Academic Programs

Interdisciplinary Programs: Historical Archaeology

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Dr. Clarence Geier, Minor Adviser Phone: (540) 568-6973 E-mail: geiercr@jmu.edu Dr. Gabrielle Lanier, Minor Adviser Phone: (540) 568-3615 E-mail: laniergm@jmu.edu

The minor is designed for students interested in the field of historical archaeology, a discipline that integrates the research interests and methods of archaeology and history. The minor is designed to complement existing majors in anthropology and history, and it may also be of interest to students in art history and public administration. While guided by the theoretical underpinnings of history and anthropology, the minor in historical archaeology is highly field and research oriented. Students enrolling in the program should anticipate courses that require significant effort outside of the classroom.

The minor is a minimum of 23 credit hours. Two courses (six credits) may be double counted between the minor and the student’s major. Required courses include:

Required Courses	Credit Hours
ANTH/HIST 331. Historical Archaeology	3
ANTH 494. Field Techniques in Archaeology	4
HIST 396. Introduction to Public History	3
Capstone research course¹	4
ANTH/HIST 496. Research Thesis
Choose three of the following:	9
(Of these, one course must be chosen from the history/anthropology options and one must be from the geology and geography options.²)
ANTH 455. Archaeology: Methods of Analysis and Interpretation
HIST 492. American Material Culture
HIST 493. Historic Preservation
HIST 494. Introduction to Museum Work
GEOL 340. Soils and Land Use
GEOG 245. Introduction to Global Positioning Systems
GEOG 265. Thematic Cartography
GEOG 285. Aerial Photograph Interpretation
GEOG 366. Geographic Information Systems

	23
1 The personalized capstone course will take place over two semesters. The first semester (two credits) will involve defining a research topic, establishing a theoretical and methodological base, and gathering data. The second semester (two credits) will be involved with the analysis and interpretation of the gathered data and the preparation of a formal statement of findings. The project will require close work with a faculty adviser and will be evaluated by a review committee consisting of the adviser and one other faculty. 2 Access to the geology and geography courses will be competitive and will require some computer experience.