ARCH 1170

Community Archaeology in Providence and Beyond

TTh 10:30-11:50.
Rhode Island Hall, Room 008

Instructor: Katherine Harrington (Katherine_Harrington@brown.edu)

Course Description

Who speaks for the past? In this course, we will explore this question by analyzing the roles of different producers and consumers of archaeological information in the public presentation of the past. Modern archaeology is about far more than just digging in the dirt. Archaeologists are increasingly aware of the need to become more involved with the local communities where they work and now seek to have an active public voice in the interpretation of the past, while still respecting alternate viewpoints. The first half of the course will function like a seminar, while the second half will involve a hands-on project in the Providence public school system.

During the seminar, we will discuss how archaeologists can engage with the public—including collaborations with indigenous, descendant, or local communities, increased multivocality in interpretations, the use and abuse of the past by governments and others in power, the mass media, museums, and educational outreach programs. Ultimately, we will be concerned with how archaeologists can reach and involve different audiences in the presentation of the past. Typically, the Tuesday meeting of each week will take the form of a lecture, while the Thursday meeting will be devoted primarily to discussion of assigned readings.

In the second half of the course, we will begin teaching the “Think Like an Archaeologist” program in local 6^th grade social studies classrooms. These on-site activities will give students vital experience in expressing archaeological information to the general public and will enhance the pre-existing 6^th grade social studies curriculum for the students involved in the program.