Why Wooster?

› Wooster students in archaeology experience the whole range of the discipline, from classroom studies, to fieldwork and lab research, and finally to formal presentation of the results in Independent Study and at academic conferences. Archaeology at Wooster is an interdisciplinary program designed to reflect the interrelatedness of participating fields. As they identify unique achievements and recurrent patterns in past societies,Wooster archaeologists draw from: the humanities — languages, linguistics, art, literature, and religion; history and the social sciences — anthropology and economics; and the physical sciences — geology, chemistry, and biology. The program is designed both for majors and those students with an interest in archaeology as a significant, but not a major, emphasis in their liberal education.

› Wooster archaeology students participate in fieldwork, the cornerstone of research. Fieldwork provides the opportunity to apply the concepts and methods of the classroom to real archaeological problems. Recent students have participated in excavations in Arizona and other U.S. locations as well as Greece, Honduras, Great Britain, Cyprus, Italy, and Ireland.

Life After Wooster

Many students take courses in archaeology simply because of an interest in the subject, but some do so in preparation for careers in teaching, museum curatorship, or field archaeology. For example, Aileen Heiser ’01 joined the Ohio Historic Preservation Office in Columbus after graduation and worked on creating a computerized inventory of state archaeological sites. Michael DiPaolo ’99 did his junior I.S. at the Lewes Historical Society in Delaware, joined the society after graduation, and rose to the position of director. Faculty recommend that students with a professional interest in archaeology secure a broad background in the liberal arts and anticipate the need for specialized training at the graduate level.