It is very interesting to see this issue being discussed, because it reflects clearly the fact that IA is in the process of becoming something more than what it has been. Malone and Gordon's new book is a great step toward reconciling the HABS/HAER recording mode that has dominated IA in this country with the historical archaeology focus that is making an increasing contribution. Discussion of the West Virginia program offers a good look into one strong theme in the current North American development of IA; perhaps a summary of what's up at Michigan Tech might help to understand a related but somewhat different trend. In any case, it is something I am familiar with, and is probably not too tainted with opinion or interpretation! Over the past several years, a group of scholars has found their way to the wilds of Michigan's western Upper Peninsula to teach and conduct their research at Michigan Technological University. Founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, located in a region of copper and iron mines, this institution is a Carnegie II (or is it IA?) ranked university, offering PhDs in about a dozen fields. With 6700 students, about 2/3 in the college of engineering, this is a school with strong industrial ties and a sense of its connection to industrial heritage. When we accumulated 3 historians of technology, a couple of archaeologists and a couple of cultural anthropologists within the Dept of Social Sciences, all working with industrial sites and societies, recognized the need for professional cultural resource managers (what a term!) who knew something about industrial sites and societies, and noted the current open niche for graduate training in this field, we decided to fill it! In 1992 we formally instituted an MS program, combining our interests, expertise, setting and resources to do something we thought was needed and exciting. We have since graduated two Master's students, both of whom found work immediately, have 8 students with 1-2 years under their belts, 3 new students for fall term, another historical archaeologist on faculty, a new historic preservation/architectural history faculty member coming on this month, and lots of research projects to do. All of our students are supported, with Teaching and/or Research Assistantships, to varying degrees. We're working with the Michigan Bureau of History, Wisconsin Historical Society, US Forest Service, and several other agencies, conducting projects that serve management and interpretive needs as well as providing practical experience and thesis topics for our students. While we are emphasizing the practical dimension within this program, we do not neglect the intellectual component. The coursework required is challenging and broad, with classes in CRM, History of Technology, Historical Archaeology, Lab and Field Methods, Architectural History, Anthropology of Work and Industry, and other specialized topics. All students, whether their backgrounds and/or futures are grounded in history, archaeology, engineering, administration or what have you, do some work in history, some in dirt archaeology, some in CRM, some in methods. This is one of the key elements that makes our program distinctive, I think. Furthermore, we are seeking to define what IA is and can be by doing it, rather than worrying too much about what it is a subset of. Malone and Gordon's definition is excellent in its emphasis on the eclectic, interdisciplinary nature of the study. That it is unbounded by traditional disciplinary structures is its major strength, but has sometimes tended to hold it back in institutions where traditional structure is necessary to function at all. In this, IA is most like Historical Archaeology; HA has not had, and is still struggling to find, a comfortable home in academe. It's not quite anthropology in either the traditional 4-fields sense, and certainly not in the current reflexive/contextual mode. But its not straight history, nor completely comfortable even in a traditional archaeology context. Yeah, there are a few degree-granting departments out there, but it has taken decades of dedicated work and some will say not too much progress has really been made in the academic realm by HA. IA has it much worse, with its strong cadre of buffs and enthusiasts who have no academic pretensions, and its preservation/recording tendencies putting strict limits on its development and maturation. The traditions in the UK and North America are somewhat different, but certainly parallel, with the measured drawing/hobbyist crowd being increasingly joined by dirt archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, economic historians and others who are interested in both the hardware AND the society that produced and was produced by it. We are seeing a dynamic set of developments in this "discipline", developments that transcend existing traditional discipline boundaries. One cannot characterize IA as just what HAER does, or just what WVU's Institute does, or just what British site recorders do, or just what Ironbridge does any longer. And, at the risk of sounding snotty, it sure is not just a subset of historical archaeology, either. IA is bits and pieces of all of these things, and more, a field that attempts to make sense of all dimensions of industrial heritage by integrating study of the documents, the artifacts, the landscapes and the people. Enough for now. Anyone wishing to continue this thread off the list and/or learn more about IA, the SIA and MTU can contact me directly. If folks want to flog it some more on the list, I'll be happy to participate. ************************************************************************ Patrick E. Martin, Associate Professor of Archaeology Director of Graduate Studies in Industrial Archaeology Editor of IA, the Journal of the Society for Industrial Archaeology Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI 49931 USA Telephone (906)487-2070 Fax (906)487-2468 Internet [log in to unmask] *************************************************************************