Can Archaeology help Decolonize the way Institutions Think? How community-based research is transforming the archaeology training toolbox and educating institutions

Summary

Community-based research requires systemic shifts within institutions, from the way research is funded, protection of human subjects/IRB reviews, ethical guidelines, and what is legible/valued in tenure & promotion decisions.

Some of the most important yet least discussed changes must happen in the classroom, in terms of what & how we teach. For community-based archaeologists, we know that process matters. How we conduct research with community partners is essential. The relationships and trust we build; how we design and carry out projects in a participatory way; and the formats we choose for sharing results often need to be retooled.

In this paper I consider these issues in two parts. First, I examine how community-based archaeological research is helping decolonize institutions by introducing new ways of thinking about the goals, processes, and outcomes of research. Second, I consider the skills and training that community-based archaeology requires, and I present my recent encounters and experiments in cultivating literacies and competency in these areas amongst undergraduate and graduate students. I close by examining our responsibilities as scholars to bring about curricular change in our departments, universities, and professional organizations; including suggestions of next steps for the SAA in this area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• A Global Dialogue on Collaborative Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15863