Developing a Community-Oriented, On-Campus Archaeological Project [Foundational Skills]

Developing a Community-Oriented, On-Campus Archaeological Project [Foundational Skills]

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1. Understand the value of conducting community-oriented archaeological research on their college campus

1. Describe the issues that need to be addressed in order to carry out a successful on-campus project, including funding and buy-in from stakeholders

1. Consider the goals that a campus archaeology project might (or might not) address on their own campus

Presenter(s)

Maureece J. Levin, Ph.D., RPA, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Reecie Levin is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She completed her PhD and MA in Anthropology at the University of Oregon and a BA in Anthropology at Whitman College. Since 2023, she has led a public archaeology project on the UA Little Rock campus, which has integrated with undergraduate coursework, trained archaeological interns, welcomed over 30 volunteers in the field and the laboratory, and shared archaeology and aspects of land history with the university community.

Additionally, she has conducted archaeological and archaeobotanical work in Micronesia since 2008, where she addresses questions of ancient food cultivation and land management strategies in both high island and atoll environments. She has directed a field school on the island of Pohnpei and worked with community organizations and students. She has also conducted phytolith and starch research from materials around the world.

Course Description

Archaeological education today faces a variety of challenges. In the classroom context, it can be difficult to fully communicate to students what it is actually like to do archaeology. While we know that there are careers available for graduates, many students struggle to gain the field experience they need, as this often requires leaving home for weeks to attend an expensive field school. Additionally, the general public often only has a rudimentary understanding of what archaeology is in the first place, and some believe that archaeology is something that happens at far away monumental sites, not in their own backyard. The community-oriented campus archaeology project tackles these challenges head-on, creating opportunities for students to get valuable training and for community members to experience archaeology. It also has the added benefits of raising the profile of archaeology in the university setting, where we are often a small field that gets less attention, enhancing local knowledge of past land use, and potentially contributing to institutional history. This seminar is geared towards archaeologists who work in college and university settings and want to develop broadly accessible projects that combine teaching and scholarship. The instructor will discuss her own experience designing and running a public-facing, classroom-integrated campus archaeology project, with lessons learned along the way.