Less than a year after graduation: Kelly Goodner at the Explorium

It’s hard to believe that I graduated college less than a year ago. I decided to take a year off between undergrad and grad school and I am really glad that I did. After graduation I was able to relax for a few weeks and prepare for my trip to Israel to participate in the Jezreel Expedition (I recommend this to all current and prospective UE students!). I also spent considerable time sending out resumes and cover letters in hopes of securing a job when I returned from Israel and my side trip to Jordan.

When I returned to the States, I was fortunate enough to get a job interview with a local children’s museum - the Explorium of Lexington - and was offered a position in visitor’s services. My job involves working with visitors of all ages as well as cleaning and maintaining the museum. During the fall of 2012, I also had the opportunity to complete an internship with the program director at the museum. This allowed me to help plan the museum’s weekly programs. It also gave me the opportunity to design an archaeology-themed scavenger hunt and alter the museum’s “Dino Dig” exhibit and turn it into an “Archo Dig” exhibit for National Archaeology Day.

As far as my future goes, I am returning to Israel this summer to again take part in the Jezreel Expedition, which I am really excited about. I also plan to travel to a few places in Europe after the field season is over. In the fall I will be attending graduate school to complete a master’s degree in museum studies. The education and experiences I received at the University of Evansville have prepared me for both the real world and graduate school.

Megan Anderson ('12) at Texas A&M

Megan works on her SCUBA skills.

Down at Texas A&M, I've spent almost a year climbing up the steep learning curve that the Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) throws at its first-year students.  Having not taken time off between undergraduate and graduate studies, I am one of the young students in the department. However, with the solid preparation I received through the archaeology program at Evansville and my previous underwater excavation experience, I haven't felt unprepared for the challenge. So far I have learned how to draft ship lines and construction drawings (and in the course of doing so I learned that 68 hours without sleep is about the limit a person can go); how to prepare and give thirty-minute presentations on a weekly basis; and that a twenty-page paper is "a bit short." I've also spent quite a bit of time working at the Conservation Research Lab, helping to record barrel staves and other interesting bits recovered from shipwrecks. The NAP has a very strong emphasis on hands-on learning, and this semester I am enrolled in a scientific diving course in order to gain familiarity with all of the equipment and techniques used in underwater excavations and become a better diver in general. This summer I will be participating in the Burgaz Harbors Project in Turkey run by Dr. Elizabeth Greene in collaboration with the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA). Information on this and other INA projects can be found at inadiscover.com.

2012 Graduate Rachel Lawrence at Dickson Mounds and beyond

I started working for a retail company in May almost immediately after graduating, and I have the majority of my loans paid back.  My goal when I graduated was to work long enough to pay those loans and get a financial cushion before I continued in graduate school, and I will hopefully be returning to academia next year.  I have tried to stay in the archaeological field by volunteering at Dickson Mounds in Lewiston, Illinois, and I have staffed big events and we are working on more in this upcoming spring and summer.  Even though it is not paid work, I still feel like I am part of the staff there, and I really enjoy working with visitors, young and old, on Native American craft projects and archaeology-related topics and activities.  For example, not long after I learned how to use it successfully, I taught some visitors how to throw a dart with an atlatl. 

Between work and Dickson Mounds, I continue to revise my research project on Vlad the Impaler.  In December 2012, a conference published the revised edition of the paper I presented, and I have continued to revise and expand not only that but also my undergraduate thesis.  I would like to make Vlad part of my career, as has been my goal for almost twelve years (I am not joking), so I have kept up with the research and I am planning a trip to Romania either this fall or next year.  In the meantime, I'll just keep working.

Less Than One Year After Graduation: Emily Mella at American University

Hello UE Archaeology!  I graduated in May 2012 and spent the month of June in Israel as part of the Jezreel Expedition, which was a great experience.  We surveyed for two weeks, excavated for a week, and then spent another 12 days traveling through Israel and Jordan.  It was exhausting, but a fabulous way to spend a summer.  After getting back to the US, I picked up and moved to Washington DC to start graduate school.  I am pursuing my MA in International Affairs from American University and with a focus in the Middle East.  The first few months were a weird transition for me – I was determined to find a job that wasn’t waiting tables or working at Starbucks, but couldn’t find one and settled for an unpaid internship instead.  I got a position archiving for an NGO called the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy, which focuses on dialogue and conflict resolution.  My job was to go through their old program files, organize the documents, and write a project report reviewing each one.  The work was a bit boring, but I got to attend their staff meetings and interview the organization’s founder, a former US Ambassador, about the projects I was working on. 

This semester, I am doing another internship (also unpaid) for an organization called the Partnership for Global Security.  As their nuclear research intern, my job has been to gather and analyze data regarding civil nuclear programs all over the world.  My final product will be a report about the future of the civil nuclear industry for the organization.  In addition to my internships, I have been taking Arabic classes, which have been really interesting.  Living in DC is fun – I had a bit of culture shock being on the east coast (I’m from Texas originally), but the city is beautiful.  I never get less excited to see the national monuments and still haven’t explored all the city’s museums.  Plus, going to the presidential inauguration was really cool, even though it was freezing!   My plan for the summer is to try to get a job of some sort (even if it is waiting tables) and to volunteer somewhere, like the National Children’s Museum.  With a little more museum experience, I would really like to get a job designing educational programs at a museum after I graduate.

Dan M. ('10) to talk about CRM work

Join the Society for Archaeology and the History of Art (SAHA) at the University of Evansville Tuesday February 26 at 8:00 pm in Hyde 8 to hear Dan Mohorcic ('10) talk about his three years of experience working for Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc. CRA is an archaeological and historic preservation firm that specializes in cultural resources and related studies. Dan will present on some of the projects he's worked on as a staff member at CRA and talk about the life of a "shovel bum" more generally.

Students help publicize Jezreel 2013

On Friday January 18, UE archaeology and art history students and friends came out to Ridgway to publicize the 2013 Jezreel Expedition.

The 2013 season of excavations at Jezreel, Israel, is scheduled for May 19 - June 15. Undergraduate students can earn three 300-level credits from UE and graduate students can earn three credits from the University of Haifa for participating in this four-week field school. The first deadline for applications is January 25. Please contact je55@evansville.edu for more information!

UE Graduate Creates Archaeology Game App

UE Archaeology and History alumna, Lierin Holly-Falzoni (left) has developed a new Archaeology game app designed to teach people some of the basic concepts of archaeology while they play a fun and challenging game.  Lierin and her husband, Marco Falzoni (standing beside Lierin) founded Zombie-Cricket Studios, a company that makes game apps. 

Lierin and Marco demonstrated the app (right) to UE students and administrators last week.  The game simulates an excavation at a Colonial American site as players draw plans, excavate, and even sift for artfiacts by shaking their phone or tablet!

The couple also signed an agreement (below) donating a percentage of their profits from the game to the Department of Archaeology and Art History's Browning-Miller Advancement for Archaeology Endowed Fund.  Scholarships supported by the Fund will underwrite the expenses of UE students traveling to field schools or internships beginning next summer.  We are all very appreciative of Lierin and Marco's generous donation!