What 35 Students Tell Us: Re-evaluating Traditional Field School Delivery Methods

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 2019, the University of Idaho offered a field school in an alternative way – by having the field school incorporated into the regular academic year curriculum. With the cooperation of our registrar the class was folded into the regular fall semester class schedule. Four years later we did it again, resulting in 35 students enrolling in an eight week urban field methods course. The field school was held on the grounds of our local high school and within walking distance both from the campus and from our town’s business district. Working in a state (Idaho) that struggles with educating students we have found that alternative delivery of field training addresses many issues. First, it enables students to gain field experience who otherwise cannot afford it under traditional field models. Second, it is a tangible way to demonstrate University engagement in the community that we are a part of. Finally, it is a counter narrative to the increasing skepticism about the relevance of higher education in rural communities. Ultimately, our project demonstrates how archaeology can meaningfully contribute to many of the pervasive challenges facing our discipline specifically and higher education in general.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41586.0