Motivation and Community in Public Archaeology Evaluation

Evaluation of public archaeology programs has become a more urgent concern in recent years as social sciences funding is threatened by neoliberal politicians. To have a robust discourse about evaluation, we must identify motivations, principles, and illustrative examples, and make more materials available to colleagues. Following past sessions focusing on case studies and principles for evaluation, this session focuses on the reasons we pursue it. Whether we are following the mission statement of an institution, a community call to action, an ethical imperative, or a theory of knowledge production, our public-facing work has a meaningful impact on the publics we engage, and the greatest bank of knowledge about how is held within our colleagues. In this session, presenters will discuss their motivations, both practical and intellectual, for pursuing specific public archaeology programs, and how they do or will use evaluation in their work.