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BROWN UNIVERSITY

  1. Institution Name:
    Brown University
  2. Department Title:
    Department of Anthropology
  3. Faculty in Historical Archaeology:
    1. Robert Preucel (Ph.D., UCLA; Prof. and Director, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology). Indigenous archaeology, Pueblo Revolt, museums, representation, Native North America, Southwest.
    2. Patricia E. Rubertone (Ph.D., SUNY-Binghamton; Prof. and Director of Graduate Studies) historical and Indigenous archaeology, settler colonialism, landscape and memory, urban indigeneity, Native North America, New England. 
    3. Peter Van Dommelen (Ph.D, University of Leiden; Prof.) archaeology, colonialism, postcolonial theory, material culture, Mediterranean.
    4. Parker Van Valkenburgh (Ph.D. Harvard, Asst. Prof.) Space and landscape, colonialism, GIS and spatial analysis, Andes.
  4. Other Related Faculty:
    1. Stephen Houston (Ph.D., Yale; Prof.) archaeology, ancient writing systems, imagery and representation, Maya. 
    2. Andrew Scherer (Ph.D., Texas A&M; Assoc. Prof.) archaeology, bioarchaeology, mortuary archaeology, war and violence, political organization, Maya/Mesoamerica.
    3. Elizabeth Hoover (Ph.D., Brown; Assoc. Prof. American Studies) sociocultural anthropology, Native American studies, community engagement, museums, social and environmental justice.
    4. John Cherry (Ph.D., Southampton; Prof. Archaeology & Classics) complex societies, archaeology of islands, landscape studies, Aegean, Caribbean (Montserrat).
    5. Yannis Hamilakis (Ph.D., Sheffield; Prof. Archaeology and Greek Studies) sociopolitics, ontology, archaeology and nationalism, Mediterranean.
  5. General Statement:
    Historical archaeology has a long tradition of excellence at Brown. The program’s strengths are its approaches to colonialism, indigenous experiences, multiethnic and diasporic communities, representation, and landscape and memory; and its attention to historical and multi-evidentiary research in anthropology. The core faculty in historical archaeology conducts community-based research in contexts ranging from cities to museums with an emphasis on the Americas. Current graduate students are carrying out research on institutional life (19 th -century asylums, Indian boarding schools), historic pueblos, public art and place-claiming, pre-colonial-colonial transitions, communities of practice, and decolonizing methodologies. 
  6. Degree and Other Program Offerings:
    Graduate students in anthropological historical archaeology benefit from the exchange of ideas and support of faculty and students across Anthropology’s subfields on a wide range of theoretical, methodological, temporal, and geographical topics. Our facilities include: an archaeology and a Digital Archaeology Laboratory, computer labs, and student offices, all housed in the department, and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology. Graduate students may also take advantage of other resources on campus such as the John Carter Brown Library, John Hay Library, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning’s workshops and teaching certificate programs to help prepare them for the academic job market. The faculty’s ties to these units, and to the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage provide opportunities for scholarly enrichment and networking through lectures, brown-bag talks, and conferences to supplement those sponsored by the Department and other units. Students enroll in a Ph.D. program and obtain a Master’s degree in Anthropology en route to the doctorate. Brown’s Open Enrollment Graduate program allows select doctoral students to pursue a Master’s degree in a secondary field in combination with their studies. 
  7. Contact Person for Additional Information:
    For general information about the graduate program, contact the Director of Graduate Studies, Patricia E. Rubertone, Department of Anthropology, Brown University, Box 1921, Providence, RI 02912, USA (Patricia_Rubertone @brown.edu) or consult the Anthropology Department’s Web page http://www.brown.edu/academics/anthropology/