I have been involving the public in archaeology for years in Western
Australia but for a slightly different reason. In WA they don't look down on
archaeologists they just think that we don't have any archaeological
heritage worth bothering with. I have been using public outreach to try and
encourage a grass roots change in opinion which will hopefully then reflect
upwards and change attitudes amongst politician's and other heritage
professionals including our Heritage Council.
There are some signs this is working which I brought to an electronic
symposium session of the Toronto conference. I don't know if this can still
be assessed by members who are interested.
Gaye
-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David
Parkhill
Sent: Friday, 24 July 2009 4:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: NY Times article
You make a great point in your view concerning Archaeology. Most
people, bless their hearts, think all Archaeologists as just running
around looking for Emerald skulls and being chased by natives. Have
you tried inviting local teachers out for a 2-3 day stay at one of
your local digs. Maybe an in town experience for the public to visit.
Your local Society could provide the local paper a fact sheet of your
Society meetings. People are afraid of what they don't understand and
then, of course, you usually have to have a Donnybrook with the local
Shaman.
DP
At 01:26 PM 7/23/2009, you wrote:
>The original point IS the anti-intellectual tone of the article and some of
>the comments posted by readers, and the fact that many people on this forum
>have similar stories of collectors/bottle hunters/public/etc. being
>disdainful toward archaeologists. Someone wondered why this was so
>and opinions were expressed. Some of them off-track, yes, but I think
mostly
>it is a discussion of how the public views archaeology. If an article with
>those overtones can be published in a paper as widely read as the NYT, then
>it seems to be a fairly large problem, not just one bottle hunter and one
>journalist. We can't escape the fact that (much of) the American public
does
>not understand what we do, why we do it, or what it means to them. The way
>to change this is through education and better public outreach, but who has
>the budget and time to take on such a daunting task?
>
>
>On Thu, Jul 23, 2009 at 12:12 PM, Ron May <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > I find this entire discussion incredible. Just because a bottle hunter
and
> > the journalist made archaeologists look bad does not prove Americans in
> > general are anti-intellectual. The story got traction for an odd set of
> > circumstances that no one thought to investigate. What if the
journalist
> > jumps
> > fences, cuts locks, and rips through privies in a Ninja warrior outfit
in
> > the
> > dead of night? You folks are using this forum to reach deeply into
> > religion, alleged class beliefs, and even attack Obama as a
"communist." I
> > think
> > you are all way off track and need to return to the original point or
move
> > on to something more productive.
> >
> > Ron May
> > Legacy 106, Inc.
> >
> >
> >
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