Simulating Engagement: Teaching Students about Stakeholders

Summary

In my introduction to archaeology class, one of the most difficult topics to make my students understand and care about is the role of stakeholders in shaping archaeological research. This subject is simply not engaging in a lecture format. So, instead of lecturing about diverse perspectives, I ask students to participate in a simulated stakeholder meeting. The recent controversy over the development of fracking at Chaco Canyon provided the inspiration for my hypothetical scenario, in which multiple stakeholders are asked to weigh in on a proposal to allow hydraulic fracturing in an area rich with cultural resources. Students are assigned the role of a stakeholder, provided with basic background information, and given one week to research their role before the simulation. Afterwards, they are asked to reflect on their experiences in a response paper. In this poster, I describe the activity in greater detail, offer my own reflections on its successes and failures, and make suggestions about how it might be adapted to suit other audiences.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Teaching Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century: Activities for the College Classroom   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords