BOOM BABY!: Archaeology and the ethics of edutainment

Author(s): Charles Ewen

Year: 2013

Summary

Archaeologists in the United States have been horrified by the debut of new reality shows featuring treasure hunters looting sites for fun and profit.  Most troubling was that one of these shows, "Diggers", was the brainchild of the National Geographic Society, long time supporters of archaeology.  Meetings with National Geographic have shown them willing to compromise to make the shows more ethical if they could still be profitable. However, the real question is, how willing are archaeologists to compromise with the edutainment industry?  Do we take the high road and lose relevance with most of the public or do we sell out and lose our professional souls?  There IS a middle ground.

Cite this Record

BOOM BABY!: Archaeology and the ethics of edutainment. Charles Ewen. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Leicester, England, U.K. 2013 ( tDAR id: 428604)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 221