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Teaching Archaeology in the 21st Century: Promoting A National Dialogue

The Committee on Curriculum

The Committee on Curriculum has been charged with identifying the intellectual and ethical principles and technical skills required to practice archaeology in all its diverse applications in order to help students and practicing professionals meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Based on workshops, sessions at professional meetings, departmental and student surveys, and comments solicited through an electronic bulletin board, it is clear that archaeology has changed considerably in the latter part of the 20th Century. However, for the most part, the education and training of our students does not reflect these changes.

Overall we continue to do an excellent job of training researchers and preparing students to fill traditional academic roles but we are not adequately preparing students for the vast majority of positions that are available to them after graduation—positions in the governmental and private sectors. Nor have we altered our classes to reflect the new responsibilities of stewardship and public out research facing all members of the discipline. These changes have come about because in addition to research, teaching, and publishing, archaeology is being called upon to help manage and protect the archaeological resource base in the public interest. Much of which has been codified in laws, regulations, policies, and guidelines at the federal, state, and local levels and incorporated into the ethics and standards of professional organizations which serve the archaeological community.

Those educating and training future archaeologists need to provide their students with the full range of knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to practice in the modern world. Students require formal education and training and practical work experience to participate fully in the rapidly changing world of archaeology in order to meet the new and challenging career opportunities in the profession. These new responsibilities bring with them the need for additional, and in some cases, new knowledge, skills, and abilities. These must be incorporated into the undergraduate and graduate curriculum and made available on a regular and continuing basis to practicing archaeologists throughout their careers in order to meet the challenges of the new millennium and beyond.