often facilitates the formulation of absolute chronologies for excavated material. By correlating archeological episodes with historically dated events, it is frequently possible even to assign lengths of duration to particular occupations. Second, the architectural and artifactual remains of historic civilizations are usually abundant in quantity and more readily identifiable than prehistoric material. Since many of the excavated tools, decorative objects and buildings are known from texts, art work or their continued use in recent times, identification and functional interpretation are more reliable, having been made by homology rather than by analogy. Third, and finally, the societal organization and processual relationships of historic civilizations are of considerable interest to anthropologists. Relatively sophisticated behavioral questions can be addressed because of the above two interpretive advantages and the fact that the historic record often provides general insights into the political and economic patterns of the era that aid in model building.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to argue that the types of and ways in which academic institutions produce knowledge are insufficient to contribute to a transition to sustainability.Design/methodology/approachReflecting on experiences at the School of Sustainability, the authors contend that a different kind of knowledge is needed, what we call sustainability knowledge. A conceptual approach is taken wherein the authors propose several characteristics of sustainability knowledge and offer some proposals on how academic institutions must be structured to produce it.FindingsSustainability knowledge has several characteristics including social robustness, recognition of system complexity and uncertainty, acknowledgement of multiple ways of knowing and the incorporation of normative and ethical premises. In order to produce sustainability knowledge, the knowledge production process itself must be changed to be more adaptive and engaged with society. Two organizing characteristics for institutions seeking to produce such knowledge are proposed – epistemological pluralism and reflexivity. The adaptive cycle from resilience theory is then used as a heuristic to illustrate how these design characteristics play out in making the institution (and individual) more adaptive.Practical implicationsAs more academic institutions move to address sustainability, this paper does not offer a roadmap; rather, it raises important issues that must be addressed in performing research and education for sustainability.Originality/valueThe paper shows that type of knowledge that academia must produce and how it might produce it are redefined for sustainability problems.

PurposeAcademic sustainability programs aim to develop key competencies in sustainability, including problem‐solving skills and the ability to collaborate successfully with experts and stakeholders. These key competencies may be most fully developed in new teaching and learning situations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the kind of, and extent to which, these key competencies can be acquired in real‐world learning opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe paper summarizes key competencies in sustainability, identifies criteria for real‐world learning opportunities in sustainability programs, and draws on dominant real‐world learning models including project‐ and problem‐based learning, service learning, and internships in communities, businesses, and governments. These components are integrated into a framework to design real‐world learning opportunities.FindingsA "functional and progressive" model of real‐world learning opportunities seems most conducive to introduce students (as well as faculty and community partners) to collaborative research between academic researchers and practitioners. The stepwise process combined with additional principles allows building competencies such as problem solving, linking knowledge to action, and collaborative work, while applying concepts and methods from the field of sustainability.Practical implicationsThe paper offers examples of real‐world learning opportunities at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, discusses general challenges of implementation and organizational learning, and draws attention to critical success factors such as collaborative design, coordination, and integration in general introductory courses for undergraduate students.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to sustainability education by clarifying how real‐world learning opportunities contribute to the acquisition of key competencies in sustainability. It proposes a functional and progressive model to be integrated into the (undergraduate) curriculum and suggests strategies for its implementation.

The study of complex societies, especially those with documentary sources, provides an unparalleled opportunity for the archeologist to contribute to an understanding both of the past and of contemporary society. We argue that available documentary sources for early North African state societies can be effectively combined with anthropological insight to formulate interpretive models to derive more meaning from the archeological record. The illustration we provide comes from early Islamic North Africa. We postulate that during the Medieval period two widely different sociopolitical contexts existed, giving rise to diverse urban patterns. Most importantly, we argue that the second of these patterns represents a widespread situation that is inadequately treated in the literature.