Past Events

Kimball Banks, RPA, is an experienced practitioner of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Much of that experience was gained in the federal sector, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Reclamation. His work in both agencies involved working with tribes. He organized and held several workshops for tribes on both NHPA and NEPA. In addition, he is an expert on P.L. 93-638 - the Indian Self Determination and Education and Assistance Act. This law give tribes the option to assume the activities necessary to comply with NHPA and NEPA with respect to federal projects or programs for tribes.

J. Signe Snortland holds a B.A. from the University of North Dakota and a M.A. from the University of Manitoba in Anthropology. Snortland is an experienced NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and Section 106 (National Historic Preservation Act) practitioner, as well as a former manager of a federal office. She has led teams preparing environmental impact statements (EISs) in Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Washington. She served as an Environmental Specialist and Area Archaeologist for the U.S Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. Previously she was the Chief Archeologist for the State Historical Society of North Dakota (NDSHPO) and conducted thousands of Section 106 reviews.

This course is a deep dive into the steps required for compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and its integration into the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The instructors will cover the roles and responsibilities of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, lead federal agency, SHPO, THPO, tribes, consultants, and consulting parties in each step. They will also discuss NEPA in Indian Country in respect to Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

1. Understanding roles, responsibilities, and steps in Section 106 (NHPA) compliance.
2. Learning the relationship between NHPA and NEPA.
3. Increasing awareness of NHPA and NEPA in Indian Country.

Eleanor M. King is a Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Howard University. An archaeologist, archivist, and educator, she specializes in the prehispanic Maya of Belize and the history of Buffalo Soldier and Apache interaction in the Southwest U.S. She has also researched and lectured on public outreach in archaeology, heritage studies, and illicit trafficking in antiquities. In 2016 she co-founded The Heritage Education Network (THEN) with Carol Ellick, a non-profit aimed at disseminating information about heritage education to practitioners from the multiple disciplines that practice it.

If heritage comes from the stories we tell about our past, both individually and collectively, then how can we be more inclusive in heritage education? This question is at the heart of this one-hour seminar, which focuses on a current challenge in archaeology. In an environment where heritage is being contested and redefined, how do we research and teach it? Archaeology, which focuses on the tangible aspects of heritage, has played a part in trying to broaden the discussion, but we have not done enough. Archaeological education, in particular, whether public outreach or college classroom training, can fail to attract the diverse audiences or practitioners many hoped for. In the wake of Black Lives Matter, a number of institutions have tried to reformulate their programming to be more inclusive, not only to African Americans but to other underrepresented groups. It is not enough to create internships or field opportunities that honor diversity, equity, and inclusion without pipelines from underrepresented groups to feed into those opportunities. This talk reviews some of the obstacles to creating those kinds of pipelines and approaches to addressing them. It does not offer concrete solutions so much as ways of thinking about the problem and discussion about future solutions.

The Knowledge Series seminars are opportunities to learn from prominent archaeologists as they share their experiences and expertise.

Dr. Suanna Crowley is a trained geoarchaeologist and archaeologist with research experience in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. In addition to earning her the nickname “Dr. Dirt,” graduate school gave her the opportunity to learn her first professional survival skill: grant writing in support of her own and others’ research projects. Realizing this was a valuable tool in her kit, she pursued advanced training in fundraising, business development, and donor relations, working extensively with nonprofits and start-ups in search of new income streams. More recently, Dr. Crowley has combined her love of research, fundraising, and science communications to create messages with meaning that inform, resonate, and inspire giving as well as discovery. As an entrepreneur, she advises universities, museums, individuals, and international scientific teams on the best approaches to fundraising and public relations around their work. Dr. Crowley spent the pandemic lockdown pursuing the international Certified Fund Raising Expert credential (CFRE) and will sit for that qualifying exam later in 2021.

This seminar will survey strategic and adaptive ways in which academic, applied, and independent archaeologists can maximize the potential for obtaining financial support for research and outreach endeavors. From crowd funding to grant writing to finding the perfect individual donor, learn about resources, methods, and techniques to enhance the funding streams that get projects across the finish line.

1. To review the current landscape of funding options for scientific research and public
   outreach.
2. To offer new resources, methods, and avenues for obtaining financial support.
3. To tap into the ecosystem of public relations and science communications and to see how these factor into developing funding resources.

Dr. Tamira Brennan, RPA, has been practicing archaeology for over 20 years in the Midwestern US, primarily in a research-based CRM setting. The first 17 years of her career included time as the Coordinator of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey’s American Bottom field station and as an instructor on many archaeological field schools in Illinois and Missouri. More recently, she has served as a curator, first at the Center for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and presently at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, where she strives to work out creative solutions to address collections needs in a field that routinely underfunds curation. She has taught collections management to undergrads/graduate students in several formats, including traditional classroom, lab, internships, and most recently as a 4-week field school through the Institute for Field Research.

This seminar provides a framework for teaching curation/collections management in archaeology in two formats: as a matter of course within a general archaeology curriculum, and as a specialized class with a focus on experiential learning, either in a traditional classroom/laboratory setting or as an intensive field school. Individuals with no prior experience in curation and those with a strong curation background will benefit alike, as participants will walk away with the tools to improve unfunded archaeological collections in a novel way and understand how to better teach and uphold the SAA Principles of Archaeological Ethics and RPA Standards of Research Performance in relation to what is left once an excavation has occurred: its collections.

1. To help professional archaeologists avoid unknowingly contributing to the curation crisis by discussing the genesis of it, as well as common missteps made by practitioners in our field today
2. To provide a starting point/framework for general archaeologists (non-curators) to incorporate curation into undergrad/grad curricula either as a stand-alone class, or as a unit within a general archaeology class as a matter of course
3. To frame curation as salvage archaeology and promote the potential of collections work as “field work”
4. To lay out a framework for successfully teaching curation as field work

Edward González-Tennant earned his PhD from the University of Florida in 2011 for pioneering research on the application of digital archaeology to better understand the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. His broader research focuses on the use of digital, geospatial, and remote sensing technologies for archaeology, with a particular emphasis on racialized historical groups. All of Dr. González-Tennant's work is grounded by an interest in public outreach.

Digital technologies provide a powerful toolkit for researching, interpreting, and sharing archaeological knowledge with the public. The growing use of virtual technologies by archaeologists for these purposes is possible because of advances in computing power, expanding Internet access, and the maturation of free and open source software (FOSS). This online seminar will discuss best practices for integrating virtual applications into larger public archaeology work. A brief discussion of digital archaeology grounds an exploration of virtual reality (VR) and similar applications like augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). The instructor will present best practices in terms of workflows, available software, and online platforms, followed by a case study exploring more than 15 years of work regarding the 1923 Rosewood Massacre. Ultimately, this seminar is oriented toward providing participants applicable knowledge useful for crafting strong proposals, tailoring work to diverse audiences, and involving stakeholders across the lifetime of projects.

1. Differentiate virtual reality from similar terms such as augmented reality, mixed reality, and various 3D applications.
2. Learn through specific case studies how the application of virtual reality and related technologies assist in translating archaeological research into public knowledge.
3. Develop an awareness of best practices (and associated software) for integrating virtual reality alongside other forms of public outreach.