US-IL: Archaeological Curation (IFR)

Location: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA

Session Dates: June 3-July 13, 2024 (anticipated--TBC)

Application Deadline: April 1, 2024

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://ifrglobal.org/program/us-il-archaeological-curation/

Program Type:
Field School

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Institute for Field Research (IFR),, Center for Archaeological Investigations

Project Director:
Dr. Tamira K. Brennan

Project Description:

The Curating Archaeological Collections field school offers intensive hands-on training working with pre-Columbian artifacts at the Center for Archaeological Investigations’ 9000 ft² curation center. Here you will learn skills that can be applied to a career in curation, museums, collections, archives, and of course, field archaeology, all while doing detective work to solve the many unpredictable issues that arise when rehabilitating old collections. Expect to come across one-of-a-kind and exemplary artifacts that few people have the opportunity to handle. You will walk away from this experience with a good working knowledge of how to care for, organize, and track collections on a large-scale, develop a base in prehistoric artifact identification, database use and design, and legislation governing collections management in the US (including NAGPRA). Field trips to regional museums and other repositories, visits to local archaeological sites and excavations, lectures, discussion, and optional weekend excursions into beautiful southern Illinois enhance this experience.

Period(s) of Occupation: Curation, Museum Studies, CRM, Prehistoric

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Students are expected to stay the full length of the program.

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: None

Room and Board Arrangements:
Students will have private bedrooms in an apartment or dorm setting with common spaces (kitchen, living room, bathrooms) shared between two or more students. Furniture and linens for the beds will be provided, as will all dishes/cook wares and cleaning supplies. Wi-fi is available, and the housing is near community bus lines. Dinners will be a combination of meals cooked by students in teams of 2 or 3 on a rotating basis on most class nights, a weekly meal out at a local establishment, and whatever the students choose to arrange for non-class nights. All meals will minimally include a protein and fruit/vegetable. Students will pack their own lunch to bring to class each day. Refrigerators are present at student housing, but not at the class site, so plan to bring a lunch box with cooler packs, if necessary. Groceries for lunch and dinner for the entire week will be provided at the project’s expense. Students should plan on providing their own breakfast foods. The project van will make weekly trips to the grocery store so that students can acquire groceries for both.

Academic Credit:
8 semester (12 quarter)