The third Three-Minute Forum is being organized for the 2014 SHA conference in Quebec City. Past sessions have allowed participants to focus on a particular artifact in a fast-paced and lively forum. If you are interested in participating in the session, we'd love to have you join us. Please let us know if you'd like to be included by June 3, with an paper title due by June 15th. Individual abstracts are not necessary for the forum, but we would like information on your artifact(s), chronology, region, and any other information you feel is pertinent. Please note that participation in this session does not limit you from delivering in other paper sessions. Feel free to send this invite to others who might be interested. 



 



Three-Minute Forum on Artifact Studies: Questions that Count



 



Organizers: Dr. Rebecca Allen (Environmental Science Associates, Inc.), Julia Huddleson (California Department of Transportation), and Kimberly Wooten (California Department of Transportation)



 



This year’s conference organizers put forth a theme to promote "our community to take the measure of its development over the past quarter century." They ask that attendees consider "Questions that count," -- resulting in a critical evaluation of the direction of our field. As historical archaeologists, we focus on the relationship between artifacts and the human experience. What are the questions that count when it comes to not only the laboratory analysis, but the interpretation of our findings? Often a particular object or class of artifacts will strike us and we find ourselves needing to know more about the history and significance, or the story behind, that artifact and its original owner. This search can lead to many other questions and lines of inquiry, often taking our initial notions of questions that count into new directions. What have we learned about the role of artifact studies in historical archaeology that we want to take into the future? In a fast-paced format, speakers will deliver three-minute papers focusing on a single artifact or class of artifacts. Fifteen-minute discussions encouraging audience participation will follow each set of five papers. During the last half-hour, there will be an open format; panelists and audience will discuss new directions of artifact studies, those tried and true, and other topics as they arise.



 



Questions and paper submissions can be directed to the session organizers at the following:

 

Dr. Rebecca Allen, [log in to unmask], 530-333-4547 

Kimberly Wooten, [log in to unmask], 916-651-8168 

Julia Huddleson, [log in to unmask], 916-653-0495

 

Many thanks for your interest, Kimberly

 

Kimberly Wooten 

Assoc. Environmental Planner, Historical Archaeologist 

California Department of Transportation

1120 N Street, MS 27, Sacramento, CA 95814