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Anthropology, Geography, and Sociology

FIELD SCHOOLS

FIELD OPPORTUNITIES

What you need to know about Archaeological Field School  Doing archaeology often means getting your hands dirty. It is difficult to teach all the practical aspects of fieldwork in a classroom. So, archaeologists regularly take students into the field to teach them about doing archaeology. There are many field schools offered around the country and around the world each year. The best field schools involve students in professional research projects.

If you think you might want to be an archaeologist or go to graduate school in archaeology, it is a really good idea to try it out and see if you like it.

Finding a field school  The best place to start looking for current field school opportunities is on the Archaeological Institute of America website:  http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10016 On this site, you can search field school opportunities by region of the world, link to websites maintained by the researchers involved, and learn about academic expectations and costs.

There are many kinds of field schools – some are good academic experiences and others are a way for researchers to get cheap labor for their projects. Explore the options and when you have a list of field schools you’re interested in, make an appointment to talk with Dr. Johnson (ajohnson@truman.edu ) for help learning which are likely to be the most productive.

Fieldwork is hard, dirty work  It is also a lot of fun, interesting and very rewarding. If you think doing archaeology will be romantic, read the “Preparing for a Dig” link on the AIA website.

Policy regarding transfer credit  The Department of Anthropology, Geography and Sociology will accept up to 3 hrs of transfer field school credit as an elective in the major; any additional hours you earn can go to University elective credits.

Save time and hassle by filling out a “Preapproval for Transfer Credit” form, just like you would to take any other class at another institution. This way, the credit will automatically transfer when your transcript is sent to Truman.