Diversity and Knowledge Production in Archaeology

For the past 40 years, feminist scholars have been exploring how the lack of diversity among archaeologists in the present affects what we learn about the past. As disciplinary demographics become more inclusive, how has the practice of archaeology changed? What inequities linger, and how can they be addressed? How do these inequities shape the knowledge we produce about the human past? In this intersectional course, we will examine sexism, racism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, and cissexism in the field. Along with grounding ourselves in the literature and hearing from a variety of guest speakers, we will focus on understanding the methods of this body of investigation, and developing new research on these issues. Students will develop small-scale original research projects using surveys, participant observation, oral histories, or interviews to understand a form of inequality in the discipline. These papers will be presented in a symposium at the end of the quarter.