Past Events
Interested in Cotsen events? Sign up for our mailing list.The UCLA Waystation Initiative and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology invite you to a Waystation Workshop at UCLA on Saturday March 9, 2024. As part of a weekend of celebratory events marking the 50th anniversary of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, this workshop will bring together Mesoamerican specialists to engage in foreword-thinking dialogue about the restitution and protection of the region’s tangible cultural heritage.
The Waystation Initiative is a groundbreaking endeavor that organizes and facilitates the voluntary return of international archaeological and ethnographic objects to the nation or community of origin. Waystation Workshops are community engagement opportunities that offer collaborative learning and training. Through workshops, specialists present research that focuses on threats to and the protection of the world’s tangible cultural heritage.
Our March 2024 workshop will consider the history and future of repatriation and restitution of tangible cultural heritage to Mexico. The regional focus of this Waystation Workshop emerged as part of an effort to assist with the voluntary return of objects from the Museum of the Cherokee People. We have invited specialists in Mexican and Central American archeology and anthropology to assist with identifying the objects and to discuss topics relating to repatriations to those regions.
The event will begin the morning of March 9 and will include 4-5 speakers presenting perspectives on cultural heritage repatriation, decolonizing collections, provenance research, working with descendant communities and governments, and related topics. The event will be hybrid, in person and via Zoom.
Email waystation@ioa.ucla.edu for more information.
Register here
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Speakers and Topics
Christian de Brer – Director of Conservation, Fowler Museum at UCLA
Materiality, Provenance and Restoration of Ancient West Mexican Ceramics and Next Steps for Museum-based Collections
Edith Ortiz Diaz - Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Learning and Sharing: The Museum of Tuxtepec, Oaxaca
Victoria Lyall - Frederick and Jan Mayer Curator, Art of the Ancient Americas, Denver Art Museum
The Memory of Water: The Museum Space as a Bridge between Contemporary Indigenous Communities and the Latinx Diaspora
Blanca Maldonado - Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, El Colegio de Michoacán, A.C.
Methods for Identifying the Origin of Archaeological or Anthropological Objects
Jesse Lerner - Professor of Media Studies, Pitzer College
Sandra Rozental - Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico
Film Screening: La Piedra Ausente (The Absent Stone)
Andrew Turner – Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute
The Pre-Hispanic Art Provenance Initiative: Analysis and Mobilization of the Stendahl Art Galleries Records
Contact Lyssa Stapleton
Email waystation@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
This workshop will provide participants with first-hand experience of the complete process of creating, importing and interacting with 3D digital assets in collaborative Virtual Reality. Photogrammetric and LiDAR scans of archaeological contexts and artifacts will be used to walk workshop participants through the process of creating collaborative research spaces in the Metaverse. Metaquest Virtual Reality headsets will be available on site for a limited number of participants. This hybrid workshop will take place in person, online over Zoom, and partially on Spatial.io, a web-based metaverse platform that allows participants to engage with content in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and through their web browser on desktop and mobile devices. Registration is required to be granted access into the virtual presentation space. Those with access to Metaquest Virtual Reality headsets of their own are welcome and encouraged to attend as fully immersed participants for those sections of the workshop. Space is limited to 30 participants; prior registration is required. Registered participants will be contacted closer to the presentation date with detailed instructions and a Zoom link for those joining remotely.
Contact Rachel Schloss
Email rachelschloss@ucla.edu
Phone
The second Waystation Workshop focuses on the development of inclusive, collaborative, and reciprocal relationships with communities and nations of origin. The presentations, discussions, and lessons from this workshop will contribute to best practices for the Waystation and will serve to introduce concepts and terminology to workshop participants.
During three sessions across two days, we will present and discuss:
- Concepts and case studies for voluntary returns
- Consensus building with communities of origin
- Consensus building with nations of origin
- Long-term strategies for returned objects
Register here
Please complete the registration form at the link above. Once you have registered, a full program and Zoom link will be emailed to you.
Program
September 21
Welcome — Incoming Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Jason De León
Introductory Remarks — Stephen E. Nash
3:00-3:30 pm PST/6:00-6:30 am +1 day China/Philippines
Session #1 - 3:30-5:30 pm PST/6:30-8:30 am +1 day China/Philippines
Introduction to Consensus Building & Community Engagement
Discussants – Stacie Nicole Smith and Landis Smith
Breakfast/Lunch Break - 5:30-6:00 pm PST/8:30-9:00 am China/Philippines
Session #2 - 6:00-8:00 pm PST/9:00-11:00am +1 day China/Philippines
Consensus Building with Nations and Communities
Discussants – Marlon Martin & Zhi Xiaoyong
September 22
Session #3 - 4:30-6:30 pm PST/7:30-9:30 am +1 day China/Philippines
The Stewardship Commitment: Long-Term Care of Returned Objects
Discussants: Fang Hui and Karen Eyre Moshie Ortua-Artiaga
Concluding Session - 6:30-7:00 pm PST/9:30-10:00 am +1 day China/Philippines
All Discussants and Moderators
Contact Zichan Wang
Email waystation@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Jeremy Mikecz
Neukom Institude Postdoctoral Fellow
Native American Studies, Darmouth University
In-person, Digital Archaeology Lab, Fowler A163
Thursday May 12th, 2022 from 10am-1pm PT
Data visualizations and mapping carry with them some baggage. Graphs lie. Maps hide. Politicians, corporations, and others use them to persuade (at best), or deceive or divide (at worst). However, just as the earliest maps were simply tools intended to help us locate our place in the world, qualitative, humanistic visualization allows us to more systematically interrogate historical narratives, construct alternative narratives, and compare the difference between the two. In this hands-on workshop, Dr. Jeremy Mikecz introduces participants to inspiring examples of visualizations that reveal rather than conceal human stories. He also offers a tutorial demonstrating simple methods for producing similar visualizations in the free, open-source program Inkscape. Participants will have the opportunity to create their own qualitative, humanistic, or narrative visualization by the end of the workshop.
Sponsored by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and UCLA Latin American Institute
Contact Alba Menéndez Pereda & Rachel Schloss
Email albamenendez@ucla.edu & rachelschloss@g.ucla.edu
Phone
Hybrid event – In-person at Digital Archaeology Lab A163 Fowler and Online (Zoom)
Reception: 12pm – Outdoor Fowler Amphitheater
The Database of Religious History (DRH) is an open access digital repository of information about the global history of religion. The data is gathered through expert-created entries that take the form of structured questionnaires or “polls”. The format of the queries ensures that both quantitative and qualitative information is gathered. This enables users to both browse through individual entries in a manner similar to encyclopedia entries, as well as manipulate and visualize the data in order to compare religious beliefs and practices across time and space.
In this workshop, DRH staff will provide an introduction to this resource and discuss new pedagogy packages and polls that will be of particular interest to archaeologists and those in the cultural heritage sector. We encourage instructors and graduate students from history, archaeology, and anthropology departments to attend and sign up as experts, as all global regions and time periods are of interest. We value the time and effort of our experts, and provide a $300 (CAD) honorarium for each completed entry. Each entry is also published through the University of British Columbia library and provided with a digital DOI. This is therefore a particularly excellent opportunity for graduate students to add a publication to their resume. During the workshop, interested experts will be able to start their entries and receive guidance from DRH staff. The workshop is hybrid, and interested attendees should register for their preferred method of attendance using the link provided above. A reception will follow at 12pm – which both in-person and online attendees are welcome to attend.
Contact Caroline Arbuckle
Email caroline.arbuckle@ubc.ca
Phone
Aaron Burke (CIoA Press Editor in Chief) and Randi Danforth (Publications Director)
Thursday, September 3rd 2020 10:00am - 12:00pm (PT)
CIoA Press Editor in Chief Aaron Burke and Publications Director Randi Danforth will present a session on academic publishing in two parts. First, "how do I decide where to publish something? Who should I publish it with? Should it be an article or a book?" This presentation will provide an overview of the publication process with advice concerning how to approach publishers, select journals, prepare proposals and manuscripts, respond to and address peer review, and promote your work once published. Part Two will present an inside look at the process, from book proposal to board review to acceptance and production (copyediting, author review, design, printing, and distribution). Deidre Whitmore will give an overview of electronic publishing possibilities, both those linked to a book in print, and those in independent digital forms.
Contact Deidre Whitmore
Email dal@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Doug Daniels, Emerging Technologies Librarian
Thursday, August 27th 2020 10:00am - 12:00pm (PT)
Doug Daniels is the Emerging Technologies Librarian at the UCLA Library and director of the Library’s Lux Lab. The Lux Lab is a suite of emerging technology services, including 3D printing, 3D scanning, laser cutting and etching, large format printing, 3D mapping, and a developing VR service. This workshop will highlight some past work that the Lux Lab has done. These past projects reflect the diverse use-cases of these technologies in an archaeological context. Immediately following the presentation, a live demonstration of the Lux Lab’s 3D scanner(s) will take place, with plenty of time for questions and answers.
Contact Deidre Whitmore
Email dal@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Deidre Whitmore, Digital Archaeology Lab
Thursday, August 13th 2020 10:00 - 11:00am (PT)
This workshop will prevent headaches and save hours of work. The open-source tool Zotero not only makes gathering and organizing references fast and easy but also simplifies the process of adding citations and bibliographies to your publications. This workshop will cover how to add articles, books, chapters, periodicals, and web resources with a single click. Participants will also learn how to add in-text citations directly in Word and LibreOffice as well as adding and formatting a reference cited and bibliography to publications. Lastly, we will cover how to collaborate with colleagues and easily share research materials using Zotero libraries.
Register here (Registration limited to Cotsen affiliates)
Contact Deidre Whitmore
Email dal@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Deidre Whitmore, Digital Archaeology Lab
Thursday, August 6th 2020 10:00am - 12:00pm (PT)
Data are messy. Nearly all datasets require cleaning and processing before they can be analyzed and interpreted. This workshop will cover how to use the free, open-source tool OpenRefine to more quickly and easily understand and clean your data. Participants will learn how to correct typos and misspellings, standardize terms and dates, and break complex data into usable formats. We will also cover how to share your data and cleaning steps with collaborators and export a script that details the steps taken which can be applied to future datasets.
Register here (Registration limited to Cotsen affiliates)
Contact Deidre Whitmore
Email dal@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
Anthony Caldwell, Assistant Director of the UCLA Digital Research Consortium
Thursday, July 23rd 2020 10:00am - 12:00pm (PT)
This workshop will introduce 3D modeling through the use of SketchUp, an intuitive modeling application that lets you create and edit 3D models. The workshop will cover: navigating and understanding 3D space, drawing basics, textures, tags, importing and exporting, and much more.
Note: This workshop will be using Sketch-up free. If you would like to follow the workshop, please make sure you have signed up for a SketchUp free account at https://www.sketchup.com/plans-and-pricing/sketchup-free
Contact Deidre Whitmore
Email dal@ioa.ucla.edu
Phone
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