ASU Archaeological Field School receives recognition

ASU alumna Cori Rich ’12 presents her paper, Identifying The Visible: A Look at How Economic Class and Ethnicity Influence Women’s Visibility Within a Household at the SHA annual conference.

On January 9, during the 2015 Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington, the Adams State University Fort Massachusetts Archaeological Field School received second place in a competition based on gender and minority inclusion in archaeological field schools.

The Society for Historical Archaeology is the largest international organization for historical and underwater archaeologists. Within the SHA, the Gender and Minority Affairs Committee (GMAC) organized a competition based on gender and minority inclusion in archaeological field schools, in the areas of student recruitment and research topics.

At the 2015 Annual Conference, twelve individuals affiliated with the Field School as students or staff attended the conference, including three current ASU students, Kaycee Prevedel, Candace Fleck, and Megan Benfield. Adams State alumni who also attended the conference include Katlyn Keith ’14, Jeremy Brunette ’13, Cory Rich ’12, and Jamie Devine ’10. Five conference attendees, affiliated with Adams State, presented professional papers in the conference symposia.

The Adams State Archaeological Field School attracts students from throughout the United States as well as from foreign countries. It has operated since 2003 and is a cornerstone of the ASU Anthropology/Archaeology program.

Three ASU graduates and field school participants have gone on to do graduate work in archaeology. Cory Rich, Illinois State University; and Jamie Bricker, University of Denver, have completed their master’s degrees, and Jeremy Brunette, University of Nebraska, will complete his master’s degree this spring.