This is a class in professionalism created in response to a new set of
guidelines produced by the Society for American Archaeology Task Force
on Curriculum Development. The purpose of the course is to bridge the
gap between anthropological ideas, ethics, and the construction of an
archaeological research design. Modern archaeological theory
incorporates propositions about social process; models of identity;
reconstructions of ethnicity, warfare, and historical events; gender
studies; cultural evolution; public awareness, and ethical and legal
issues. Archaeological technique includes radar mapping, computer
simulations, multivariate statistics, magnetometry and many other high
tech tools in addition to traditional practices such as stratigraphy
and seriation. The course will incorporate problems of both theory and
technique, but the focus will be on understanding the scientific,
social, ethical, political, economic and intellectual ramifications of
choosing particular topics and methods of investigation in
archaeological research. A second emphasis of the class will be on the
clear communication of ideas about archaeology in both writing and
speaking to both specialists and non-specialists. Teaching and public
speaking and debate will often be the focus of the discussion. New
rules for the new millennium:

1.  If you understand what you are doing, you can communicate it to
any interested person of normal intelligence, including your mom,
the construction foreman who is waiting for you to finish digging,
and your dissertation committee.

2.  If you are not looting, you will know why the data you are
collecting apply to certain questions of anthropological interest
and what will be known about the past after you finish that was
not known when you began.

3.  If you are a responsible professional, you will know what the
concerns of local and descendant people are for the material you
are using, and you will be prepared to answer questions from them.

Required books:

Three texts are required for this course:
Trigger's A  History of Archaeological Thought
Hurst Thomas' Skull Wars
Schiffer's Behavioral Archaeology: First Principles.
There will be other assigned readings on reserve in the Geography Library.

Grading:

Attendance = 20%
Participation in Discussions = 20%
In Class Presentations = 25%
Writing a course Syllabus = 10%
Vacant Lot Survey= 25%