Educational Focus

This one-hour online seminar--Funding Opportunities from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research—will benefit archaeological doctoral students seeking funding for their dissertation research as well as senior archaeologists looking for relatively small amounts of funding ($20,000). The course will provide an introduction to the Wenner-Gren Foundation, its unique history and its role in funding international anthropology, including archaeology. The goals of the seminar are to 1) to share the unique history of the Wenner-Gren Foundation and its role in the development of international anthropology; 2) to introduce doctoral students and senior scholars to the variety of funding opportunities available through the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and 3) to explain how archaeologists can prepare a competitive grant application for the most popular Wenner –Gren research grant programs (the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant and the Post-Ph.D. Research Grant). Participants will come away with an understanding of the funding opportunities available from Wenner-Gren Foundation, and how to write a successful Wenner-Gren grant application (particularly important in view of the fact that the Foundation’s success rate is only 15%). Attendees will have the opportunity to ask specific questions about the Wenner-Gren Foundation and all aspects of the application, review and award process.

Course Outline

1. Introduction to the Wenner-Gren Foundation, including its origins in the early 1940s, its endowment, and its 75 year history of support for archaeology.
2. The mission of the Foundation and the necessity that applications to the Foundation are consistent with this mission.
3. Introduction to the available funding opportunities for archaeologists.
4. How to prepare a successful grant application, including:
   1. General characteristics of successful and unsuccessful archaeological applications,
   2. Detailed pointers on answering each of our five project description questions
   3. Advice on preparing the budget
   4. What to do if your application is rejected? — Answer: resubmit
5. Application and award logistics including details about the Wenner-Gren review process
6. Question and answer interaction

Expert Instructors

Leslie Aiello is the President of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the largest private foundation devoted to the support of international anthropological research. She has been in this position since 2005, during which time the Foundation has received over 13,000 applications and made 2126 awards. She is personally involved in the decision for each application as well as in all aspects of program design and implementation.

Her academic interests focus on the evolution of human adaptation as well as on the broader issues of evolutionary theory, life history and the evolution of the brain and cognition. She received her BA and MA in Anthropology from the University of California (Los Angeles) and her PhD in human evolution and anatomy from the University of London. She spent the majority of her 30-year academic career at University College London where she was Professor of Biological Anthropology, Head of the UCL Anthropology Department (1996-2002), and Head of the UCL Graduate School (2002 to 2005). She also served as the co-managing editor of the Journal of Human Evolution (1993-1999), has published books and a number of articles in academic journals and has been active with the media in the public dissemination of science and particularly human evolution. Her better known published works include Human Evolutionary Anatomy (with MC Dean, Academic Press, 1991); "The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis: the brain and the digestive system in human evolution” (with P. Wheeler, Current Anthropology 36:199-221) as well as a series of more recent papers on the evolution of language, cooperation, energetics and climate adaptation.

Among her honours are the 2006 Huxley Memorial Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute, fellowships from University College London (2007), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002) and the German Academy of Science Leopoldina (2012), and elected membership in the American Philosophical Society (2014). She is Professor Emerita at University College London.

Lack of Commercialism

There are no outside instructional materials for this course. All necessary information is available on the Wenner-Gren Foundation website.

CPE Credit

One hour of CPE is given for each hour of the program. This one-hour program will grant one CPE credit. Evaluation

The SAA will send the RPA the names of those who completed the online seminar as well as the course evaluation data.

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This workshop is offered annually as a full-day training event at the Society for Historical Archaeology’s Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology. The workshop consists of a series of interactive lectures provided by the members of the ACUA Board of Directors. All participants receive an informational CD with presentation notes, supporting legislation and contacts, and referrals related to the workshop lectures.

Abstract

Cultural resource managers, land managers, and archaeologists are often tasked with managing, interpreting, and reviewing archaeological assessments for submerged cultural resources. This workshop is designed to introduce non-specialists to issues specific to underwater archaeology. Participants will learn about different types of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites, and the techniques used in Phase I and II equivalent surveys. This workshop is not intended to teach participants how to do underwater archaeology, but will introduce different investigative techniques, international Best Practices, and existing legislation. The purpose of this workshop is to assist non-specialists in recognizing the potential for UCH resources in their areas of impact, budgeting for UCH resource investigations, reviewing UCH resource assessments, developing interpretive strategies, and providing sufficient background information to assist in making informed decisions regarding UCH resources.

Education Focus

The Workshop was developed to provide information to terrestrial resource managers that have responsibilities for UCH, but lack the training to make knowledgeable decisions about resources in the underwater environment. Since 2010, the workshop has been offered annually in conjunction with the Society for Historical Archaeology’s Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology. Participants in the previous offerings have included consultants, cultural resource managers, academics, and students.

The Learning Objectives are designed to provide a basic introduction of issues related to UCH to terrestrial archaeologists, including: recognizing the potential for UCH resources in affected areas; budgeting for underwater investigations; reviewing UCH resource assessments; developing interpretive strategies; and providing sufficient background information to assist in making informed decisions regarding UCH resources. These learning objectives directly support the RPA’s Code of Conduct by exposing terrestrial archaeologists to some of the complexities of underwater cultural heritage. The workshop also supports the RPA’s Standards of Research Performance by informing participants of the steps involved in completing Phase I and Phase II investigations of UCH sites and case studies of completed underwater work.

The Workshop includes a series of stand-alone modules on topics related to underwater cultural heritage. The modules covered in the full-day Workshop include: Introduction to Underwater Archaeology, Overview of Historic Preservation Legislation (as it relates to underwater cultural heritage), Introduction to Remote Sensing Survey, Overview of Qualifications and Reporting (e.g., who is qualified to work underwater), a regional module (this changes annually based on where the conference is held), an international module, a module on outreach and interpretation, and a hands-on component of technology used in underwater archaeology.

Success in mastering the objectives of this workshop is measured through interactive discussion throughout the day as well as workshop evaluations and feedback from workshop participants.

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Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist (AMDA) will present its fifth class offering, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on April 24-26, 2015. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will be our local partner for this class. AMDA is certified under the Register of Professional Archaeologists’ continuing professional education program. The goal of the class is to provide professional archaeologists with an understanding of current best practices in metal detecting, and to provide the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with a variety of devices from a variety of manufacturers.

The course is offered with 16-credit and 24-credit options. Under the former, there are 8 hours of classroom work and 8 hours of field instruction/experience. Under the latter, the field portion is expanded to 16 hours and the classroom remains 8 hours. Fees will be $275 for 16 credits and $350 for 24 credits. At this class, the field sessions will be held at Fort Halifax Park, site of a French and Indian War fort on the Susquehanna River.

For more information please contact Chris Espenshade at cespenshade@ccrginc.com or Patrick Severts at Pseverts@newsouthassoc.com.

For more information, please visit the AMDA's course page on New South Associate, Inc.'s website.

Click here to download the registration form for this course.

Advanced Metal Detecting for the Archaeologist is pleased to announce that Minelab will be providing up to five tuition scholarships for their next class. Please click here for more information.

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Archaeological Investigations Northwest, Inc.'s (AINW) five-day program emphasizes hands-on production and analysis of flaked stone tools and debitage. Participants become familiar with several tool technologies (including core, biface, bipolar, and blade technologies), and learn to recognize and identify the distinctive manufacturing products and by-products of each. The program promotes the RPA goals of professional development through enhancing interpretive capabilities in recognizing behaviors associated with ancient technologies. These lithic technology analysis methods are commonly needed in archaeology due to the abundance of flaked stone lithic materials at prehistoric archaeological sites.

This one-week (five consecutive eight-hour days) program provides an intensive immersion in learning the mechanics of producing stone tools and learning to identify technologically diagnostic attributes based on comparing archaeological and experimental materials.

Click here for the course's full description, dates, and registration information.

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