Building Community In Southwest Archaeology Through Student Research

2016 Southwest Symposium Poster.

Archaeology students face many hurdles during the completion of thesis or dissertation projects. Acquiring funding, collecting and analyzing data, conducting fieldwork, and presenting results are just some of the obstacles archaeology students must overcome. Because of the time, energy, and monetary requirements needed to complete these tasks, public engagement often is at the bottom of an archaeology student’s task list. However, it is becoming increasingly important for academics and archaeologists to communicate with a diversity of audiences. Thus, I suggest that it is essential that archaeology students engage the public during the course of their degree, in order to begin learning how to succinctly disseminate their research through a variety of forums. In this poster, I provide examples of public archaeology from my dissertation research at Woodrow Ruin, a large, multi-component site in the Mimbres region of southwest New Mexico. My project at Woodrow Ruin demonstrates that public engagement is indeed possible as an archaeology student, and should be an integral part of student research projects. By working with the public, students learn not only the best methods and practices for public discourse, but may also gain unexpected assistance with some of the many tasks associated with completing an archaeology degree.