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NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY

  1. Institution Name:
    New Mexico State University
  2. Department Title:
    Department of Anthropology
  3. Faculty in Historical Archaeology:
    1. Rani T. Alexander (Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 1993; Department Head and Professor) historical archaeology in Mesoamerica, archaeology of the Yucatán peninsula, colonialism and ethnohistory, archaeological households and site structure, agrarian ecology, zooarchaeology, and quantitative analytical methods.
    2. Kelly L. Jenks (Ph.D., University of Arizona, 2011; Assistant Professor) Historical archaeology, Hispanic colonization and settlement, political and social identities, regional economic systems, analysis of historical-period artifacts and aboriginal ceramics, ethnohistory of the Southwest.
  4. Other Related Faculty/Staff:
    1. Fumi Arakawa (Ph.D. Washington State University, 2006; University Museum Director and Associate Professor) prehistoric American Southwest, lithic technological organization, pottery in Mesa Verde region, sociopolitical organization in tribal-level societies.
    1. William H. Walker (Ph.D. University of Arizona, 1995; Professor) southwestern archaeology and ritual in prehistory; ritual organization of the desert Mogollon including Casas Grandes Culture of Northern Chihuahua and Jornada and Mimbres branches of Southern New Mexico.
    2. Donald D. Pepion (Ed.D. Adult, Community, and Higher Education, Montana State University, 1999) Native American Studies, ethnohistory of Indigenous Blackfoot peoples (U.S. and Canada).

 

  1. General Statement:
    The department offers the M.A. degree in Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology. The program is designed for students who are interested in the traditional subdisciplines of anthropology, as well as such related fields as cultural resource management, medical anthropology, museum studies, and social impact assessment. The program is directed both toward students who intend to take a terminal M.A. degree and students who intend to enter a Ph.D. program. In addition to the M.A. in anthropology, our program also offers graduate minors in anthropology, archaeology, food studies, and Native American studies. NMSU is a participating institution of the Western Regional Graduate Program (Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education) and the Graduate Certificate in Cultural Resource Management is offered at the WRGP tuition rate.
  • Regions: Greater Southwest, Mesoamerica, Southern Plains
  • Method/Material Specialties: ceramic analysis, zooarchaeology, lithic analysis, historical archaeology
  • Emphases: Southwest prehistory, Mesoamerican archaeology, historical archaeology, cultural resource management (CRM)

Our curriculum emphasizes archaeological theory, methodology, research design, fieldwork, laboratory work, quantitative analysis, writing and communication, ethics and professionalism, and cultural and historic preservation. Instruction includes seminars in archaeological method and theory; regular archaeological field schools emphasizing survey, mapping, and excavation; archaeological laboratory methods; animal bone analysis; ceramic analysis; lithic analysis; quantitative methods; historical archaeology; archaeology of the Southwest; topics in Mesoamerican archaeology; and cultural resource management. Students are encouraged to explore interdisciplinary training, especially through graduate minors offered in related programs such as GIS, geography, public history, soil science, and geology. The Department offers a Graduate Certificate in Cultural Resource Management for students who wish to gain employment in that industry, and many of our graduates have gained employment with CRM firms and federal agencies.

 

  1. For More Information About Historical Archaeology Contact:

Rani T. Alexander (raalexan@nmsu.edu) or Kelly Jenks (kljenks@nmsu.edu), Department of Anthropology, New Mexico State University, MSC 3BV/Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003; 575-646-2725; for information about admission to the MA program, please see the Department’s webpage (https://anthropology.nmsu.edu/anthro-grad/ ) and contact Lois Stanford, Graduate Director (lstanfor@nmsu.edu).