Whoops - I was quite fantastically out of order in my unfortunate
suggestion
that any Virginia (or other US) Caribbean program was in and of itself
flawed,
and I apologise.  Next time I'll cut back on the pre-email trips to the
pub ;-)
 
I also particularly apologise for the suggestion that Dan Mouer would
_ever_
have the bad taste to let his students drink Red Stripe while under his
supervision.
 
In my experience, these programs do indeed potentially expose many young
Americans to the 'outside world', are directed by excellent
archaeologists
who produce excellent work and I have some American colleagues
who have undoubtedly been enriched by the experience.  I personally
spent
a month working under Doug Armstrong's supervision in Jamaica, and found
it
both enjoyable and educational.
 
But.... note that carefully qualified use of the word 'potentially' in
the
above paragraph.  The opportunity is there for those who want to reach
out
for it, but my experience also strongly suggests that only a minority do
so on a long term basis, and that their primary memories remain beaches,
tans, and [insert beer of choice here].
 
More buts... I should also note that to me, this debate isn't a matter
of
historical archaeology or post-medieval archaeology being inherently
better than each other.  The latter certainly has its own problems.  I
simply remain deeply convinced that historical archaeology's avowed
internationalism is something genuinely believed in by more than a small
minority.
 
 
Dan Mouer wrote:
>
> Alasdair,
>
> I generally agree with your observation that few archaeologists take a "global
"
> view, which is fine with me. The fact that some archaeologists have been think
in
> g
> and working in that direction is good news, as far as I can see. So what's the
> problem? And why are you derinding Caribbean programs like mine...they do in f
ac
> t
> take rather sheltered urban American young folks and expose them to global,
> international, cross-cultural experiences and insights? Are you turning into a
> serious curmudgeon here? And damned if I would permit MY students to drink Red
> Stripe, when there's perfectly good Banks to be had for less! Lighten up, frie
nd
> .
>
> Dan
>
> Alasdair Brooks wrote:
>
> > Dan Mouer wrote:
> >
> > > While I (like many
> > > archaeologists) personally prefer to wallow in the human details of partic
ul
> ar
> > > sites and communities while working on them, what makes it all continually
> > > interesting (and relevant, I dare say) is the fact that we are poking at p
ar
> ts
> > > of that very large, very dynamic world-system. All this new-fangled
> > > "globalization," about which the media and business interests speak so
> > > incessantly, is at least 500 years old (and probably more like 5,000), and
> > > historical archaeology has taken it on as a subject.
> >
> > But I don't think historical archaeology _has_ necessarily taken it on
> > as a subject,
> > or at least not with any real conviction.  It's not just _many_
> > archaeologists who
> > "prefer to wallow in the human details of particular sites", it's the
> > vast majority.
> > While many pracitioners are perfectly happy to acknowledge that they're
> > "poking
> > at parts of that very large ... world system", only a tiny minority are
> > realistically
> > engaging with it (leaving aside for the moment any arguments over the
> > validity
> > of the phrase "world system").  After all, whatever their professors may
> > have done
> > in the past, I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of VCU (or
> > university
> > students in Virginia in general) anthro students don't visit Maharajah's
> > palaces
> > before becoming professional archaeologists, and that their
> > international work
> > experience, if any, involves a summer improving their tan and drinking
> > Red Stripe
> > in the Caribbean.
> >
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Alasdair Brooks
> > Department of Archaeology
> > University of York
> > King's Manor
> > York
> > YO1 2EP
> > England, UK
> > phone: 01904 433931
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > "The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
> > Sitting Bull
>
> --
> Dan Mouer
> Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology
> Virginia Commonwealth University
> http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm
 
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
York
YO1 2EP
England, UK
phone: 01904 433931
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull