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Each year around 11,000 teenagers in the Australian state of New South Wales study the archaeological sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum as a compulsory topic in the senior school subject of Ancient History. Students examine written and archaeological evidence of the everyday lives of ancient people, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and how the sites were rediscovered and excavated. Most importantly, they learn to critically examine ethical issues relating to the conservation, reconstruction and interpretation of Pompeii and Herculaneum and how they affect tourism and heritage management in Italy today. The topic has become so popular that it can best be described as a ‘Pompeii-mania’ which has spawned a thriving ‘industry’ of conferences, textbooks, university courses and even school trips to Italy. In this paper I explain how ‘Pompeii-mania’ developed, its impact on teachers and students, and provide evidence of its influence on students’ choices of university subject.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	ancient history, archaeology, curriculum, Pompeii, Herculaneum, schools, Australia
Research Division:	Education
Research Group:	Curriculum and pedagogy
Research Field:	Humanities and social sciences curriculum and pedagogy (excl. economics, business and management)
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Teaching and curriculum
Objective Field:	Pedagogy
UTAS Author:	Zarmati, LFC (Dr Louise Zarmati)
ID Code:	114969
Year Published:	2017
Deposited By:	Education
Deposited On:	2017-03-03
Last Modified:	2018-05-31
Downloads:	66 View Download Statistics