I have to say that I share Mary's concerns with whether someone with an 
archaeological background and its theoretical concerns, would be tenurable 
in a history dept. I even think people in joint depts have a hard time; 
even tho when they're hired the home dept says it understands that an 
archaeologist (in this case) isn't an historian, they will believe that 
s/he will become one. It's not a happy situation.

Nan Rothschild

  On Mon, 16 Jul 2007, 
Timothy Renner wrote:

> Dear listmembers,
>
> I'm the chair of an interdepartmental faculty committee for archaeology at my 
> university, Montclair State University in northeastern New Jersey.   I'm an 
> Old World specialist, and I could use your help. We are planning to develop a 
> Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies are in the process of 
> getting--we hope--a faculty line in U.S. historical archaeology, with 
> emphasis on the Northeast and the Atlantic region, approved by our 
> administration.   For reasons that are too complicated to go into here, the 
> administration plans to place this position in the History Department rather 
> than in Anthropology or in some type of crossover appointment.
>
> I'd appreciate any thoughts you all may have on
> (a) How often are such positions in History as opposed to Anthropology, in 
> your experience?
> (b) Which departmental environment do you think would be better for the 
> person (bearing in mind, of course, that not all  North American 
> archaeologists are cut from the same cloth)?
>
> Thanks very much.
>
> Tim Renner
>

Nan A. Rothschild
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Director of Museum Studies
Dept. of Anthropology
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
212 854-4977

Research Professor
Dept. of Anthropology
Barnard College
New York, NY 10027
212 854-4315