archaeology and the wider world

8/2/2019 Archaeology and the Wider World

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Archaeology and the Wider World

Presented at the 77th

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis,

Tennessee in the symposium Lessons from the Trenches: The Pedagogy of

Archaeology and Heritage

Frances. M. Hayashida

Dept. of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM 87108

Email: [email protected]

Introduction

Over the past fourteen years I have been teaching primarily undergraduates at large public

universities. My students include archaeology concentrators, but most are anthropology majors

or minors from other subfields, or students from other departments. My primary goal is to turn

out informed, critical thinkers with a stronger understanding of and interest in their place in the

world. A second goal is to help them see how a comparative and historical (including

archaeological) perspective can inform our thinking and actions in the modern world. A third

goal, particularly for archaeology concentrators, is to train them in methods, theory, and research

design, but also in the sociopolitics and history of archaeological practice to prepare them for the

issues they will face as professionals. Finally, I want students to be able to clearly communicate

their new knowledge, ideas and skills in oral and written form. In this paper, I share some of my

experiences in developing and teaching courses to reach these goals. While none of these classes

are specifically in cultural heritage management, they are designed to help students gain a deeper

appreciation for why history and the tangible remains of past cultures matter, which is a

foundational value for protecting archaeological sites and remains.

Example 1: Archaeological Methods, Theory and Practice

Archaeological Methods, Theory, and Practice was originally designed for the Society for

American Archaeologys curriculum reform MATRIX (Making Archaeology Teaching Relevant

in the XXI Century) Project (2003), which was directed by Anne Pyburn of the University of

Indiana. The goal of the project was to create a series of courses that could serve as a resource

for archaeology educators that were based on the SAAs Principles of Archaeological Ethics


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(1996), which focus on stewardship of the archaeological record, accountability to the public,

protection of resources from commercialization, public education and outreach, protection of

intellectual property, public reporting and publication, preservation and responsible use of

records, and adequate training and resources. Project participants included course designers,

as well as content and pedagogical advisors.

I was the course designer forArchaeological Methods, Theory, and Practice and have now

taught it at three different institutions as a required upper-division course for archaeology

concentrators. I had previously taught the course as a fairly straightforward introduction to

method and theory in archaeology. While developing it for MATRIX, I chose to emphasize

archaeological research design (i.e., questions, their theoretical foundations, the methods used to

collect the evidence to answer those questions, possible outcomes and interpretations, and the

links among those four components). I selected topics with contemporary relevance, e.g., our

place in nature, the origins of inequality and its maintenance, gender identity and relations, and

warfare. Students were also introduced to archaeological practice and ethics by discussing

equity in American archaeology; the meanings and treatment of human remains; history,

heritage, memory and commemoration; and public archaeology.

As the students explore these topics, they also have a series of parallel assignments centered on a

book-length archaeological study. Each student works with a book of their choosing from a list

provided by me that forms the foundation for three papers and two presentations meant to

reinforce their understanding of archaeological research design and hone their research,

analytical thinking, writing, and public speaking skills. The first paper analyzes the research

design of the chosen study; the second focuses on an aspect of the study and is written for the

public in the style of an article forArchaeology magazine. For this paper, students are

encouraged to take the role of the excavator (the studys author) or of a participant in the

fieldwork. This assignment is followed by a mock presentation for a 5th

grade class. The final

paper asks the students to consider what would you do next? at their study site or region, and

to create a research proposal to present in written and oral (slide talk or poster) forms. The

proposal requires additional library research to define and develop theprojects research

questions and how they would be addressed.


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Students find the proposal to be the most challenging assignment but most step up to the task.

Because they have worked with the same study over the course of the term, and because we

discuss the research design of all the projects we read about in class, they have a foundation to

start with. I make some allowances to simplify their work (e.g., they can assume unlimited funds

and do not have to produce a budget, they can assume perfect preservation). I have gotten

papers that were on par (in terms of sophistication) with proposals that I have seen from

advanced graduate students, and several students who have gone on to graduate school have

commented on the usefulness of this assignment. All students hopefully emerge from the

exercise with a much stronger understanding of the research process, where our questions come

from, and how they are answered.

The most enjoyable assignment (for the students and for me) is the mock presentation for fifth-

graders. I have been surprised (though perhaps should not have been) to see how much college

students embrace the idea and challenge of public outreach, especially to children. Here again, I

let them take the role of project directors and participants; if the class is large, students work in

small groups (based on having read the same study).i

They are also allowed to bring in mock

artifacts and other objects to share with the audience. I encourage the students to be interactive

and to pose questions to the children (their classmates), who are only too happy to respond in

their role as ten-year olds.

The last time I taught the class, the presentations got increasingly elaborate with each new group.

While most presentations featured artifacts, one group who was working on a study of diet

reconstruction in lowland Central America, also brought in tropical fruit to share. They were

followed by a group explaining their study ofdomestic architecture and social organization in

the Pacific Northwest, who not only brought in artifacts, but also an extremely well-made

replica of a pithouse,ii

which they let the students examine as they passed out slices of smoked

salmon. While the students are not graded on the elaborateness of their displays or the

sumptuousness of their snacks, I have been impressed by how enthusiastically and creatively

they have approached the assignment. While a course on public archaeology would ideally

include working with local teachers and preparing actual presentations for schoolchildren, this

exercise introduces students to the necessity of outreach and to the challenges (and some of the

rewards) of presenting archaeology to the public.


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Example 2: Archaeology for the Politically Engaged Non-Archaeologist

In the last couple of years, I have developed and taught two classes at the University of New

Mexico that cross subdisciplines in anthropology. Food, Foraging, and Farming was originally

designed as a capstone class for undergraduates and incorporates readings and perspectives fromarchaeology, ethnology, and biological anthropology. The development ofIndigenous People

and Conservationwas supported by UNMs Latin American and Iberian Institute, and is a

combined undergraduate and graduate student course that can be taken for archaeology or

ethnology credits. The majority of slots are reserved for undergraduates. Both classes center on

contemporary issues: the environmental, health, and social problems tied to our modern

industrial food production and distribution systems in the Foodclass, and threats to indigenous

rights from conservation initiatives and development in theIndigenous People class. I will focus

here on the Foodclass.

In Food, Foraging, and Farming, we begin by reading The Omnivores Dilemma(Pollan 2007)

and viewing Food, Inc. (2008). Students also keep a food chain journal for 24 hours, where

they are required to trace, as best they can, every ingredient for every item they consume and to

identify where it came from, how it was raised, and who raised, processed, transported, and

distributed the food and their working conditions. For most students, this is the first time that

they have had to consider where their food comes from, and the environmental and social

impacts of our industrial food system. They also come to understand how aberrant our current

system is, when viewed against the backdrop of long-term human history, where we have for the

most part, hunted, gathered or raised our own food, or knew the producers, resulting in much

closer ties between people and the environment and each other. To make this point, we dive

from the present into the Paleolithic, where students read a suite of articles on diet and human

evolution. This is followed by readings from the various anthropology subfields on hunter-

gatherer adaptations to and management of the environment (that includes an introduction to

archaeobotanical methods); plant and animal domestication (which informs later discussions on

GMOs); storage and feasting (to examine the origins of food as political currency); the ecology

and culture of non-industrial farming (e.g., agroecological knowledge, organization of small-

scale farmers); and food justice (worker welfare, food gaps,iii

food justice movements).


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The class is capped at 30 students and is discussion based. Before each class meeting, students

are required to post to the course website a reading response and one or two discussion

questions. The responses cannot be simple summaries but must demonstrate a deeper

engagement (by commenting on the links to other readings, course themes, current events, or

personal experience). The questions must be designed to generate discussion and cannot be

simple requests for more information. Before each class, I group the questions by theme (adding

a question or two if there is something I also want to cover), order the themes, have the questions

printed out, and use them to structure the class discussion. I also draw on the responses during

our discussion in class (e.g., I may ask a student to share observations or ideas from their

response). On occasion, and for particularly big (more philosophical or ethical) questions, I

divide students into small groups to talk among themselves before sharing their ideas with the

class. Having the discussion based on student generated questions does two things: (1) lets

students know they have an investment in the course (the discussion is only as good as their level

of preparation and the quality of their questions) and (2) helps ensure that all students participate

(for they all submit questions and I will often go to the questions author to get their opinion).

While there are always quiet students, I have noticed that those who are more shy or hesitant in

the beginning of the term do warm up and participate more as the course proceeds.

Students also write three papers for the course and do one oral presentation. Two of the papers

are essays on material we have all covered in the readings; the third and the presentation are on a

research topic (usually chosen from a list that I provide) that complements the course material.

For example, during our section on feasting, students present on alcohol and the legitimation of

power and on Inka storage systems; during the section on the ecology and organization of

farming, students speak on Mayan tropical forest farming and agrobiodiversity conservation in

the Andes; in the section on food justice, we have presentations on poverty and obesity, food

gaps in New Mexico, and the diabetes epidemic among the Pima and Tohono Oodham. Fellow

class members provide anonymous peer reviews to the presenters.

iv

For each research topic, Ialways provide one or two seed articles or chapters to get the student s started. We also visit

the library at the beginning of the term for an introduction to bibliographic resources, including

the online databases (like Web of Knowledge and WorldCat) and instruction in how to access,

request, or find (on a library shelf!) references for the projects. Again, I have been impressed by

the effort that most students put into the research project, in part I believe, because they have to


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present their ideas to their peers whom they have gotten to know through our discussions and

their presentations. This course also typically has a lively discussion board, with students

sharing resources and links related to topics discussed in class.

Food, Foraging, and Farming is an elective and primarily draws students who are not

specializing in archaeology. My impression is that most archaeology students are deeply

interested in the past and less interested in current events and issues. Some of those who do sign

up are grappling with the relevance of archaeology. The other students who enroll (the majority)

are concentrators in other subfields or majors from other departments, often with an interest in

food, farming, and sustainability issues. There are always a few students who are from farming

families or who have worked on a farm. The archaeology is not what motivates the second

group to take the class, and they often have little interest in the deep past at the start of the term.

But once they are hooked by our initial discussion of the modern food system and its

pathologies, they are ready to consider how we have related to the environment and to each other

throughout our long history as foragers and farmers. I liken theprocess of sneaking lessons

about archaeology and its relevance to disinterested non-archaeologists to wrapping a bitter pill

in bacon or smearing it with peanut butter before giving it to a dog. They gobble it down, its

good for them, and hopefully the effects are long lasting. My impression is that students

interested in issues of environmental and social justice are more politically engaged, more likely

to vote, and more likely to be or become informed, concerned, and active citizens. My hope is

that after this course and the one on indigenous people and conservation(which takes a similar

approach), their concerns will also include the preservation and protection of cultural heritage.

Summary Observations

I have a third example, a course and study tour co-designed with an agroecologist colleague

titled Strategies for Sustainability: Case Studies from Peru that looked at farming systems

through time in the Andes in their ecological, historical, and political contexts. The courseincluded a week-long visit to Peru to visit archaeological sites, an experimental farm, research

centers, markets and a potato farming community. In the interests of brevity, I will not describe

this course in similar detail, but rather conclude with several points that I have learned from

teaching these classes:


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Through course topics that center on contemporary issues, students can come toappreciate archaeologys contemporary relevance

When archaeology is put into dialogue with other (sub)disciplines, students come toappreciate that an historical grasp of the human experience can help them to assess

critically contemporary lifeways and engage problem solving more effectively

Traditional mainstays of the archaeology curriculum can be revised to encouragestudents to develop a more expansive view of the constituencies that are interested in the

past and role of archaeologists in promoting certain understandings of heritage

It is my intent to further develop these preliminary conclusions in a subsequent draft of this

paper.

References cited:

Food, Inc.

2008 DVD, 91 minutes. Los Angeles, Magnolia Home Entertainment.

Pollan, Michael

2007 The Omnivores Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York, Penguin.

Pyburn, Anne

2003 M.A.T.R.I.X. (Making Archaeology Teaching Relevant in the XXI Century. Electronic

document,http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/homepage.html , accessed April 7, 2012

Society for American Archaeology

1996 Principles for Archaeological Ethics. Electronic documents,

http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/PrinciplesofArchaeologicalEthics/tabid/203/Default.aspx ,

accessed April 7, 2012.

iIf they work in groups, part of a students individual grade is based on his/her evaluation by other group members,

(and students are given explicit evaluation guidelines). This helps prevent the unevenness in contributions that often

occur in group projects.
http://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/homepage.htmlhttp://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/homepage.htmlhttp://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/homepage.htmlhttp://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/PrinciplesofArchaeologicalEthics/tabid/203/Default.aspxhttp://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/PrinciplesofArchaeologicalEthics/tabid/203/Default.aspxhttp://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/PrinciplesofArchaeologicalEthics/tabid/203/Default.aspxhttp://www.indiana.edu/~arch/saa/matrix/homepage.html


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ii

I am pleased to report that the student who made the pithouse has just been accepted into Teach for America,

where she will hopefully incorporate archaeology into her lessons (and perhaps can even use her pithouse again).iii

Food gap refers to the lack of access to affordable, fresh and healthy food in poor communities (urban and rural)

as the control of food production and distribution becomes increasingly centralized.iv

I like to think that the exercise of peer reviewing helps a student with his/her own presentation, but am not sure

how to assess that.

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