Collapsing Spurious Distinctions Between Science and Service in Archaeological Climate Change Work

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Bridging Science and Service: How Archaeologists Address Climate Change" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The future of American archaeology demands that practitioners identify the distinction between scientific scholarship and service as not only spurious but harmful to our discipline. The academic luxury of privileging scholarship as the driver of disciplinary progress undermines the value of the everyday work, denigrated as “service,” that is involved in addressing the impacts of climate change on heritage resources and engaging with the communities they represent. From changing our teaching content and methods, to seeking non-traditional research partnerships, to building networks across disciplines, to organizing community-based events, archaeologists are finding that their efforts at integrating expertise and outreach around climate change are building a new practice, one that enhances the relevance of the discipline. These points are illustrated in a case study from the Virginia Blue Ridge, where a Section 106 mitigation project undertaken by the author and her students, was interrupted by catastrophic storms and flooding in 2018. While technical reports and scholarly outputs were completed, the lasting impacts of the project are associated with work that raised the profile of climate change (and archaeology) in the local community and with National Park Service managers. Sometimes finding a seat at the table requires that you build the table.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bridging Science and Service: How Archaeologists Address Climate Change   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50819