Hi -

As I commented to Bob S. on this "cross membership" and "fragmentation"
issue in a note to him about the proposal to change the SHA meeting dates,
I think the really unfortunate part of this thread  is how few "historical"
archaeologists belong to or attend any professional historical organization
meetings, e.g. the Western History Association, the Mining History
Association, etc.  Until "historical" archaeologists can bring themselves
to recognize this as a no brainer, I, for one, don't feel its worth
worrying about the rest.

If the forecasts predicted here about the next few years are generally
accepted as real, then it would seem to be all the more reason to see that
these "interdisciplinary" boundaries or barriers are finally broken, not
just for the obvious benefits to scholarship that would arise from true
interdisciplinary studies, but for mutual respect and survival.  Concerns
about "respect" should not be limited to matters between SAA and SHA.

It goes w/o saying that I speak only for myself and not my employer.

Carl Barna
BLM, Regioal Historian



                    Ned Heite
                    <[log in to unmask]        To:     [log in to unmask]
                    G>                   cc:
                    Sent by:             Subject:     lack of respect
                    HISTORICAL
                    ARCHAEOLOGY
                    <HISTARCH@asu
                    .edu>


                    12/16/2000
                    07:37 AM
                    Please
                    respond to
                    HISTORICAL
                    ARCHAEOLOGY






Mary Beaudry responded:

>>Carl and Bob
>>
>>Re the formation of SHA and its relationship to SAA.  As one who was
there
>>I can put the reason in four words:  A lack of respect.
>>
>>Rick
>
>
>Then and now.
>
>MCB


Seems that we have this "lack of respect" problem in other areas, too.  For
years, the Society for Industrial Archaeology has been running a
first-class shop, but vast numbers of "other" archaeologists persist in
looking down their noses at the whole discipline, to the point of
dismissing industrial resources as unworthy of study.

Then there are the statistics Bob Schuyler quoted about cross-membership.
We should be really distressed at the small number of SHA people who are
members of provincial, state, and local societies.  It's the local
societies that feed our profession its political support, its incoming
student population, and the demand for our services. Yet the local and
state socieites (in our area at least) are dwindling, and the professionals
attend only when they are on the program.

It's about time this fragmentation between subdisciplines, between amateur
and professional, and between regions, should stop.  The incoming
administration will be hostile to the social sciences, and a lot of us will
be out on the street very soon, mark my words. Talk about "lack of
respect," we ain't seen nothin' yet.

Ned Heite  ([log in to unmask])
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