Amenity (n) (1) something that makes life easier or pleasant; (2) the attractiveness and value of real estate or of a residential structure; (3) a feature conducive to such attractiveness and value; (4) something that conduces to comfort, convenience, or enjoyment A long time ago, back in the mid-1900s, historic […]
“The more common sense denies that all action is motivated solely by the attempt to use the structure of the social field to increase symbolic capital, the more the scientist sees evidence of the necessity of preserving the illusio in order for the system to work.” (Dreyfus and Rabinow, 1999, […]
My last few posts have been getting some serious discussion amongst the archaeologists I know and from hundreds of archaeos I don’t know. Most of the feedback I’ve been getting has been either positive or at least benign. But I’ve also heard that my posts have pissed off a few […]
I am not the first or the last to ask this question. It seems a very fitting question to ask after writing two widely circulated blog posts positing why are field techs teaching PhDs basic field skills and explaining that archaeologists can earn graduate degrees where they actually learn how […]
The response to my blog post earlier this week about field techs teaching PhDs how to do archaeology was amazing. Most of the comments I received were either self-reflexive acknowledgements by PhDs revealing that they really didn’t know how to do cultural resource management or commercial archaeology after they finished […]
The other day, I saw this compelling and telling message on my Facebook news feed, “Got to teach a PhD how to draw a plan view today.” It wouldn’t have struck me as interesting except for two things: The guy doing the teaching just got his BA 2 years ago […]
Blogging can be lonely, especially when you’re writing about archaeology. It’s an interesting topic, but archaeology just doesn’t have the glitz and glamor of the “make money online” niche or the “eliminate-all-toxins-from-your-kid’s-lives” niche. Because our audiences tend to be much smaller, we should have different metrics on measuring success. I […]
Last month, I read Seth Godin’s book “Linchpin.” In case you didn’t know, Seth Godin isn’t an archaeologist and, based on his writings, he doesn’t appear interested in cultural resource management or historic preservation. Godin is primarily known for his postmodern business writings, which have been rapidly been accepted by […]
I think it’s promising that the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) is strongly considering how to train the next generation. The recent conference in Quebec City had multiple events dedicated to discussing how universities can better meet the needs of the cultural resource management, historic preservation, and heritage conservation industries. […]
Last month, Doug Rocks-MacQueen asked the archaeology blogospere why we all decided to start blogs. In case you didn’t’ read my response, I started this blog as a way to help other archaeologists find and keep jobs in cultural resource management, historic preservation, and heritage conservation. I felt like a […]
