By snoadmin
As of the beginning of next semester, the anthropology department will no longer be accepting master’s students interested in specializing in archaeology – not for a lack of interest, but because of what the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) calls “off course” instructing from professors.
According to CLA Associate Dean Mark Wiley, no classes have been cut from the archaeology and the only changes that have taken place have been a temporary halt to admitting students interested in archaeology on a master’s level. There are talks about archaeology moving to the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics or partnering with other departments.
While many of the 25 current students came from across the country to enroll in the archaeology specialization, administrators in the college feel students have been mislead, and are often taking unnecessary courses that can eventually hinder them from graduating.
Administrators in CLA and anthropology department Chairwoman Barbara LeMaster are quick to point out that archaeology is not a program, and the three professors left in the specialization have made archaeology more than a set of courses.
Students currently in the program have come from states like Florida, North Carolina and Colorado to study archaeology at Cal State Long Beach.
“I came out here based on what I read on the website,” said James Daniels, a student who works in a lab on campus and came from North Carolina. He chose CSULB, in part, because of what he read outside the campus website about the archaeology professors in the anthropology department. He also wanted to go to CSULB to work with the high-tech equipment available to students through the IIRMES lab, which contains advanced scientific instrumentation that employs students to do much of the research.
“I came to CSULB primarily for the IIRMES lab,” said Kristin Safi, a graduate student from Colorado. “The vast spectrum of state-of-the-art analytical equipment is well-known in archaeological circles … few schools have even one piece of the equipment we have in IIRMES. I knew this was really the only option if I wanted to be competitive in my field.”
Other opportunities made available to students interested in specializing in archaeology include trips to places like Guatemala, Easter Island and the Mojave Desert. Unlike many other courses offered by CLA, archaeology classes tend to be oriented on fieldwork, which carry a high cost and require expensive scientific equipment.
According to Wiley, some of the advice students have received from archaeology professors delayed student graduation.
“There are some students taking over 50 units and it’s only 33 units” for a master’s in anthropology, Wiley said. “All it is is courses; it’s not even an emphasis,” he added, noting that students do not need to formally declare anything to specialize in archaeology.
According to archaeological sciences associate professor Carl Lipo, employers in the field of archaeology “are looking for demonstrative skills, not [a student saying],’I’m well-rounded.'” He continued by saying that archaeology professors have only suggested that students take classes that would help students in their field.
Students in the program said some classes were cut over the winter, and they have had to reconfigure their schedules around what is still offered so they can graduate.
“A lot of classes have been cancelled,” Daniels said. “More or less I’ve gotten what I came for, but it’s been a lot of headache.”
