Field Work Opportunities 

Depending on your schedule, you may be able to engage in field excavation projects for two or three summers before you graduate.  Each January 15, a comprehensive list of excavation opportunities in the United States and around the world is published by the Archaeological Institute of America.  If you plan to participate, this is an intense period.  Together with your professors, you will pore over that list to decide what excavation program might best fit your career plans. 

Recent faculty excavation projects have included: 

•	Dr. Symoenoglou’s Ithaka project in Greece
•	Dr. Kelly’s continuing excavations at Cahokia Mounds, Illinois
•	Dr. Fritz’s work on Mississippian period mounds in Louisiana and in pueblos sites in New Mexico
•	Dr. Marshall’s work with the Okiek hunter-gatherer sites in Kenya
•	Dr. Rotroff’s work on both Greek and Roman sites around the Mediterranean
•	Dr. Browman’s work on early American historical archaeology and on Bolivian South American sites
•	Dr. Bennett's work on the originis of Chinese civilization
•	Dr. Smith's work on the application of geology to archaeological interpretation
•	Dr. Kidder's work on the geoarchaeology of Mississippian cultures
•	Dr. Frachetti's work on prehistoric Central Asian pastoralists

 

Paid Field Schools 

Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin (New Version Available January 15) 
Current listings can be viewed online for free at AFOB online.
Website: www.archaeological.org/Publications/ 

  To Order: 
  Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co.                      1-800-228-0810 
  4050 Westmark Dr. 
  Duburque, IA. 52002 
  Website: www.archaeological.org 
  ($13 for members; $17 for non-members)  

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Washington University Chapter 
      A limited number of grants-in-aid for scientific research are made by the Washington     University Chapter of Sigma Xi to undergraduate students.  The funds may be utilized for items including purchase of materials for experiments, copying and archival fees, or travel to present research findings at professional society meetings.  Projects requiring a Human Subject Review should complete such clearance prior to application.  The competition is handled through the Washington University Arts and Sciences Director of Undergraduate Research office in South Brookings.  Check their website at http://www.sigmaxi.org/ to link to application forms and deadlines.

Bemis Travel Fellowship 
      The Bemis grants a current junior up to $2,500 toward the completion of a research project in Europe during the summer following the junior year.  Preference is given to students who have not traveled to Europe and whose only opportunity may be through financial assistance.  Deadline is in March. 

Dorot Foundation Travel Grant 
      This grant will enable five Washington University students to receive $1,000 each 
towards summer study in Israel.  Grants are awarded on the basis of need.  Deadline is in March. 

Florence Moog Scholarship 
      This scholarship is awarded each spring to a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences who is preparing for a career in science.  Awarded solely on the basis of merit, this scholarship provides half –tuition for both junior and senior years.  The selection is based upon interest and achievement as well as on academic performance.  In late February, the College sends a letter to qualified students inviting them to apply.  Several students are interviewed, and one is selected. 

Honoraries and Research Resources

Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi was established as the ‘scientific honorary’, as a sister to the humanities honorary Phi Beta Kappa. Each year a select few undergraduates are inducted into the honorary.  Membership is based on research as well as GPA, so most students do not qualify until the spring of their senior year. Sigma Xi is an important honorary for those intending to pursue post-graduate work in science.

Lambda Alpha

Anthropological archaeologists are eligible for membership in Lambda Alpha, the Anthropology honorary. Most students are inducted their sophomore or junior years. Depending on the particular set of officers, the group is more active in some years than others but minimally meets twice a semester. Lambda Alpha often takes field trips to archaeological sites including Cahokia Mounds, Graham Cave Archaeological Site, and other locales near St. Louis.

Friday Archaeology

The campus archaeology undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, as well as occasional visitors meet each Friday afternoon of the academic semester (except when there are conflicts with national meetings). These are informal meetings which usually begin about 4 p.m. and finish by 5:30 p.m., with soft drinks and various munchies as part of the ambiance.  Friday Archaeology usually focuses upon an archaeological presentation, which may include a talk on a senior honors thesis research project, a summer field school, a part of thesis or dissertation research, or the ongoing research of one of the faculty. Additionally, the meetings may be guest presentations by individuals in the St. Louis area engaged in archaeology or by the occasional big-name visitor. The sessions are particularly treasured as a place where students and faculty regularly interact in a congenial atmosphere and the various archaeologists associated with the program renew linkages.

Laboratories

Dedicated laboratory or research facilities include both the more scientific as well as the more humanistic areas. Under the auspices of Anthropology, there is one laboratory facility dedicated to ceramic and lithic analyses, a lab dedicated to paleoethnobotanical studies with an associated set of plant reference specimens, a lab dedicated to zooarchaeological work with its associated collection of comparative zoological reference specimens, a lab dedicated to geoarchaeological research tools,  a ‘wet’ lab where preparation of various specimens is conducted as well as other ‘wet’ chemical procedures, and a ‘teaching’ lab with computer facilities as well as space for undergraduate research projects.  Under the auspices of Classics and Art History, there is research space for individuals working with the Wulfing classical coin collection and other closely allied research.

Library Resources

As a research university, Washington University’s library system provides a good deal of support in terms of holdings and access to materials not held by our system. Most of the relevant journals and major monographs are either in the collections of the main facility, Olin Library, or in the Art History Library in Steinberg Hall. There are often useful specialist holdings in places like the Earth and Planetary Sciences Library in Wilson Hall and other campus branch libraries. The university is a member of the regional “Mobius” network as well; books from other libraries can be ordered by a web system and typically arrive in two or three days.

The Anthropology Department has encouraged its professors to donate duplicate journals, surplus books, and donated materials from various colleagues to its Bennett-Waddell Library.  Entire library holdings from retired faculty are also accepted into the departmental library resources. This material is not listed (so far) on the on-line computer catalog and can be accessed only by going to the library. Holdings are eclectic, but one can often find a copy of a journal or monograph that is unavailable in the main system (for whatever reason) as well as some interesting and unique items in the Anthropology departmental library.

2/3/2005?