Meet a Member: Florie Bugarin
Here’s the latest in our series of entertaining interviews with a diverse array of your fellow SHA members. Meet a member for the first time or learn something about a colleague that you never knew before. This blog series also offers current members an opportunity to share their thoughts on why SHA membership is important (Camaraderie? Professional service? Exchange of ideas in conference rooms and beyond? You tell us!). If you would like to be an interviewee, please email the Membership Committee Social Media Liaisons Eleanor Breen (ebreen@mountvernon.org) or Kim Pyszka (kpyszka@aum.edu).
Dr. Florie Bugarin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Howard University and currently serves on the 2016 SHA Conference Organizing Committee. 
What’s the most interesting artifact you’ve ever found? At Fort Willshire in South Africa, I found over 100 cattle horn cores covered and intertwined with thousands of glass seed beads.
Who influenced your decision to become an archaeologist? Jim Deetz. He was my undergraduate professor at U.C. Berkeley. He made archaeology sound fun and exciting, although he suggested that I become an ethnographer rather than an archaeologist. He said that the world needed better ethnographies that are related to archaeology. After my initial decision, Peter Schmidt and Kathy Deagan further influenced the kind of historical archaeologist that I have become.
What is the first site you worked on? What is the last one (or current one)? The first site that I worked on was Flowerdew Hundred under Jim Deetz. I was an undergraduate student, and this was my first field school. I am currently working on collections from Nicodemus, Kansas and James Island, The Gambia, but the last site that I dug was the Best Farm Slave Village on the Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland. I was working with Joy Beasley of the National Park Service and my colleague at Howard, Eleanor King.
What did you want to be when you grew up? When I was very young, I wanted to be an actress, model, artist or dancer. When I first started college, I wanted to be a mathematician or a medical doctor. When I met Jim Deetz, I wanted to be an archaeologist.
Why are you a member of SHA? I identify myself as a historical archaeologist. Also, when I first started, it seemed like an extended family. Many people knew each other, and I wanted to be a part of that. Now, it has grown so much. Although I see many new faces, I still think of the SHA as it was back then…like a family.
At what point in your career did you first join SHA? My first year in graduate school.
How many years have you been a member (approximately)? 1992-2014, approximately 20 years. There were a few years off and on when I wasn’t able to attend the meetings.
Which article from Historical Archaeology has been the most influential to you? The collection of articles on the questions that count in historical archaeology: Historical Archaeology, vol. 22, no. 1 (1988)(Read this for free on the SHA Publications Explorer)
Which benefit of belonging to SHA do you find the most beneficial? Reconnecting each year with people in my field of interest. It is also a quick way to keep up with the latest developments in historical archaeology, and a good way to generate new ideas.
Our Challenges and Mission
by Joe Joseph, SHA President
I am two weeks into my term as SHA President and find in my in-box a bill in the Florida legislature that would allow anyone to obtain an archaeological permit to excavate and possess (and sell) artifacts from Florida state waters for a fee of $100 ; a bill in Wisconsin to allow a mining company to mine an American Indian effigy mound without regard for the presence human remains, due to its economic needs (http://savethemounds.com/); and in the UK the appearance of “Battlefield Recovery,” a resurrection of the “Nazi War Diggers” program that National Geographic created but pulled following archaeological outcry over the cavalier treatment of human remains (http://thepipeline.info/blog/2016/01/05/rolling-news-nazi-war-diggers-gets-uk-tv-debut-on-channel-five-as-battlefield-recovery/). The title has changed, but little else, certainly not the disregard for history and archaeology.
As I scroll through the SHA blog I find Charlie Ewen’s post of April 10, 2014, on National Geographic’s pulling of the Nazi War Diggers program, and his prophetic question – “So, mission accomplished. Or was it?”
Now we know the answer.
I view these three actions as symptoms of a larger illness: a shift that we are seeing in politics and society that places an emphasis on the individual over community, on personal and corporate interests over the common good.
As historical archaeologists, we recognize the place of the collective, the role of community, the foundation of culture that supports the lives that individuals live. Unfortunately, that foundation is not widely acknowledged in a current society that rails against government without considering the personal consequences of its dismantling, and that emphasizes personal achievement to the extent that the inequity between the disenfranchised and the elite is at historic levels.
As I write letters I am reminded that we as archaeologists have an opportunity and responsibility to join in the conversation. The sites that we excavate speak to the human experience, writ large, where every life has meaning in telling the story of the past. History was once the possession and product of the elite. Historical archaeology is shared by all. The artifacts we encounter tell not only the story of global contact and interchange, but also of the reworking and repositioning of objects to reflect different cosmologies and cultures. And our jobs themselves are work done for the common good, not coin and currency, as all of us who are engaged in historical archaeology do so because we share in a need to bring the full picture of the past into present conversation, to write histories that would otherwise be unwritten.
Each of us has a role to play in this effort. Use social media and other avenues to oppose legislation and media that diminishes our sites and heritage. Reach out to your political representatives to let them know what you do and the importance of your work. But most importantly, use the sites and artifacts in your life and work to reach out to the public, to remind them that we are all part of a human continuum, that our appreciation of the past grounds us in the present, and that respect for the heritage of all provides us with the framework to build a better future.
The answer to Charlie’s question, quite simply, is that our mission is never done. It is why we do what we do.
Below, you will find the letters that have been drafted and sent regarding the Florida House Bill 803 and in support of our colleagues at the European Archaeological Association and Society for Post Medieval Archaeology regarding the Nazi War Diggers television show, on behalf of the SHA membership:
Representative Clay Ingram, Florida State Legislature
Equity (Issues) for All, Historical Archaeology as a Profession in the 21st Century
By Lewis Jones and Ashley Morton
Have you ever encountered workplace climate so chilly you thought you’d get frost bitten? No, we aren’t talking health and safety of field archaeology, though that’s a worthy topic of discussion… Of course, we mean workplace climate in the figurative sense. For the past three years Ashley Morton, M.A., RPA (Fort Walla Walla Museum, Archaeology Program Manager) and Lewis Jones, M.A. (Indiana University, PhD Candidate) have chaired a session at the SHA Annual Conference entitled, “Equity (Issues) for All, Historical Archaeology as a Profession in the 21st Century.” The panel is formulated with the direct intent of considering issues of equity and inclusivity within the field of archaeology and the profession of anthropology. With a specific focus on how the membership of the Society for Historical Archaeology, our professional organization, can facilitate and engage in helping its members circumnavigate the many pitfalls and obstacles; that have traditionally been a limit to participation and practice of our chosen profession. At the past three annual SHA conferences—beginning with Leicester (2013), Quebec City (2014), and most recently Seattle (2015)—panelists were invited to speak to audience issues of concern and provide some guidance to undergraduates, graduate students, PhD candidates, and early career professionals on how they may have handled circumstances within their own careers.
In the first year, the panel featured Drs. Teresita Majewski (President of SHA in 1999 and VP of Operations at Statistical Research Inc.), Jon Pragnell (President of the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology in 2013 and Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland), Alasdair Brooks (Editor of the SHA Newsletter and journal of Post-Medieval Archaeology), and Jane Webster (Senior Lecturer and Head of Archaeology at Newcastle University). Panelists participating in our second year included William A. White (University of Arizona, PhD. Candidate), Drs. Jamie C. Brandon (Associate Editor for Historical Archaeology, Archaeologist with Arkansas Archaeological Survey and faculty member with University of Arkansas) and Karri S. Barile (President at Dovetail Cultural Resource Group), and the return of Dr. Alasdair Brooks.
Featured in the YouTube recording, participants to this recent, 3rd, panel were Dr. Benjamin A. Ford (Board Member to SHA and Associate Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania), Kelly Bush (President of Equinox Research & Consulting), Mary Rossi (Program Director for APT-Applied Preservation Technologies) and the return of William A. White.
In these discussions, the subject of equity as it relates to class, both in the United States and abroad, focused on the reality that class may not manifest in the same way nationally versus internationally. We have considered how gender, age, race, ethnicity, socio-economics, sexism, generational practices, and sexuality are all issues that can make it harder for someone who is not traditionally seen as a practitioner of our profession and therefore can be excluded from consideration as a potential colleague. The idea for these panels originated from discussions Ashley and Lewis had together and with other colleagues concerning what they had seen and experienced in becoming professional anthropologists and historical archaeologists. For Ashley, her background primarily working in Cultural Resources Management (CRM), experienced both gender and age-based issues. A wider concern for Ashley was that conflict management was by-and-large addressed within a formal Human Resources (HR) option and desired more informal guidance to handle situations either before it reached the need of HR or that were less serious than reporting to HR. For Lewis, the concern relates to his entry in the PhD program and the lack of diversity he saw within his own department. That is not to say that it does not have diversity but that it is very targeted. Within the department and graduate program, there was only one faculty member of African descent and a few female students of African descent. He was the only African-Descendant Male and there were only two or three other male students who represented underrepresented groups.
Realizing that there may be others who were experiencing or knew someone who was experiencing similar issues we thought it might be a great idea to have a panel in which we could bring together all the different people who might be experiencing these issues, who may have already navigated through some of these issues, and therefore could provide some guidance on what they did to move forward in their careers; allowing for a frank and open discussion. With many of the issues of inclusivity that are being discussed in higher education it is appropriate that we also have ongoing discussions on how we as a profession and as professionals can work together to foster a more equitable and inclusive profession versus a profession that for most of its history being more exclusive based on class, socio-economics, gender, ethnicity and race. This panel provides one such avenue for these discussions, without pressure and also in a format that allows everyone to be comfortable while engaging in an open dialogue with those who are, and will be their colleagues and peers in the years to come.
This upcoming panel in D.C., we look to spotlight the glass ceiling we’ve encountered; talking with panelists Drs. Barbara Little (National Parks Service, Program Manager) and Alexandra Jones (Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Archaeology in the Community), Mandy Ranslow (Archaeologist with Connecticut Department of Transportation), and the return of William A. White. We hope you’ll bring questions and concerns of any topic however so please join us for a dynamic and engaging conversation!
Credits: The YouTube video was recorded by Doug Rocks-Macqueen (blog, Doug’s Archaeology).
#SHA2016 Conference Blog: Year in Review
Good morning SHA members!
#SHA2016 is next week (!) and we are all looking forward to seeing you in D.C.! Please contact the SHA staff at hq@sha.org if you have additional questions about your #SHA2016 Conference registration. Otherwise, the final #SHA2016 Conference program is now posted.
Remember: Look for and use #SHA2016 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. during the Conference next week!
In true end-of-the-year fashion, this blog post is dedicated to all of the #SHA2016 Conference blog posts we have posted over the course of 2015. In an effort to get SHA members excited about #SHA2016, we have posted about archaeology in and around the D.C. area this year. Please click on the links below, to review our year!
Jan 12, 2015 Please join us for #SHA2016!
Jan 26, 2015 Who Digs in D.C.?
March 07, 2015 Historical Archaeology at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
March 09, 2015 Archaeology on a Shoe-String in the District of Columbia: An Introduction to the DC Historic Preservation Office
April 07, 2015 Alexandria Archaeology: The City of Alexandria’s Archaeological Protection Code turns 25!
April 21, 2015 Maryland Historical Trust and the “Archeological Synthesis” Project
May 18, 2015 Reflections on Archaeology in the District of Columbia
June 01, 2015 Archaeology in the Community: Stepping up and Reaching out
June 15, 2015 5 Archaeological Things to See and Do in Washington D.C.
June 29, 2015 7 Archaeological Things to See and Do in Washington D.C.
July 13, 2015 #SHA2016 Conference: Let’s Trend from the Field!
July 28, 2015 #SHA2016: D.C. participates in #dayofarch!
Aug 24, 2015 #SHA2016 Ethics Bowl: Let’s Get Ethical!
Nov 02, 2015 Spotlight on #SHA2016 Workshops
Nov 16, 2015 #SHA2016: Tips for Getting Around D.C.
Nov 30, 2015 #SHA2016 Tips for Your Stay in D.C.
In addition, the Society for American Archaeology PEC Network of State Organizers has been featuring public archaeology in each state on their Facebook page. D.C. was recently featured during the week of November 22-27, 2015. We have provided the same links that SAA provided, below. Check them out!
Nov 22, 2015
When and Where: Where do you find archaeology in a big city like Washington, DC?
D.C. is home base to many of our biggest archaeology and historic preservation organizations. Here is information on the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
Nov 23, 2015
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is an important institution committed to bringing Native voices to what the museum writes and presents. They care for one of the world’s most expansive collections of Native artifacts, including objects, photographs, archives, and media. Their education page is pretty fantastic! View their online collections, play “Infinity of National Culture Quest,” and find resources on resources for schools.
The National Park Services NCR Regional Archeology Program in D.C. has created a fabulous website to for those wanting to learn about excavations, preservation, and the management of archaeological resources in the D.C. area. There are many great resources for kids!
Nov 24, 2015
Do you know who Yarrow Mamout is?
Archaeologists are learning about Mamout, a freed slave and Muslim who was taken from Africa in 1752 and sold into slavery. Check out the Washington Post article, here!
A wonderful example of community and archaeology in D.C. “So what we are doing today is a most important claiming of memory: That our identity will not be shaken . . . that we have survived slavery.” Check out the Washington Post article, here!
Nov 25, 2015
Mark your calendars for April! The NPS-NACE and the DC HPO will partner again to offer hands-on archaeology activities and mock digs on Sunday April 17, 2016, at the Anacostia River Festival.
The DC HPO also gets involved in the Day of Archaeology Festival. Here is some coverage from this past July.
Nov 26, 2015
Washington Underground: Archaeology in Downtown Washington, DC. Here’s a great resource that was created in 2003 by the Center for Heritage Resource Studies at the University of Maryland – a little ahead of their time! Even after 13 years, archaeology is timeless! And this is a great template on how to create other versions of archaeology walking tours in your community.
WAMU (American University Radio) program on the Yarrow Mamout project.
Keep up with Archaeology in the Community through their blog!
A simple search for “archaeology” on the Smithsonian’s Education website brings up 19 archaeology-based lessons for classroom teachers!
Nov 27, 2015
The NPS NACE has YouTube features of the Urban Archaeology Corps. This video is just one of many!
Yarrow Mamout Archaeology Project
Archaeology in the Community is available on Facebook by clicking the tag, and their also on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn!
National Trust for Historic Preservation
NPS: Heritage and Historic Preservation
Remember: Look for and use #SHA2016 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. during the Conference next week!
Happy New Year and see you next week,
#SHA2016 Social Media Liaisons
Meet a Member: Alasdair Brooks
Here’s the latest in our series of entertaining interviews with a diverse array of your fellow SHA members. Meet a member for the first time or learn something about a colleague that you never knew before. This blog series also offers current members an opportunity to share their thoughts on why SHA membership is important (Camaraderie? Professional service? Exchange of ideas in conference rooms and beyond? You tell us!). If you would like to be an interviewee, please email the Membership Committee Social Media Liaisons Eleanor Breen (ebreen@mountvernon.org) or Kim Pyszka (kpyszka@aum.edu). An Interview with Dr. Alasdair Brooks, editor of both the SHA Newsletter and the journal Post-Medieval Archaeology, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester. 
What is the first site you worked on? What is the last one (or current one)?
My first site was the long-running field school at St. Mary’s City in Maryland, which most readers will recognise as the 17th-century colonial capital of Maryland. My most recent site (see the photograph!) was a mud-brick village in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bat, in the mountains of the Sultanate of Oman; the village had been abandoned in the 20th century, and is currently the site of an ongoing research program based at the University of Leicester. In-between, I’ve also worked in my native UK, Jamaica, Australia, and Venezuela. I get around; you know how it is.
Fieldwork or labwork?
Labwork – not quite always and forever, but fairly close. While Ivor Noel Hume might have once infamously argued (albeit more than 40 years ago) that women were ideally suited to ‘the potshed’, there are a few men who gravitate in that direction as well. I think I last wielded a trowel in anger while working at Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest in the mid 1990s; even then I was the Lab Supervisor, but I did occasionally help out in the field. I do a fair amount of artifact processing in field labs (ranging from an abandoned church in Australia through to a mansion belonging to the national heritage body in Oman), but I haven’t been involved in physical excavation for some 20 years.
What are you currently reading?
Moby Dick. I love chapter 89…. “Is it not a saying in every one’s mouth, Possession is half of the law: that is, regardless of how the thing came into possession? But often possession is the whole of the law. What are the sinews and souls of Russian serfs and Republican slaves but Fast-Fish, whereof possession is the whole of the law? What to the rapacious landlord is the widow’s last mite but a Fast-Fish? What is yonder undetected villain’s marble mansion with a door- plate for a waif; what is that but a Fast-Fish? What is the ruinous discount which Mordecai, the broker, gets from poor Woebegone, the bankrupt, on a loan to keep Woebegone’s family from starvation; what is that ruinous discount but a Fast-Fish? What is the archbishop of Savesoul’s income of lb. 100,000 seized from the scant bread and cheese of hundreds of thousands of broken- backed laborers (all sure of heaven without any of Savesoul’s help) what is that globular 100,000 but a Fast-Fish? What are the Duke of Dunder’s hereditary towns and hamlets but Fast-Fish? What to that redoubted harpooneer, John Bull, is poor Ireland, but a Fast-Fish? What to that apostolic lancer, Brother Jonathan, is Texas but a Fast-Fish? And concerning all these, is not Possession the whole of the law? But if the doctrine of Fast-Fish be pretty generally applicable, the kindred doctrine of Loose-Fish is still more widely so. That is internationally and universally applicable. What was America in 1492 but a loose-fish, in which Columbus struck the Spanish standard by way of waifing it for his royal master and mistress? What was Poland to the Czar? What Greece to the Turk? What India to England? What at last will Mexico be to the United States? All Loose-Fish. What are the Rights of Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish? What all men’s minds and opinions but Loose-Fish? What is the principle of religious belief in them but a Loose-Fish? What to the ostentatious smuggling verbalists are the thoughts of thinkers but Loose-Fish? What is the great globe itself but a Loose-Fish? And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish, too?”
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Up until I was about 13 or 14, I had my heart set on becoming a palaeontologist, likely the residual result of a fairly standard male childhood fascination with dinosaurs. I can almost precisely pinpoint the precise moment when, walking home from school after soccer practice, I realised that maybe I wasn’t too keen on the biology side, but I was really, really interested in history. So I think on some level I simply combined the digging things up aspect of palaeontology with the interest in history to decide more or less on the spot that archaeology was the way forward; I stuck with that decision even though I wouldn’t actually get any practical experience until my field school after my second year of university. To the chagrin of some of my college professors I never really considered myself an anthropologist, though (sorry, Julie!), due to a combination of my British background, the core teenage interest in history rather than anthropology, and sheer intellectual stubbornness.
Why are you a member of SHA?
Originally, like many people straight out of college, because I sort of vaguely felt I should. As my career developed, it was a combination of the sense of professional community, the networking opportunities, and a perhaps wholly misplaced sense of obligation about encourage SHA – sometimes willingly, sometimes not – to engage more consistently with historical archaeology outside of North America.
At what point in your career did you first join SHA?
Straight out of college; I joined right after graduating in 1990.
How many years have you been a member (approximately)?
Erm… 25 years now, or thereabouts. I think I failed to renew once in the early 1990s, but that one year aside I’ve been a member continuously since 1990.
Which article from Historical Archaeology has been the most influential to you?
If ‘most influential’ equates to ‘most cited’, then it’s undoubtedly George Miller’s 1991 revised CC Index article (pdf), and Patricia Samford’s 1997 transfer print dating article (pdf). I’ve spent large parts of my career nibbling around the edges of George’s seminal work, and arguing why it doesn’t always apply outside of the United States, but I’m also very conscious that I’ll likely never produce anything of my own that’s so monumentally influential and important within my own little corner of the discipline (ed. note: both of these articles are available for free in our SHA Publications Explorer!!).
Which benefit of belonging to SHA do you find the most beneficial?
The conferences, probably – and the personal and professional networking opportunities presented by the conferences. I always used to claim that I hate networking, and then at some point around the turn of the millennium I realised that all my social interactions and friendships at the conference were actually networking. The importance of meeting colleagues in person can’t really be underestimated – likewise the importance of regularly circulating the conference both inside and occasionally outside North America to increase those networking opportunities for as many people as possible. Have I mentioned that I’m a really strong supporter of taking the 2021 SHA conference to Lisbon, Portugal? Trust me, you’ll love it.
Students at the SHA Conference: A Preview Student-focused Activities
Good morning SHA members!
#SHA2016 is just around the corner, and the advance registration deadline has passed. Please note that registration rates have increased. Online registration is still available until Friday, December 18, 2015. To register online, please proceed to here.
Please note that if you are presenting a paper or poster, participating in a forum or acting as a discussant in a session, you must register at the full conference rate. Full-time students are encouraged to sign up to serve as volunteers during the conference and receive free conference registration. The volunteer form can be found on the SHA website at www.sha.org/conferences/ under the Registration tab. Please contact the SHA staff at hq@sha.org if you need assistance with your #SHA2016 Conference registration.
As we usher in the New Year celebrating the 50th and 100th anniversaries of the National Historic Preservation Act and National Park Service, respectively, let’s also give a cheer for students in the Society for Historical Archaeology. This year marks the 20th year since the inception of the Academic and Professional Training Committee (APTC) Student Subcommittee (SSC)—and opportunities for student participation at the 2016 SHA Conference abound. The following details a schedule of student-focused activities outlined in the preliminary program.
Thursday
Kick off the conference bright and early with the APTC Student Subcommittee meeting from 7:45am to 8:45am in the Committee Room. The mission of the Subcommittee is to provide a gateway for student members into the greater SHA community; create and support opportunities for professional development of student members; serve as a platform for student concerns and mutual assistance; share information; foster mentoring between professionals, advanced students, and beginning students; and promote active participation in the Society. It is the best way to make new connections, participate in the SHA and gain leadership experience. At the meeting, students can get involved, voice concerns, suggest ideas, and organize events for next year’s conference – ALL STUDENTS WELCOME.
Student teams will face off in the Third Annual SHA Ethics Bowl, starting at 10:30am in the Ambassador Ballroom. Teams have a chance to win $500 donated by the Register for Professional Archaeologists or free registration at next year’s SHA conference by addressing realistic ethical dilemmas they may encounter in their future careers. The bowl is intended to foster both good-natured competition and camaraderie between students from many different backgrounds and universities. All are encouraged to attend this public event and cheer on the teams and student representatives in this competition. If you are interested in getting involved with the Ethics Bowl, please email SHAethicsbowl@gmail.com.
In between sessions, stick around the hotel and grab lunch with Dr. Stacey Camp from noon to 1:30pm at the roundtable luncheon, Data Sharing and Publishing for Students. In this informal setting, folks will discuss the pros, cons, and strategies of publishing in traditional formats as well as digital and open access data sharing. Note: all roundtable luncheons cost $30 and require registration in advance.
Rub elbows at the Past Presidents’ Student Reception at the Bird Cage Walk from 4:30pm to 6:00pm (no fee). This reception is for students and distinguished past presidents and is a great chance to talk directly with SHA’s leaders and other students. The mixer also provides complimentary soft drinks and snacks.
Saturday
This year’s student-organized collaboration between the Advisory Council for Underwater Archaeology (ACUA) and SHA explores the nuances of federal, state, and local cultural resource laws as well as discusses changing laws, lobbying, and organizational involvement in setting examples for protection. Underwater and terrestrial panelists from the United States and Canada will also discuss how students can engage in the future of heritage preservation and protection. Find out how you can get involved during, Looking to the Past for Our Future: Navigating the Cultural Resource “Law-scape” for Students and Recent Graduates, which will take place in the Ambassador Ballroom from 9:00am – 12:00pm.
Last, but not least, check out the fast-paced, fun format of the session My Research in a Nutshell – Powered by PechaKucha on Saturday starting at 1:30pm in the Forum Room. In the last few years a new type of presentation format reflecting the rhythm of our busy modern societies was created: the PechaKucha! In 2003, members of an architecture firm located in Tokyo, Japan, noticed that speakers tended to get lost in their communication, rendering a hard-to-follow and long presentation. The group thus decided not only to limit the time of the presentations but also the content. The basic rule is simple: each speaker must present their research in 20 images shown for 20 seconds for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Speakers must thus synthesize their idea and present it in a clear and concise way. Participants must share their idea, research, or project (at any stage of development) in 20 slides at 20 seconds per slide! As a collaborative forum between the APTC Student Subcommittee and the Public Education and Interpretation Committee, participants are encouraged to take this as an opportunity to practice and receive feedback on presenting research as you would to the public, share experiences and research pertaining to public archaeology approaches, and for public archaeology job preparation. Sign-up for this uniquely formatted session is open until January 6th – to join the forum, email your name, topic, and contact information to pk.at.the.sha@gmail.com.
Double-check schedules and room locations at the conference as they may change.
Schedule at a glance:
Thursday
- 7:45 – 8:45 am: APTC Student Subcommittee meeting in the Committee Room – ALL WELCOME
- 10:30am: Third Annual SHA Ethics Bowl in the Ambassador Ballroom
- 1:30pm Data Sharing and Publishing for Students at the Omni Shoreham
Saturday
- 9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Looking to the Past for Our Future: Navigating the Cultural Resource “Law-scape” for Students and Recent Graduates, in the Ambassador Ballroom
- 1:30pm: My Research in a Nutshell – Powered by PechaKucha in the Forum Room
Sharing Tips and Tricks for Engaging the Public
At some point in your archaeological career you will have the privilege of engaging with the public. How we engage is mainly learned through a trial and error process. Sometimes you are lucky enough to have someone share with you a tip or trick on how to do it better. There was a session at the 2015 SHA conference that did just that. It asked, ‘Are you at a loss for how to interest the public in your museum or archaeological site? Do you risk losing the public’s short attention span with static outreach programs?’ It featured lightning-fast (3 minute) presentations from a broad range of archaeologists who interact with the public in a wide variety of settings. All of the participants share time-honored as well as innovative techniques designed to engage the public over the short- and long-term in field and laboratory settings.
This session was filmed and you can view the tips and tricks:
Becky O’Sullivan:
Bernard Means:
Build a Archaeology Site:
Elizabeth Bollwerk:
James Gibb:
Joe Bagley:
Jennifer Poulsen:
Karen Price:
Kari Jones:
Mark Freeman:
Scott Williams:
Stefan Woehlke:
There will be a follow-on session at this year’s SHA conference in Washington DC- FOR-045: Teaching the Past to the Huddled Masses, Yearning to Learn: Building an Educational Toolkit for Archaeology. Time: Saturday, 09/Jan/2016, 1:30pm – 5:45pm
Session Abstract: Working as a historical archaeologist in the 21st century presents new and old challenges for women, minorities, and the privileged. Equity Issues affect all whether direct or indirect; this session focuses on the immediate concerns of emerging professionals in both CRM and academia as they navigate upwards in these spheres. The goal of this session is to provide a semi-formal setting for “ladder-climbers” to interact with upper-management through a set question and answer period and informal round table format. Topics discussed include but are not limited to tips and lessons, gender and ethnicity workplace climate. This is an opportunity for professional development at a higher level.
If you like these videos be sure to check out this years conference which will be great. If you are interested in more conference videos check out Recording Archaeology and subscribe there to receive updates when more videos become available.
#SHA2016 Tips for Your Stay in D.C.!
Good morning SHA members!
#SHA2016 is just around the corner, and the advance registration deadline is tomorrow, Tuesday, December 1, 2015. Please note that after December 1, registration rates will increase. Additionally, online registration for #SHA2016 will close on Friday, December 18, 2015. To register online, please proceed to www.conftool.com/sha2016.
Please note that if you are presenting a paper or poster, participating in a forum or acting as a discussant in a session, you must register at the full conference rate. Full-time students are encouraged to sign up to serve as volunteers during the conference and receive free conference registration. The volunteer form can be found on the SHA website at www.sha.org/conferences/ under the Registration tab.
Please contact the SHA staff at hq@sha.org if you need assistance with your #SHA2016 Conference registration.
Please visit the #SHA2016 Conference webpage, for general information about the conference. Additionally, our last blog post (“Tips for Getting Around D.C.”) provides information about parking and transportation in and around the D.C. area. Please proceed here, to access our last blog post.
Similar to our last blog post, this week we provide a list of cafés, bars, and restaurants within the immediate vicinity of the Omni Shoreham Hotel.
Cafés/Bars/Restaurants (Calvert Street and Connecticut Avenue)
1) Roberts Restaurant, at Omni Shoreham.
2) District Kitchen, American Mid-Atlantic small plate and bar serving Brunch on the weekend, Lunch every Friday, and Dinner every day. Located at 2606 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW.
3) Open City, casual American coffeehouse, bar, and restaurant serving Brunch, Lunch, and Dinner. Located at 2331 Calvert ST. NW.
4) Medaterra, casual Mediterranean bar and restaurant serving Lunch and Dinner. Located at 2614 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW.
5) Tono Sushi, casual Japanese sushi bar serving Lunch and Dinner. Located at 2605 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW.
6) Woodley Café, American diner serving Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Located at 2619 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW.
7) Café Sorriso, Italian café and gelateria serving Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, and Dinner. Located at 2311 CALVERT ST. NW.
NOTE: Chipotle, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts are also along this block.
Please note that the Omni Shoreham Hotel is a short walk away from the popular D.C. neighborhood, Adams Morgan. Walk east, along Calvert Street, to 18th Street, where an additional array of delicious cafés, bars, and restaurants are waiting to be explored!
#SHA2016: Tips for Getting Around D.C.
Good morning SHA members!
As you all know by now, online registration for #SHA2016 is open. Online registration for #SHA2016 ends December 18, so be sure to register!
As we draw near to #SHA2016, our blog posts are going to concentrate on D.C. related topics. This week, we focus on transportation. Please read below, for a few tips about getting around D.C.
Hotel: #SHA2016 will take place at the Omni Shoreham located at 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, D.C. To make your reservation, call 800-545-8700 and reference the SHA annual conference or click here.
Parking: Parking is offered at hotel. Click here, for parking rates. Parking off-site, in the surrounding neighborhood, is very limited. Tip: If you plan on traveling around via car, consider downloading the “Park Mobile” app (Google Play / Apple). This will enable you to “feed your meter”, from your smartphone.
Metrorail: Metrorail Service (a.k.a. Metro) is another option, and the Omni Shoreham is located on the Red Line, at Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station. Please note that during the weekdays trains run less frequently after morning and evening rush hours, and even less frequently on the weekends. Tip: If you plan on traveling around via Metro, consider downloading the “DC Rider” app (Google Play / Apple), to plan accordingly. Also, a map of the D.C. Metro system can be found here. Metrorail serves D.C. as well as Maryland and Virginia.
Metrobus: Metrobus Service is another option, and the Omni Shoreham is a quick walk from Connecticut Avenue, one of the more major thoroughfares. Tip: If you plan on traveling around via Metrobus, consider downloading the “DC Metro and Bus” app (Google Play / Apple), for maps and timetables. Or, proceed to the Metrobus webpage, for maps and timetables. Metrobus serves D.C. as well as Maryland and Virginia.
NOTE: Visit the Metro Trip Planner webpage, for additional Metrorail and Metrobus information.
Cabs: Cabs are another option, and please note that services such as Uber and Lyft have a pretty large presence in D.C. Tip: Download the Uber (Google Play / Apple) or Lyft (Google Play / Apple) apps.
Check back soon for our next #SHA2016 blog post about D.C.!