The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville STEM Center, in collaboration with the Arkansas Archeological Survey and Mississippi State University, are in the first phase of a three phase project to investigate policies and procedures that help support safe and inclusive archaeological field schools in the southeastern United States. Funded by the National Science Foundation (Award No. 1937392), the first phase of the project will include conducting a survey of archaeological field school directors to understand current practices implemented by directors to prevent sexual harassment and assault. The research team will be conducting this research among field directors who offered a field school in 2018 and/or 2019 and/or will be offering a field school in 2020 or 2021.
Project Rationale
Researchers have recognized the positive learning outcomes that students achieve when they have the opportunity to participate in field-based research. Through such activities, students show increases in their motivation to learn and perceptions of their abilities to succeed in their field of study. Field-based learning also helps students achieve cognitive and metacognitive gains and competencies that move them from a novice to an expert understanding.
In the United States, field-based undergraduate training has long been a primary educational component for students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in anthropology specializing in archaeology. Undergraduate students who aspire to be an archaeologist must enroll in a field school, an immersive field course where students learn archaeological field methods.
Although many researchers have noted the positive gains that undergraduate students experience from field-based research, recent studies demonstrate that field research can come with negative consequences. In archaeology, a recent study documented high rates of sexual harassment and assault among those conducting field research: 66% and 13% of respondents to a recent survey administered to archaeologists conducting research in the southeastern United States reported sexual harassment and assault respectively (Meyers et al., 2018). Although not exclusive to field school students, these numbers, and others, suggest that sexual harassment and assault is common and student trainees are frequently subjected to such treatment.
The primary aim of this research project is to document and determine the practices and procedures that promote harassment and assault free environments for undergraduate students at archaeological field schools. Through this research, we aim to address the following research questions:
- Is there a set of practices and procedures commonly implemented by field directors with potential to create a field school that is free of sexual harassment, assault, and violence?
- What set of policies and procedures is most frequently implemented among field schools and are these policies and procedures perceived as effective?
- Do additional policies and procedures emerge among field schools as effective?
- How can these policies and procedures be broadly implemented to increase field school safety and inclusion among diverse field schools?
This research is supported by the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Award No. 1937392. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.