Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Why should students take archaeology courses and complete academic degrees? This panel's answer is that the study of archaeology can and should prepare students at all levels for socially responsible lives and excellent career opportunities. The divide between academic and public archaeology is based on a false choice. All archaeological courses and programs (BA, MA and PhD) can connect thinking like an archaeologist with the needs and demands of society at large if they offer students the proper tool kit of methodologies and techniques. If this occurs, archaeological study opens the career door wide open for students at all levels. The public needs people who can think and practice archaeology in a wide array of areas, including: K-12 classrooms, community culture and historic centers, museums, governance, and municipal land-use and zoning offices. This panel includes archaeologists experienced in a broad swath of archaeological settings such : universities, CRM firms, heritage centers, tribal centers, museums, government agencies to discuss the cultural benefits of archaeological study and its career opportunities when it is taught with the public good in mind.

Other Keywords
Cultural Resources and Heritage Management • Public and Community Archaeology • Education/Pedagogy • Cahokia • Cultural Resource Management • Public Archaeology • Cultural Heritage • Archaic • Mississippian • Indigenous

Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) • United States of America (Country) • Wisconsin (State / Territory) • Michigan (State / Territory) • Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre (Country) • Minnesota (State / Territory) • Canada (Country) • South Dakota (State / Territory) • North Dakota (State / Territory) • Worldwide

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • Archaeology as a Public Good: the Summer Field School Program at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Susan Prezzano.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the past twenty years, the anthropology program at Clarion University, a small public university in rural western Pennsylvania, participated in a partnership with the Heritage Program of the Allegheny National Forest focused on the excavation of archaeological sites within the boundaries...

  • Excited about Archaeology: Opportunities for Students at a 4-Year University (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Anna Dixon.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite rising tuition costs and decreasing budgets, students at 4-year public institutions still seek out opportunities to engage in archaeological fieldwork, laboratory and museum research, regardless of whether they plan to go on to graduate school in anthropology or to pursue careers...

  • Five Decades of Public Archaeology at Cahokia Mounds (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bill Iseminger.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During nearly five decades of working in public archaeology at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, I have witnessed and experienced the importance of public awareness of archaeology and American Indian cultures and found the need to overcome stereotypes the public has about both.This has been...

  • Making Public Archaeology More Public (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ben Resnick.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. American archaeology today is focused on the identification and evaluation of historic properties in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. While this has created a body of work in compliance with environmental and historic preservation laws, for the most part, these...

  • Mapping Unmarked Graves in Remote Australian Aboriginal Communities (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Claire Smith. Jordan Ralph. Jasmine Willika. Guy Rankin. Gary Jackson.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation outlines the public good that is being produced by a project being undertaken at the request of the Elders from the remote Aboriginal community of Barunga, Northern Territory. It may be hard to believe, but in 2018 the vast majority of graves of Aboriginal people in remote...

  • Off the Beaten Path: Employing an Archaeological Education in Non-Traditional Careers (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Laurence Bartram.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. What utility does an archaeological education provide students who choose careers off well-trodden archaeological paths? What do these students bring to their careers and society at large? This paper focuses on why academic training in anthropological archaeology can offer students a desirable...

  • Science, Circumstance, Dollars and Cents: Perspectives on the Public Benefit of Archaeology (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only J. Joseph.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Opening with an introduction to a fictional (as of this writing) federal agency seeking to mine the public value of our nation’s archaeological legacy, this presentation pivots to a consideration of the origins of precontact versus historical archaeology and our subfield’s interactions with the...

  • A Sense of Community: Archaeology, Participatory Democracy and Social Justice in Canada's Easternmost Province (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lisa Rankin. Barry Gaulton.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Memorial University, located in St. John’s, Newfoundland, was developed in 1925 to help build a better future for the people of Canada’s easternmost province, whose largely rural fishing communities were rapidly transforming through industrialization and urbanization. Mandated by a "special...

  • A State Agency’s Perspective (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Timothy Dodson.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. I offer a perspective of why archaeology should be a part of all students’ educational journey as a way to cultivate critical skills and educate well-rounded, successful members of society. As an individual in charge of assessing the effect of local, state and federal undertakings on cultural...

  • Using Archaeological Training to Help Tribal Communities (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dennis Lewarch.

    This is an abstract from the "Archaeology as a Public Good: Why Studying Archaeology Creates Good Careers and Good Citizens" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Indigenous communities often lack financial resources, technical skill sets, and expertise in regulatory processes to identify, document, protect, and enhance their cultural patrimony. Well-trained archaeologists are competent in a wide range of skills needed to collaborate and work with...