Slow Archaeology

An article on Slow Archaeology for a volume of North Dakota Quarterly dedicated to Slow

Lessons from the Bakken Oil Patch

This is a preprint of an article that appeared in the Journal Contemporary Archaeology. The article summarizes the recent work of the North Dakota Man Camp Project to understand the largely undocumented migrants arriving in the Bakken Oil Patch for work. It argues that efforts to document short-term labor in the Bakken exposes particular challenges facing the archaeology of the modern world ranging from the ephemerality of short-term settlements to the hyper-abundance of modern objects. The use of photography, video, interviews, and descriptions produced an abundant archive of archaeological ephemera that in some ways parallels the modern character of temporary workforce housing. The final section of this article offers some perspectives on how work in the Bakken oil patch can inform policy, our understanding of material culture in the modern world, and the role of the discipline in forming a shared narrative

Dream Archaeology

A paper on dreams in Greek archaeology prepared for a 2010 Presidential Lecture series at the University of North Dakota

The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field

This is a preprint of the introduction to the Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology edited by David K. Pettegrew and William Caraher

History of North Dakota: Women’s Hockey, Higher Ed & the UND Budget

This is a class on the recent budget cuts at the University of North Dakota. The class has four goals: 1. To become more familiar with the complexities of the modern university and UND, in particular. 2. To encourage critical thinking about the institutional structure of higher education in the U.S. in a historical context and local context. 3. To understand the relationship between the institutional organization and the purpose of the university. 4. To produce a short guide to the UND budget for students that allows them to be more critical consumers and participants in university life

History at the University of North Dakota 1885-1970

A brief history of the Department of History at the University of North Dakota from 1885-1970

Assemblage Theory: Recording the Archaeological Record: Second Response

This piece is a response to Reinhard’s Assemblage Theory: Recording the Archaeological Record

Pyla-Koutsopetria I archaeological survey of an ancient coastal town

Pyla-Koutsopetria I presents the results of an intensive pedestrian survey documenting the diachronic history of a 100 ha microregion along the southern coast of Cyprus. Located around 10 km from the ancient city of Kition, the ancient coastal settlements of the Koutsopetria mircoregion featured an Iron Age sanctuary, a Classical settlement, a Hellenistic fortification, a Late Roman town, and a Venetian-Ottoman coastal battery situated adjacent to a now infilled, natural harbor on Larnaka Bay. This publication integrates a comprehensive treatment of methods with a discussion of artifact distribution, a thorough catalogue of finds, and a diachronic history to shed light on one of the few undeveloped stretches of the Cypriot coast

4.1. Slow Archaeology: Technology, Efficiency, and Archaeological Work

Slow archaeology situates contemporary, digital archaeological practice both in the historical tradition of the modern discipline of archaeology and within a discourse informed by calls for Taylorist efficiency. Rather than rejecting the use of digital tools, slow archaeology calls for archaeology to embrace a spirit of critical engagement with the rapidly changing technological landscape in the field. This contribution draws upon lessons from the popular slow moment and academic discussions of modernity and speed to consider the impact that the rapid adoption of digital tools has on archaeological practice and knowledge production. Slow archaeology pays particular attention to how digital tools fragment the process of archaeological documentation, potentially deskill fieldwork by relying on digital (Latourian) “blackbox” methods, and erode the sense of place so crucial to archaeological claims of provenience. The result of this critical attention to digital practices is neither a condemnation of new tools nor an unabashed celebration of their potential to transform the discipline, but a call to adopt new technologies and methods in a deliberate way that situates archaeological knowledge production in the realm of field practice.https://dc.uwm.edu/arthist_mobilizingthepast/1017/thumbnail.jp

Working Group in Digital and New Media Annual Report 2013-2014

The 2013-2014 academic year was exceptionally productive for the Working Group in Digital and New Media. Members of the Working Group delivered numerous papers, wrote grant proposals, won grants, submitted articles, forged new collaborations, and published and performed digital datasets, games, and new pieces of music. The Working Group sponsored a half dozen lectures of the past two academic years and gathered both formally and informally to share ideas, socialized, and collaborate. We also mourned the passing of the Chair of the Working Group in Digital and New Media, Joel Jonientz (Art and Design). His imprint and collaborative spirit shaped much of what the Working Group accomplished over the last three years. Members of the Working Group have been involved in a range of collaborative ventures across campus. Van Eck and Dessel have partnered with colleagues in science education, biology, and physics. Pasch and Caraher have contributed to the ongoing renaissance at North Dakota Quarterly. Many Working Group members extended their collaborative work beyond the UND campus to include international organization, peer institutions, local partners, and global artists. Capitalizing Working Group's global connections, they hosted an virtual speakers series that brought major contributors to digital history, digital anthropology, and digital humanities to campus via Skype. University of Richmond President and Presidential Humanities Medal recipient Ed Ayers attracted over 80 students and faculty to hear his talk