This friday, the University will hand out three Educational Prizes to three outstanding employees. Lecturer in archeology Nicolo Dell’unto is one of them.
Enthusiastically gesturing and clicking on two computer screens to show impressive animations, Nicolo Dell’unto introduces his field: Digital Archeology. Listening to his passionate story about an excavation in Pompeii, one cannot be surprised that the Student Union cooperative Lus nominated him for one of this semester’s Educational Prizes.
What makes your field interesting?
“In Digital Archeology, we use technology to visualize and analyze archeological excavations. In archeology, you actually destroy what you have, when you want to see the next layer of a site. In the past, one would draw these layers, but a drawing is always an interpretation. With computer programs, you can visualize in detail an excavation and compare different layers. This is a revolution!”
Do you have a special method of teaching?
“For every course I make a blog, which can only be entered by the students of the course. I only ask them to reply when they have read my entries. But often they will write longer replies, leading to never-ending discussions! In this way, students can learn all the time: the hours that we’re in class become just a meeting point.”
You receive praise for your ability to help your students on their way to the job market. How do you do that?
“In the more advanced course, students have to do a large assignment. I always try to link them to a museum in Skåne, so that they can do a case study there. This can lead to students finishing the project while being paid. Sometimes we also hire our own students to do a job, because they are the only ones with the knowledge to work with a program. And I stay in contact with my former students via a Facebook group, where we exchange news and post open job positions.”
