The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth has posted its annual
call for applications for the summer position "Instructor of Archaeology."
The request for applications also includes "Instructional Assistant" in
archaeology. The JHU CTY program offers university level coursework on
college campuses around the United States and in Ireland. They hire
professors to teach young, academically gifted students aged 12-16. The
program is internationally recognized for its excellence in education and is
often cited for its exemplary programmatic design. I am an academic
researcher and not a professional educator, but I would characterize CTY as
a post-Fordist, outsourced, just-in-time processing model for education.
Regardless, it is an excellent opportunity for a young scholar on a
teaching, public programs, or museum career track.
I held this position for ten years, between 1992 and 2001. My new position
in Michigan Tech's Industrial Archaeology program fits me with new
professorial and research duties which prevent me from returning for my
eleventh year. Teaching at CTY profoundly contributed to my professional
development as a professor, an intellectual, a lecturer, and a scholar. The
archaeology class is taught at several locations around the United States
and in Ireland, and returning instructors (who are well evaluated by
students) retain the option of continuing in the position. I taught at
Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. That position,
and perhaps more, will be available this summer. Archaeology is also
offered at St. Mary's City, Maryland and at Saratoga Springs, New York.
Archaeology instructors maintain significant control over the content and
structure of their course. CTY administration situates archaeology within
the field sciences, and the class must have scientific archaeology as a
central component. Outside of that requirement, each instructor is left to
their own devices to set priorities and select subject matter. Each course
lasts three weeks, but includes over 75 contact hours during that time. Lab
courses run from 9 am to 12 pm, from 1 pm to 3:30 pm, and study hall from 7
pm to 9 pm, five days per week. The schedule is exhausting and demands the
utmost creative thinking from instructors. Your students will openly riot
if you do not challenge them to the limits of their considerable abilities.
This summer's sessions run from June 20 to July 13 and from July 13 to
August 3.
Each site maintains unique characteristics, but I was able to divide my
class into three sections:
Week 1: Archaeological Science
Week 2: Archaeological Interpretation
Week 3: Archaeological Research and Fieldwork
During the third week, CTY students and I undertook research on a number of
sites in the Lancaster area, including an early twentieth-century brickyard
(which I reported on in a session on Industrial Landscapes at the SHAs in
1997) and a late seventeenth/early eighteenth century Mennonite farmstead.
The class is supported by a budget for lab work and fieldtrips and every
instructor has a lab assistant. The LA is generally an advanced
undergraduate student with field experience. I count myself lucky since I
worked with a number of excellent young archaeologists over the years,
including two who were graduate students at the same level as me during
their tenure. The starting salary for Instructors ranges from $1,800 to
$2,800 per session, and LA's start at $900 per session.
The class is limited to 18 youth, and they are among the most academically
"precocious" students with whom I have ever worked (top 2% of their
age-grade). Through the years, I've had one 13-year old college Junior in
geology and about ten national academic champions in geography, spelling,
and science Olympiads. Generally, students travel from dozens of countries
to attend, are often tri- or bilingual, and classes can be very diverse in
ethnic and gender profiles. Many of my students have gone on from CTY to
pursue careers in archaeology, and based upon their progress thus far, most
will eclipse me before I finish my damn dissertation.
My motto remains, "I'm not gifted, I just worked there." This job is
physically, intellectually, and emotionally exhausting, similar in many ways
to any intense and remote field camp. The general atmosphere is very
liberating, and the entire staff creates an unparalleled virtual community
while on-site. I keep many dear friends I met while teaching in Lancaster.
I have no official relationship with JHU or CTY. I have no authority to
speak on their behalf. To be blunt, I loved this job personally and
professionally. After spending the past ten years building a tradition of
academic excellence for archaeology at CTY, establishing relationships at
museums and historic sites in south-central Pennsylvania, and interacting
with the faculty at Franklin and Marshall College (the hosting site), I
genuinely hope CTY will find a quality person to fill my vacancy.
Information about the CTY program, schedules, and applications are available
on the Johns Hopkins University website at:
http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/ctysummer
I'd be happy to field questions about the program off the list. If you'd
like to try to understand the profound effect of CTY on the students who
attend, try searching the web for "CTY" and "Academic" or "Gifted" or even
"Cannon." The sites won't make any sense, and they exhibit the student's
cult-like passion for the organization. Instructors don't doubt the
importance of what they do while there. If you really want to know more,
just call me and we can talk about it.
Regards to all,
Tim
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Timothy James Scarlett
Incipient Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Program in Industrial History and Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 USA
Tel (906) 487-2113 Fax (906) 487-2468 Internet [log in to unmask]
MTU Website: www.industrialarchaeology.net
SHA Website: www.sha.org SIA Website: www.sia-web.org
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An essay by Adam Roux appeared in the magazine _Imagine_ 8(2):8
After he completed an archaeology course with Dixie Henry and Julie Jaekle
at Saratoga Springs during the summer of 2000, Adam wrote an article in
which he said, "Archaeology is the best course I have ever taken at CTY or
anywhere else... I came away with not only a new way of seeing the history
of mankind, but also a broader perspective of the world around me.
Archaeology filled in those gaps in my knowledge of history that I had no
idea were missing. Taking this course awakened an interest I had no idea
existed and gave me a desire to learn more about archaeology."
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