Guide to Higher Education

Welcome to the “Guide to Graduate Programs in Historical and Underwater Archaeology” page at sha.org. Please note that the following links will provide you with access to graduate program pages whose content are SHA-approved, but are not necessarily created and copy edited to conform with SHA style and format.

Compiled by Ashley Morton

Selecting a graduate school is an important step toward becoming a professional archaeologist. This is also a difficult step, and students who wish to pursue graduate studies in historical and underwater archaeology are at a particular disadvantage because there are few graduate programs in these areas. Faculty find it difficult to advise students inquiring about graduate opportunities, particularly if the student’s interests are in areas quite different from their own. Students should realize that even though historical archaeology is a growing field, there are few departments with established programs devoted to its study.

This guide is designed to help students in their search for graduate training in historical and underwater archaeology. Students are urged to use the information provided as a starting point. Once they have identified institutions that appear to meet their needs, students should contact specific faculty members whose research most closely matches their own interests, inquiring about current and future research and educational opportunities. Contacting faculty directly is the single most important step students can take as they develop plans for graduate studies. Students should also discuss their choices with faculty advisors, instructors, and students who are currently in graduate school.

Students should find a program where they can obtain the skills necessary to “do” historical archaeology, including training in field and laboratory methods as well as how to conduct research successfully. Learning to write and talk about archaeology is an integral part of a student’s education, as is obtaining a solid theoretical foundation. Languages are also often an important part of a student’s training. Each student interested in pursuing historical archaeology as a career should begin obtaining these skills as an undergraduate and then continue to refine them throughout his or her training.

This year, 68 institutions are listed in the guide. Corrections or updates were provided for all but 20 of the entries. To submit a new entry or to make a correction/update in the printed or Web versions of the guide, please contact Laura Masur (masur@cua.edu) or Tim Scarlett (scarlett@mtu.edu).  Additional or new information about an institution will be posted throughout the coming year on the Web version of the guide within a reasonable time after the editor receives it.

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For more information about specific institutions visit our institutions page.

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