Trying to build up my CV

[s3raph1m]

I'm a history major and historic preservation/book studies double minor at Goucher College (a small liberal arts college on the east coast). My GPA is currently a 3.42 (however, my GPA within my major is a 4.0) and I have 3 internships under my belt (a 240 hour field/lab intensive archaeology internship for which I received a fellowship from my school to do, a historic preservation internship with a main street program, and a museum internship). I understand that the anthropology and museum world is an extremely competitive one. However, it's what I love and I'd still like to try my hand at it. I may not be an anthropology major, but I have taken some anthropology courses and feel that my summer long archaeology internship gave me some pretty valuable experience in the field. I also plan on doing an archaeology field school next summer and will have that under my belt as I start the graduate program application process. 

What do you guys think my changes are of getting into a good program? I'm trying to figure out what I should do from here to build my CV. I am considering doing the collegiate program in early American history, material culture, and museum studies with the College of William & Mary as a visiting student. It looks like a great opportunity to me. I would receive a certificate in early American history, material culture, and museum studies upon completion and would have the opportunity to do a semester long or year long internship at Colonial Williamsburg (a semester long internship at the very least is required). I would also have the opportunity to take several courses in historical archaeology and anthropology. I'm not entirely sure if this is wise though. I'd really like to go (it looks like it'd be an enriching experience for me personally). However, none of the courses would count towards my GPA and I'm wondering if I should be more focused on raising my 3.42 GPA than leaving my school for a year to take courses at another college and do a year long internship for my own personal enrichment. Any thoughts?

https://www.wm.edu/as/niahd/collegiateprogram/curriculum/index.php

[bioarch_fan]

It does sound like an amazing opportunity.  You could always check with your school and see if they'd accept the credits as transfer.  Sometimes they can find equivalent courses, my school did that for me when I transferred in.  But you don't need to do that because it sounds like your GPA is pretty good.  Most schools look at the last 2 years (Sophomore and Junior) when you apply from what I've heard.  Plus your major GPA is perfect.  So I don't see why you'd have a problem.  Maybe try taking the GRE first and see where you'd land.

What kind of graduate degree are you looking at getting?  One in anthropology, museum studies, or what?  That should be the first thing you figure out so then you can ask the right people the right questions.  If you have doubt about whether you'd be a good fit for the program, you could also email professors from these universities and strike up a conversation with them.  They're usually more than happy to help you if you ask for it.

But again, with your GPA and with your experience doing internships and field schools, I don't see why you'd have a problem getting into a good program honestly.

[s3raph1m]

Thanks for the response! That's a relief to hear. I wasn't sure if my application would look competitive enough and I can be a pretty damned paranoid person. I'm not entirely sure what kind of program I'd like to apply to yet. It's part of the reason why I'm doing so many internships before I graduate (I'll also be doing an internship with the Houston Museum of Fine Arts soon to get a feel for what it's like to work at a larger museum). I'm interested in museum work, but museum studies isn't really what I'd like to get a graduate degree in.

My interests are kind of all over the place, so I'm having a really hard time choosing (couple this with the fact that my school only does socio-cultural anthropology so I don't really feel like I have any faculty at my own school to talk to about this). I'm really into objects and material culture studies, especially anything having to do with the Pre-Columbian era. I'm more interested in archaeology, but in several fields like social-cultural, bioarchaeology, and osteology. I also did classical studies for a while and took courses in ancient Greek language studies. Classical archaeology seems like it'd be really awesome. I discovered my love of archaeology through historical archaeology classes with my school's historic preservation department, which is limited so I don't have a ton of experience outside of that and the archaeology internship I did. I know I really need to narrow down my interests in some way.

[bioarch_fan]

Since you don't have too many professors that work in the area you're interested in, you could talk to professionals in the community, including archaeologists, museum personnel, or other professors at other universities.  They could give you insight into what you could do.  I'm doing the bioarchaeology side of things, but I have a love of the classics.  Which is why I'm combining the two and doing classical bioarchaeology (especially Ancient Roman bioarchaeology, but I will do Ancient Greece and Egypt, as well as medieval Europe).  So there are definitely ways to combine things that you like.  That's the wonderful thing about anthropology, there's so much to do and love.  I've been in love with archaeology since I was a little kid, admittedly from Indiana Jones, but after watching Bones I got into forensic anthropology and then one of my professors mentioned that I should also look in bioarchaeology.  So professors can give you a lot of detail, even if it's not their specialty.  Talk to your professors anyways and see what they say.  Attend a conference and listen to as many talks as possible, that always helps to decide more about what you want to do.  The Archaeological Institute of America national conference is June 6-9 in San Francisco, the American Anthropological Association annual meeting is November 18-22 in Denver, and the Society for American Archaeology is April 6-10 in Orlando.  There are also many regional, statewide, and sometimes city-wide meetings that take place periodically.  Check them out and see what sounds interesting.

 

But before you decide on anything about graduate school you need to find out what you're interested in since this is the most important aspect of doing the dreadful search, I started with 30 schools and FINALLY dwindled them down to 10 that I'm applying to.  So it's very much possible if you can find a specific interest that moves you.  

[s3raph1m]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to start talking to faculty at my college as soon as school starts back up in a few weeks. What you're planning on doing sounds amazing. I'll most likely do something similar and combine fields of study in some way. What's your science background look like? I'm not sure how much biology and chemistry I need under my belt to get into bioarchaeology. I'd be really interested in possibly doing something like Pre-Columbian bioarchaeology. 

Do you know anything about good programs that are known for research in the Pre-Columbian era? 

[bioarch_fan]

I haven't taken a lot of science classes, but I've taken enough for me to understand the basics behind what I want to do.  Graduate school will be for me to learn the specifics about what I will be doing.  Most schools will teach you what you need to know or will let you take elective classes outside of your major to better understand the science of what you're doing.  My school does have a biological anthropology professor, so I have been able to take osteology and forensic anthropology, both of which are necessary for bioarchaeology.  So if you haven't taken those and your school offers those I suggest taking them before you apply.  If your school doesn't offer them then I'd say check out the anatomy and physiology courses from the biology department at your school.  They'd at least give you the basics of the human skeletal system.  You don't really need chemistry unless you're doing stable isotope analysis like I am.  Honestly, I haven't even taken chemistry in a very long time.  But the schools I'm looking at have specialists in the department or at the school that I can learn from.

 

For the Pre-Columbian era, it really all depends on where exactly you're wanting to work.  If you're wanting to do the Andes area, check out Tulane University (Dr. John Verano does bioachaeology in Andean South America), Vanderbilt University (Dr. Tiffiny Tung does Peruvian Andes bioarchaeology), and George Mason University (Dr. Haagen Klaus does Andean South America bioarchaeology).  I don't know of too many off the top of my head that does research in the area.  But I was told by another POI that I should look at schools that have the methods that I want to do, not necessarily the specific regional interests.  So I plan on applying to schools that don't have a specialty in the classical world, especially since there aren't many schools in the US that have classical bioarchaeologists.  So for instance, you can apply to a school that has a professor doing bioarchaeological research in China, i.e. Western Michigan University's Jacqueline Eng, if they do the same methods (paleopathology, bioarchaeology, stable isotope, etc.).  

[Bschaefer]

I'm going to put my 2 cents in here, 

Bioarch_fan is correct about the uni's and the classes in osteology and forensic anthropology. I think you would be a competitive applicant for the William and Mary program as is, but for graduate work within bioarch, I would say you would need a bit more experience on the basis that you said your school is very sociocultural rather than biological. Also, working in Pre-columbian era sites/excavations can be competitive, even more so with someone who doesn't have the osteo background nor field experience. I would suggest either doing the WM program and get on the excavation team at Jamestown since that is HOT right now (Kelso is awesome, you may even meat Ousley up in DC), do a post-bac in anthro at a uni that has the necessary courses to bring you up to speed for bioanth (You can still be accepted to a program without it, but you will have to take courses that will not count towards to degree and will bring you up to speed, if that makes sense), or get on an excavation in Mesoamerica or south america and see if that is a true passion. I was on an excavation last year in arequipa and I loved working with the human remains and research opportunity in Peru (Which is why i'm in a graduate program in andean bioarchaeology atm). If I didn't do that, I would have still focused on American Indians, but in North America rather than South. You just need to figure out what exactly you would like to do and what sort of research interests you. 

 

Bioarch_fan has laid out some schools that would be of interest to you, but you need to email one's that may fit with your interests. If not, no worries-they will tell you that they may not be the best and refer you to someone that would be (Happened to me). For example, if you wanted to do bioarch of the ancient maya, you could talk to Dr. Verano at Tulane and Dr. Canuto and form a Diss conjointly. Or like Bioarch_fan is doing in his/her case is taking the research idea of classical/pre-roman era and seeing if professors would sponsor him/her as a student since the scarcity of classical bioarchaeologists in the US is slim and is seen more in the UK. 

 

For science classes, Osteology will teach you the macro and micro aspects of anatomy and physiology that you need to know and the musculo-skeletal framework as well as methods (So not taking Forensic Anth is okay because you will learn the same methods in Osteology). Chem and Advanced levels of bio are good, in theory, but bioarch_fan is correct in which the classes will teach you the necessary elements needed to succeed.  

 

Hope this helps! 

[s3raph1m]

Would it be worthwhile to get my MA in anthropology or archaeology first and perhaps try to take those classes in that setting? How is William and Mary's anthropology or archaeology program (it looks like they only have a historical archaeology program)? I had also been looking at Cornell's MA in Archaeology. Both of their MA programs offer courses in zooarchaeology and biological anthropology.  

Also, as a Goucher student, I am able to take courses at Towson University down the street. It looks like their anthropology department offers undergraduate courses like these: paleoanthropology & archaeology and forensic anthropology. What do you guys think?

I do plan on doing an archaeology field school next summer too. I am looking at ones that include bioarchaeology in some way.

Edited August 21, 2015 by s3raph1m

[Bschaefer]

I think that getting an MA then PhD may be better only because, I'm assuming, you're missing the methods and theory of american anthropology and archaeology. If I'm wrong then I would say do it. I would contact the school and professor and start a conversation as whether or not it's feasible. Of course apply to the PhD Program and in some cases they may accept you as an MA conditionally and then progress to the PhD. 

If you can register for those classes at Towson, then I would since you are lacking the arch and bioanth side of anthropology. American Graduate schools want to see the boasian anthropological education at the undergraduate level so then when you progress to an advanced degree in your area, you can specialise and also be familiar with theoretical concepts etc. 

You're correct about WM's program being more historical, so if you are set on latin america, I would look elsewhere. 

[s3raph1m]

I would definitely say that I am missing the methods and theory of American anthropology and archaeology. I took a cultural anthropology course, a historical archaeology course, and completed a 240 hour field/lab archaeology internship earlier this summer. That's all I have under my belt thus far. I will be discussing with my advisor about taking some anthropology courses at Towson during the rest of my time at Goucher (I have 3 semesters left). 

I am not necessarily interested in just Latin America. I am interested in indigenous cultures in general and would be open to other regions (I say Pre-Columbian because I am much more interested in time periods prior to European colonization). 

I appreciate all of the advice. I'm going to contact some of the professors from the Cornell archaeology MA program. They don't offer a PhD. The MA seems to be mainly for students looking to build a foundation for future study in archaeology.