Crossing the Nature-Culture Divide in Academia to Enhance Land and Resource Management

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Western ideologies that reinforce nature-culture divides are deeply entrenched in American mindsets and approaches to land and resource management. Resulting disciplinary divides can influence environmental determinations and decisions in ways that ignore or negatively impact cultural heritage. In contrast, archaeological and indigenous communities understand that human-environment interactions are longstanding, dynamic, and ongoing processes that cannot be easily untangled into a single professional specialization. Across field-based disciplines there is a need to better align with tribal and descendant community worldviews and national workforce demands, requiring professional training programs in higher education to intentionally bridge specialized research gaps and promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. At the course level, this includes the meaningful integration of readings, assignments, and speakers from other disciplines that reflect different approaches to the same areas of focus. At the academic program level, this includes creating and supporting cross-disciplinary, team-taught curriculum, especially relating to fieldwork, as well as embedding working professionals throughout degree programs to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue, training, mentorship, and networking opportunities that are inclusive of different approaches within overlapping areas of professional study. Case studies from California’s Channel Islands are presented to provide tangible examples that address feasibility, inclusivity, and positive outcomes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 54030