Bridging Past and Present: Applying Archaeological Skills to Urban Planning

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Breaking Free from the (Institutional) Matrix: Archaeological Career Pathways In and Between Academia, CRM, Non-Profit, and Museum Spheres", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Urban planning may seem an unlikely career for an archaeologist, yet archaeology's insights into human behavior, cultural evolution, and historical legacies help address modern social, economic, and political issues. This relevance is evident in my role at an urban planning agency, where I bridge humanities and planning within Greater Boston. As the Regional Humanities Specialist for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, I leverage my 20-year archaeological background to integrate anthropological perspectives into urban planning. Through interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues in departments such as Environment, Transportation, and Public Health, I work to shape communities with culturally sensitive approaches addressing legacies of injustice. My previous experience collaborating with Indigenous people and navigating tribal dynamics has also enabled our agency to build deeper relationships and incorporate Indigenous perspectives into our work. This paper will showcase how archaeological skills can be applied to modern challenges, offering a model for archaeologists navigating interdisciplinary career pathways.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Breaking Free from the (Institutional) Matrix: Archaeological Career Pathways In and Between Academia, CRM, Non-Profit, and Museum Spheres   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow