CRM archaeologist: Thinking about going back to school? Read this. 1

As I was writing this blog post at the end of August, 2018, I started thinking about the upcoming academic school year. Courses and programs of great value to the next generation of cultural resource management archaeologists exist (like the Heritage Resource Program at Simon Frasier University). Not all of what is taught in college is useful for CRM archaeologists, but, fortunately, there is an expanding orientation towards servicing the consulting industry that will prove to be useful for all historic preservation and heritage conservation in North America and beyond. I also started thinking about CRM archaeology training that exists outside the academic bubble (Team Black certifications came to mind). There are now multiple ways to learn how to do CRM archaeology. This is good news.

But, my thoughts continually dwelled upon the incoming cohort of archaeology students I will personally be interacting in California and worked with this summer in St. Croix U.S.V.I. This line of thought made me think about the reasons why I went into college to do archaeology in the first place and why today’s students might have chosen to grind it out in graduate school. In my case, a series of [un]fortunate, workplace situations prompted me to go back to school twice for a graduate degree. I don’t think I am alone in my motivations for going back to school…

How college helped my archaeology career

1) In 1997, I started school at Boise State University [#BleedBlue!!!] as an undergraduate marketing major. The first marketing class I took sucked so bad that I had second thoughts about going to college in the first place. Maybe I should have gone into the Navy after all. After contemplating 4+ years of Marketing classes over lunch at the Student Union, I went to a physical anthropology class that reminded me I’d wanted to be an archaeologist since kindergarten. I changed majors. My mother was happy enough that I was going to stay in college that she actually endorsed switching my major to anthropology. She didn’t know what she was endorsing.

The goal of my undergraduate degree: Help me get a job in archaeology.

The result: Pushing carts at Cos*co

2) After 3 years of pushing carts at a big box warehouse chain, I decided I had had enough of not being an archaeologist. A fortuitous intervention with an undergraduate advisor (Dr. Max Pavesic) revived my resolve to quit that job and start working in cultural resource management, an industry that was never mentioned once during my undergraduate education. I applied to several universities and was accepted by the University of Idaho (Go Vandals!!). Soon after arriving in Moscow, ID, I landed a job with the Idaho Transportation Department as a crew chief on a CRM project. At Idaho, I got a graduate degree and a little CRM experience—enough to keep my dream alive.

The goal of my Master’s Degree: Help me get a job in archaeology.

The result: A few months working as a janitor followed by over 10 years of doing CRM.

3) My Master’s helped me get a job in CRM. Finally, I’d done it. I was an archaeologist! Then there was the Great Recession, layoffs, scrambling for jobs, and stagnate upward career mobility. At the same time I also, had a wife, some kids, a mortgage, and became a grown up. Eventually, I thought, “Forget this. It’s time for a PhD so I can finally be a principal investigator or start my own company (tee hee).” As I lived in Tucson at the time, I applied to the University of Arizona and got in (#BearDown Arizona!!). There, I embarked upon the kind of career I’d always wanted as a graduate research assistant for the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology (BARA). I leveraged my CRM experience to help complete some fulfilling projects at BARA, in hopes of becoming a CRM principal investigator or tenure-track professor. I got the TT job and am currently trying to make it work out.

The goal of my PhD: Help me get a higher-ranking job in archaeology.

The result: I’m now an assistant professor of archaeology.

Some things to remember about my story:

• I’m not you. Each individual’s life/career story will be different. You may not get the same results I did for the same level of effort.
• I didn’t “kinda” want to do archaeology. It was my dream. I was working to achieve a bucket-list, life goal. I’d had jobs that would have helped me start a family and buy a house (Cos*co employees have incremental raises that keep going up based on years worked. Some of the people working at cashiers are probably making about $60—70,000 AND have stock options. Think about that the next time you get your archaeology paycheck.) But, after my first day in college, I wanted to do archaeology no matter what.
• I would have done archaeology even if I hadn’t gone back to school twice. Both times it was a godsend but there were several things that kept me moving towards this career regardless of whether or not I got a raise or promotion.
• I’m still this way. Intense. All work, no play. Serious. Going for the gusto every day. I wonder how long I can keep it up.
• My wife tells me not to suggest anyone follow my career path. She’s always You have to do what is right for you whenever your heart tells you to. Don’t do what I did. Do what you do.
• The route from where you are now to where you want to be is not linear. It is long, winding, and uphill. It will not be easy. This is true for everyone working towards something worthwhile.
• Going to college is not easy; however, it is necessary if you ever want to have a stable job in cultural resource management.

You need to think seriously about going to college, especially if you want to become an archaeologist. Archaeology is a very hard industry. It is an unconventional career full of unconventional, bright, and motivated people. Being a cultural resource management archaeologist can be rewarding but the pathway to get there is not easy. And, it requires college.

How each level of college helps your CRM career

Cultural resource management is where the vast majority of archaeologists work. There are several benefits you will enjoy after finishing a degree at every level. There are several things you need to learn at undergrad, Master’s and PhD levels if you want to do CRM. Here is a short list:

Undergraduate: You are qualified enough to get a job in CRM or for the government doing archaeology upon graduation. You will learn about archaeology and human cultures. The way you think about the world changes. If you took a field school, you know the basics of using a shovel and trowel. College taught you how to listen to instructions and demonstrate your competency.

What you need to learn as an archaeology undergraduate: Basic archaeological method and theory. How to learn new skills without taking it personal. How to work in groups towards unclear goals with persons of differing ability and commitment to success. How to figure out how to get jobs done without asking your supervisor for step-by-step instructions for every activity (And, which activities will require you to ask for step-by-step instructions). How to market yourself (resume, CV, networking, ect.). How to think about humans as cultural/biological beings and what that means for understanding the past. How to do archaeological fieldwork and labwork. How to start thinking of yourself as an archaeology professional (i.e. an archaeologist-in-training). Why we do CRM in the United States (Hint: It isn’t because we have research questions about the past). What more you can learn to level-up your career.

Getting a degree in hopes of becoming an archaeologist will help you stay serious about pursuing archaeology as a career but, eventually, you will hit a glass ceiling in CRM if you only have a Bachelor’s. The Secretary of Interior’s Qualifications in Archaeology call for a graduate degree. This means it will be harder for you to advance in the CRM industry because CRM companies prefer employees who meet the SOI qualifications. While you may want to get a graduate degree in hopes of furthering your career, you might like being a field tech or you might have a life that prevents you from going back to school (right, parents?). Most CRMers will go back to school for a graduate degree.

Some reasons to get your Bachelors in Anthropology (or a related field):

• To learn the basics of the science of human beings, which is necessary for researching the garbage left behind by human beings.
• To get hired to do archaeology as a career.
• If you ever choose to go back to school for a Master’s to further your CRM career.
• You want to improve the lives of people by helping government/businesses better understand the societies in which they operate.
• You’re just really interested in anthropology (I believe you should always do what you’re interested in because you only live each life once.)

Reasons not to get your Bachelors in Anthropology:

• You aren’t really, really, really into it. (Like, you eat/sleep/breathe archaeology.)
• You just want to get a degree (If that’s the case, just get a degree in whatever you find most interesting).
• You don’t want to spend the time and money on college.
• You aren’t serious enough about college to grind towards graduation.
• You think you’re going to make millions as an archaeologist (It happens but not that often)

Master’s: Getting a Master’s and some field experience tells CRM companies you are serious about doing archaeology. You’ve dropped five figures and several years on an education. You have officially separated yourself from the masses that swear, “I wanted to become an archaeologist when I was a kid, but…” A Master’s demonstrates your commitment to conducting scholarly research.

What you need to learn in graduate school: How to present yourself as a professional (You’re literally a Master. Act like it.) How to conduct original, scholarly research in accordance with prevailing ethical guidelines. How to get money (i.e. grants) to do archaeology. How to present your research to a professional audience. How to participate in intellectual discussions in your field. A specialty that is useful for cultural resource management like GIS, contracting, grantwriting, field methods, digital data collection, photogrammetry, geoarchaeology, bioarchaeology, zooarchaeology, prehistoric artifact analysis, historical artifact analysis, archival research, desktop publishing, and/or digital data management. The laws that govern the CRM industry like the NHPA, NEPA, CERCLA, the Antiquities Act, ACRA, RCRA, and any/all state and local conservation regulations. You really need to know how the Section 106 process works and how clients can “stack” preservation incentives to make projects more financially appealing.

You need to learn this stuff and more. Seek it out if your university doesn’t teach this information.

Reasons to get a Master’s in Anthropology:

• You want to break through the glass ceiling in archaeology
• You want to increase your chances of raising higher in CRM.
• You want to meet the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Archaeology, which will make you more attractive to CRM companies because they know you meet the qualifications to work on publically-administered lands.
• You want to get into a PhD program.

Reasons not to get a Master’s in Anthropology:

• You’re not sure you want to stay in CRM.
• You’ve become jaded about the CRM industry and have a negative outlook.
• You want to be “the boss” (i.e. you want power over others).
• You think this will automatically lead to a promotion.
• You can’t afford going back to school.

PhD: Getting a PhD is like telling the world, “I don’t care what y’all are doing. I’m going to become a leader in some aspect of archaeology.” Those who get a PhD and want to become archaeologists have heard every single reason why they should not do it and haven’t listened to any of it. They are steadfast in the belief that this is what they should do with their lives. They also have a deep interest in archaeology, an interest so deep that all they do is think and talk about the past. Archaeology PhDs are weird. We are okay with being weird. The world needs more weird, but you need to turn your weird fixation on archaeology into a career that puts food on the table. A PhD may not be the solution.

Nobody “needs” a PhD in CRM, but they are becoming much more common. I predict, with the high quantity of PhD’s being produced each year versus the small number of tenure track jobs, most CRM supervisors will have a PhD in the near future. This will happen because, if you want to do archaeology and still don’t have a tenure track job, you’re going to have to do CRM after graduation.

PhD’s are designed for leadership, to demonstrate intellectual mastery, and for personal fulfillment. These are the main reasons why anyone would want one. No matter what anyone tells you, banking on a tenure-track teaching job is not enough of a reason for going on for your PhD. Wanting to be the best you possibly can is a valid reason. Wanting to set the record straight on some aspect of the past is also a valid reason. Wanting to run a CRM company is also a valid reason.

Reasons to get a PhD in Anthropology:

• You understand this is your best hope of getting a tenure-track job.
• You want to get out of CRM and go into academia.
• You want to be the director of a museum, SHPO, or cultural resources director of a government agency.
• You want to improve the quality of CRM research.
• You have something to prove to yourself and others.

Reasons not to get a PhD in Anthropology:

I’ve already covered this on the Succinct Research Blog (http://www.succinctresearch.com/8-reasons-why-you-should-not-to-get-an-anthropology-phd/), but here you go again:

• You think it will help you get a job.
• You can’t find an archaeology job.
• Because you want to be the boss.
• Because you love learning.
• Because you want to make change.
• Because you want a tenure-track job.
• Because your parents told you to do it.
• Because you wanted to increase diversity.

Other tips for those thinking about going back to school BEFORE you do it

• Exhaust all avenues for promotion in CRM BEFORE you think about going back to school. Sometimes, making a lateral move to another position or “job hopping” is all you need to keep you going for a few more years. The key is to maximize the education you already paid for before you go into debt or sacrifice time to go back for more school.
• Do a field school as soon as possible as an undergraduate. See if you really want to become an archaeologist. If possible, go to a field school endorsed by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) because that will give you the best chance of experiencing what CRM archaeology will be like.
• In graduate school, there are basically three approaches: 1) do the kind of research that you want to do and hope there will be a job for you when you graduate, 2) do the kind of research companies/universities already want in hopes that you can leverage your thesis or dissertation into a job, or 3) do a combination of both. Which flavor is for you?
• Always be grinding. Whenever you are on campus you should be: 1) studying, 2) researching, 3) trying to get money, or 4) writing up research somebody paid you to do. It’s best if you are accomplishing more than one of those tasks at the same time (i.e. doing research so you can write a grant and writing the grant proposal in such a way that it can be used in a peer-reviewed journal article). Rest takes place off campus. Recreation is found off campus. Campus is where work takes place. Mix work with leisure at your detriment.
• Decide how much of your life you want to dedicate to college so you can make a realistic calculation as to how long it will take you to get your degree. If you only have 10 hours/week to put towards college, it will take you much longer to get a Master’s than if you can quit your full time job and go back to school full time. Some degree programs might not be possible for someone who can’t go full time.
• Talk to other CRMers about going back to school long before you start applying. Get some real knowledge from folks who have done what you’re trying to do. College professors will tell you it’s a good idea because we’re paid to do so. Other CRMers are more likely to be honest.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. Do your research and make the plunge. Make sure you are clear on your motivations, however. Do what you can to get a clearer picture of what college can do to further your career before you go back to school.

What did I miss? Write a comment below or send me an email.

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