Hi Tim,
   
  Thanks so much!  I'm cc'ing the list on this so that everybod gets the answer to your "what will you be teaching" question/point.  I wish, myself, I had a better idea of what I will be teaching, but the situation is very, uhm, "open ended."  I know for sure that I'll be teaching intro to physical anthropology, intro to archaeology, and archaeological method and theory.  I will also use the lab for research purposes, mainly in zooarchaeology for myself, but also for anything students are interested in pursuing.  Beyond that, I have the opportunity to develop any and all classes I'm excited about teaching, and so I am trying to equip the lab so that I'll be set for anything that strikes my fancy.  So, as a result, any and all suggestions regarding things that are useful in the lab, class, or field are most welcome!  The intial budget allowance is extremely generous, so I'm trying to throw in everything I can imagine!
   
  Thanks again for your generous help and suggestions!
   
  best,
  Elizabeth
   
  
Timothy Scarlett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
  Hi Elizabeth,

I have attached a proposal I wrote for enhancements to our lab here. 
It was part of a series of changes, two complete and several more 
remaining to be made when I can find the funding. You can certainly 
bet that the funds get harder to find once you are up and running in 
your new post! You did not explain if you would be setting up for 
research or what types of classes you would be teaching. I bet 
people could give better advice if they knew. My start up included 
$10K to install some kilns for ceramic experiments, an agate mortar 
pestle set, a lapidary trim saw, and other similar equipment that I 
use in my research. If I'd known, I think I might have considered 
asking the dean for a LA-ICP-MS that we could share with another 
department!

If you are thinking about teaching, rather than research, make a list 
of the labs you'd like to teach in each subject area. Then list some 
stuff for each lab. You'll need replica hominid fossils to teach 
human evolution as well as replicas of famous stone tool types, but 
perhaps also want other biological material. Would you like to show 
your students DNA gel packs? You'll want to put together comparative 
seed collection and charcoal, etc, to teach archaeobotany, but will 
you also want a flotation tank? You can build your own or order one 
from an existing company. I ordered some seeds, but now realize that 
for many of the species and varietals, I could have gone shopping at 
the local coop grocery store. It would have been less expensive and 
easier. I've also worked with several students on independent study 
projects where they tried to build comparative collections of things, 
like collecting wild seeds, mineral and toolstone samples, 
comparative samples of ceramics, or wood samples and mounting them on 
slides or storing them in archival boxes or envelopes. If you are 
going to be doing serious zooarch, besides just teaching the basics 
as I do, you will want to have the capacity to clean up road kill. 
Perhaps you'll want to maintain an insect colony? That's never been 
my cup of tea, but I bring it up so you think about developing a 
sustainable capacity for growth. Try to get a commitment for a lab 
support budget beyond simply the funds you get from students' lab 
fees. You could order a boat load of archival envelopes, glass slide 
mounts, acid free pens, archival boxes that can different size 
specimens- from mouse to moose skeletons, acetone and B-72, and so 
on. I have samples of coal, metal ores, slags from blast and 
bloomery furnaces, since I teach much about metallurgy. I also do 
units on drawing and photography, so we have light boxes and photo 
stands, scales, and fabric for backdrops.

I wish I had more suppliers to tell you. It seems to me that 24 
hours is totally unreasonable. If the University you are creating 
these labs really wants you to do good work teaching their students, 
they should recognize that the time crush is totally unreasonable. 
Perhaps you should tell them you need a scanning electron microscope, 
then you could use the few hundred thousand bucks setting up a 
descent lab... Just a suggestion.

Cheers,
Tim




On Oct 31, 2007, at 8:12 PM, Elizabeth Newman wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> I'm hoping some of you out there can help me! I will be 
> beginning a new faculty position this spring, and have just heard 
> from the university that they need an equipment list and budget 
> from me in the next 24 hours for the lab I'm setting up. I'm 
> starting from scratch, and will need it to serve for Physical 
> Anthropology, Archaeology (field and lab), and Zooarchaeology.
>
> Does anybody out there have such a list (for one or all of the 
> disciplines mentioned) that they would be willing to share? Or is 
> there anything that isn't obvious that I might want to include. 
> Since they seem to be prepared to be generous with start up costs 
> (and getting money later might be difficult), I'm trying to compile 
> the most complete list possible!
>
> Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!
>
> Best,
> Elizabeth
>
> ElizabethTerese Newman
> PhD Candidate
> Department of Anthropology
> Yale University
>
> __________________________________________________
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Timothy Scarlett
Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences/AOB 209
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Ave.
Houghton, MI 49931
[log in to unmask]
(906)487-2359 (office)
(906)487-2468 (fax)
------------------------




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