Every student will present one reading to the class. Presenters should summarize the reading's main points, assess its strengths and weaknesses, and provide some initial ideas to guide the discussion. All students will be prepared to participate in class discussions of the readings, so the presenter's duty is to begin that discussion. Every presenter must provide me a thorough outline of their presentation on the day of the presentation or lose half of their reading presentation credit.

Readings are assigned on a voluntary basis: if you do not volunteer to present one of the readings by January 15, I will assign you to one at random. The line ABOVE the reading indicates the person who is presenting that reading: please do not get confused and prepare the wrong reading for class.

All class readings are in the course's three textbooks; please do not confuse these course readings with the readings for the Journal Review Essay assignment.  Readings in Images of the Recent Past are indicated by IRP and the chapter author (e.g., Leone, IRP), readings in In Small Things Forgotten are indicated by chapter number, and readings in Places in Mind are indicated by author's name and the book title (e.g., Lucas, Places in Mind).

Email me if you have any questions.

Orser, Charles E. (editor)
1996 Images of the Recent Past: Readings in Historical Archaeology. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California. 

Deetz, James 
1996 In Small Things Forgotten: The Archeology of Early American Life. 2nd edition. Anchor Press, New York.  The earlier edition is not significantly different from the 1996 revision.

Paul A. Shackel and Erve J. Chambers, (editors)
2004 Places in Mind: Public Archaeology as Applied Anthropology.  Routledge, New York.

Jan 22

• Towards a Critical Archaeology (Leone, Mark P., Parker B. Potter, Jr., and Paul A. Shackel Current Anthropology 28(3):283-302 [1987]).

• Silberman, IRP

Jan 29

  Autumn Langley                                                          

• Towards a Black Feminist-inspired Archaeology?  (Franklin, Maria, Journal of Social Archaeology 1(1):108-125 [2001])

• Moving Towards Transformative Democratic Action through Archaeology (Woods, Margaret C. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 6(3):187-198 [2002]).

  Allysia Schwartz                                                                                          

• Theory: An Ethical Epistemology of Publicly Engaged Biocultural Research (Blakey, Michael L. In The New York African Burial Ground Skeletal Biology Final Report, Vol. 1, edited by Michael L. Blakey and Lesley M. Rankin-Hill, pp.98-115 [2004].  Howard University, Washington, DC).

Feb 5

• The Political Economy of Archaeological Cultures: Marxism and American Historical Archaeology (Matthews, Christopher N., Mark P. Leone, and Kurt A. Jordan.  Journal of Social Archaeology 2(1):109-134 [2002]).

• Consulting Stakeholders. (Zimmerman, Larry J. In Archaeology in Practice: A Student Guide to Archaeological Analysis, edited by Jane Balme and Alistair Paterson, pp.39-58.  Blackwell, New York [2006]).  Available on Oncourse

• Leone, IRP

Feb 12

• In Small Things Forgotten, Chapters 1-2

• Emulation and Empowerment: Material, Social, and Economic Dynamics in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Virginia (Bell, Alison International Journal of Historical Archaeology 6(4):253-298 [2002]).

Feb 19

  Christina Riley                                                                                          

• Hidden in View: African Spiritual Spaces in North American Landscapes (Ruppel, Timothy, Jessica Neuwirth, Mark P. Leone and Gladys-Marie Fry Antiquity, 77(296):321-335 [2003]).  Available on Oncourse

   Julia Jennings                                                                                         

• In Small Things Forgotten, Chapters 7-8

  Ben Campbell                                                                                          

• Orser, Archaeological Interpretation and the Irish Diasporic Community (in Places in Mind)

Feb 24

• Struggling with the Past: Some Views of African-American Identity (Thomas, Brian W. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 6(2):143-151 [2002]).

• Hantman, Monacan Mediation: Regional and Individual Archaeologies in the Contemporary Politics of Indian Heritage (in Places in Mind)

 Selina Massolini                                                                                           

• The Archaeology of Overseas Chinese Communities (Voss, Barbara L. World Archaeology 37(3):424-439 [2005]).  Available on Oncourse

March 5

   Lisa Watt                                                                         

• Hummel Figurines: Molding a Collectible Germany (Chaimov, John Journal of Material Culture 6(1):49-66 [2001]).

• Seifert, IRP

  Cheryl Weersma                                                                                          

• Reeves, Asking the "Right" Questions: Archaeologists and Descendant Communities (in Places in Mind)

March 12

  Michael Essex                                                                                           

• In Small Things Forgotten, Chapters 3-4

 Cindy Medley                                                                                           

• "A Set of Very Fair Cups and Saucers":  Stamped Ceramics as an Example of Inuit Incorporation (Cabak, Melanie and Stephen Loring.  International Journal of Historical Archaeology 4(1):1-34 [2000])

• McDavid, From "Traditional" Archaeology to Public Archaeology to Community Action: The Levi Jordan Plantation project (in Places in Mind)

March 26

• Ferguson, IRP

   Collin Campbell-Maher                                                                                         

• Lucas, Applied Archaeology and the Construction of Place at Mount Calvert, Prince George's County, Maryland (in Places in Mind)

• Henry, IRP

April 2

   Kady Elliott                                                                                           

• Las Vegas in Africa (Hall, Martin and Pia Bombardella.  Journal of Social Archaeology 5(1):1-24 [2005]).

    Colly Baker                                                                                        

• Historical Archaeology and the Recent Urban Past (Symonds, James.  International Journal of Heritage Studies 10(1):31-48 [2004].  Available on Oncourse.

April 9

   Traci Miller                                                                                         

• Overview of Mortuary Population, Burial Practices, and Spatial Redistribution (Perry, Warren R., and Jean Howson.  In New York African Burial Ground Archaeology Final Report, edited by Warren R. Perry, Jean Howson, and Barbara Bianco, pp. 130-155 [2006]). 

    Drew Connor                                                                                        

• Identity and Violent Death: Contextualizing Lethal Gun Violence within the African-American Community of Dallas, TX (1900-1907) (James M. Davidson, Journal of Social Archaeology 8(3):320-354 [2008]).

• Summary and Conclusions (Perry, Warren R., Jean Howson, and Barbara A. Bianco.  In New York African Burial Ground Archaeology Final Report, edited by Warren R. Perry, Jean Howson, and Barbara Bianco, pp, 444-457 [2006]). 

April 14

 Athena Chaillaux                                                                                           

• Immaculate Consumption: A Critique of the "Shop till you Drop" School of Human Behavior (Wurst, LouAnn and Randall H. McGuire International Journal of Historical Archaeology 3(3):191-199 [1999]).

  Molly Dagon                                                                                          

• `Unrelenting Toil': Expanding Archaeological Interpretations of the Female Slave Experience (Jordan, Elizabeth Grzymala Slavery and Abolition 26(2):217-232 [2005])..

April 23

  Stephanie Harris                                                                                          

• `It's Not Forever': The Material Culture of Hope (Fiona R. Parrott, Journal of Material Culture 10(3):245-262 [2005]).

   Mary Kamphaus                                                                                         

• The Cultural Landscape of Interplanetary Space (Alice Gorman, Journal of Social Archaeology 5:85-107 [2005]).

Last updated January 15, 2009