There and Back Again: When the Archaeological Career Path Turns into a Journey

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.

The rate at which historical archaeology is expanding in today’s world pushes many archaeologists to feel rushed into finding and filling niches after graduation. As a result, real world work experience quickly reveals that careers in archaeology are very rarely a straight paved path. Often, these experiences prove to be a relatively unkempt trail complete with scenic views, unmarked discoveries, and (occasionally) dragons. For the authors of this paper, our combined twenty years of experience in the academic, cultural resource management, and federal fields have taught us the benefit of taking the long way there, elsewhere, and back again. In this presentation, we will discuss how our journeys in archaeology taught us when to specialize, when to shift gears, and the difficulties in translating between academic and professional spaces, while bringing the voices of other professional explorers into the conversation.

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