Exploring Applied Archaeology. Towards a socially sustainable development-led archaeology.

PhD defence by Stefanie Langaa Melander

Assessment Committee

Professor, PhD Eva Andersson Strand, Humanities Faculty, Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Associate professor, PhD Alfredo González-Ruibal, Institute of Heritage Sciences, Spanish National Research Council
Reader, PhD Lesley McFadyen, Birkbeck, University of London

Supervisor

Associate Professor Tim Flohr Sørensen

Department

SAXO-Institute - Archaeology, Ethnology, Greek & Latin, History

Place

The defence is conducted as a hybrid defence.

To attend the defence in person:
Building: 9A, Room: 9A.0.01,
Karen Blixens Plads 16, 2300 København S

To attend the defence online:
Please follow the link to attend the defence online: https://ucph-ku.zoom.us/j/62253558074pwd=hC8EMoPWeshTYFp7n24uqCWlcb6cFP.1 
MeetingID, if relevant: 622 5355 8074
Password, if relevant: 612774

Email address to gain access to the thesis: stefanielangaa@gmail.com.
You will either receive a copy of the thesis or be informed where you can read a physical copy.

Recipients of copies of the thesis are not allowed to share or distribute it due to copyright compliance.

Short description of the thesis

In her thesis, Stefanie Langaa Melander examines how archaeology can contribute actively to contemporary society. In Denmark, development-led archaeology produces most archaeological knowledge, yet its social relevance remains contested. Through transdisciplinary research conducted in Køge Nord, Melander examines how feminist perspectives, citizen science, and collaborative practices can foster place-making, community formation, and democratic knowledge production. Her research identifies new methodological and epistemological possibilities within development-led archaeology, and the thesis argues that archaeology is not only about understanding and preserving the past, but also about shaping socially sustainable presents and futures.