hi, my name is Nancy Bowles.  I have just finished a masters in
anthropology at Columbia and am now in search of a PhD program.  I
decided to do a "terminal" (choke, choke) masters because I couldn't
decide out of Barnard whether to apply to socio-cultural or archaeology
programs.  I thought a masters program would help, but it only proved to
make me more indecisive.  I am now faced with a quandry.  In archaeology,
I consider myself a "critical" or "symbolic" type.  In anthropology, I am
a "materialist."
How does one reconcile these scholastic identities?  I need a program
where the archaeologists and socio-culturalists speak to each other.  Is
that too much to ask?  I feel like I have a home in historic archaeology
... sometimes.   Can anyone tell me about ethno-history programs?  My
scholastic interests revolve around gender, (undergrad degree in women's
studies and history), France (family), and American and European
history.  I imagine that my future research will involve French
colonialization of the new world and I want to look at documents just as
much as I want to look at artifacts, settlement patterns and
architecture.
I am digging a medieval french site this summer and in the mean time am
doing some work for the Museum of the American Indian. Any advice for
future programs?  I am considering Berkeley, Mc Gill, U. of Virginia, and
ethno-history at Michigan.  I would like to hear from anyone who has an
opinion about these programs.
Thank you in advance.