Being sociology and anthropology majors has definitely shaped our time at Colgate. For example, we recently co-presented a poster at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archaeology (SAA) in Austin, TX. For this blog post, we wanted to share our experiences, and offer advice for future and current SOCI & ANTH majors.
Both of us came to Colgate not planning on majoring in sociology or anthropology, but we changed our minds after taking Introduction to Sociology, Anthropology, and Archaeology in three consecutive semesters! This started our journey into exploring all aspects of being a SOAN major with an emphasis on archaeology and museum studies.
After sophomore year, Hannah attended a bioarchaeology field school traveling to Albania, Greece, and Romania through Utica College. She continued the summer at Colgate as an Upstate Institute fellow conducting research at the Oneida County Historical Society (OCHS) in Utica. That summer, Tess also attended an archaeology field school in Belize, and was an Upstate Institute fellow at OCHS the following year.
Our junior and senior year, we continued our focus on archaeology as students and TAs in Professor Kerber’s course – ANTH 253: Field Methods and Interpretation in Archaeology. As part of this course, students excavate at Brunk Site, an Oneida archaeological site. After two months of excavations, they return to Colgate’s archaeology lab to clean and analyze the material remains and write a final report on their findings. We highly recommend this course for anyone who is interested in archaeology, wants to spend time outside in the sun (and rain), and enjoys hands-on activities!
The poster we presented for the SAA, “The Brunk Site: The Public Outreach Efforts of an Oneida Archaeological Site in Central New York”, focused on the development of ANTH 253 as an opportunity for Colgate students to conduct archaeological work in the area. The students build relationships with local avocational archaeologists who share their expert knowledge with us, and several of the students are working on publishing their findings. The poster also explained how we created an exhibit for local children that would introduce them to archaeology, the Oneida culture, and Brunk Site.
Presenting our poster at the SAA conference was an enlightening experience. We were of the few attendees and even fewer presenters, who were undergraduates. Being surrounded by people whose names we knew from our archaeology textbooks was intimidating. However, it was gratifying to have all these experts be interested in a project that we had put so much work into. Archaeology is certainly something we both love and it is energizing to see the passion that so many other people have as well.
In closing, we have a few points of advice for future and current SOAN/SOCI/ANTH majors. Take classes that will challenge you, especially if you are curious about the topic. Both of our theses developed from coursework that we wanted to explore further. On that note, prepare for your thesis early. Write down topics that you become interested in during your time at Colgate – stay curious and ask questions. And most importantly, be hands-on. Look for field school opportunities in the summer, inquire about internship programs, and apply for undergraduate research positions. Being a SOAN major will open many doors for you and take advantage of everything the department offers – the four years will fly by quickly!
We would like to thank all the SOAN professors and our fellow senior SOAN majors. Good luck to everyone else! And if you have any questions or just want to chat, feel free to e-mail us: hfitton@colgate.edu and tchristiansen@colgate.edu. Have a great summer!!