Caitlyn H. interns for Dr. Strobel

Last semester I worked with Dr. Strobel as her intern, spending the majority of my time updating PowerPoint slides and searching the internet for new pictures to replace slides.  As anyone who has taken one of her classes knows, she uses PowerPoint as well as a slide projector, which is in need of some good updated photos.  I also spent a great deal of time organizing her research, which entailed adding new information to her catalogs, making new catalogs, as well as reorganizing and updating any information she had already collected.  Dr. Strobel also provided me with little, non-time consuming tasks on the days that I was in the work study room.

Besides this work, I helped Dr. Strobel organize Dr. Humphrey’s visit for the Featured Speaker of the International Education Week in November.  This involved joining the International Education Week committee as Dr. Strobel’s representative and working directly with Barbara Pieroni.  I spent my time going back and forth between Dr. Strobel, the committee, and Barbara while also working on anything that applied directly to Dr. Humphrey’s visit.  This involved hanging posters, setting up the display case in the library, planning his visit, attending a party at President Kazee’s home, and spending the weekend with Dr. Humphrey.  I was also involved in preparing the room that Dr. Humphrey gave his presentation in.

Working with Dr. Strobel was a great experience and involved meeting, as well as working with, many different people.  I would encourage more students to take similar opportunities to work with the department’s professors.

Angel Mounds to Host Scholar Lecture Series

Angel Mounds State Historic Site will begin hosting a new lecture series Jan 24 at 6pm. The first lecture will be presented by Jeremy Wilson. He will be looking at the anthropogenic transformation at Angel Mounds. But if that doesn't tickle your fancy do not worry, there are many other lectures you can attend. And the best part is its FREE! The lectures will be held on site at Angel Mounds. Please see the list below for all other lecture opportunities.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8 - 1:00pm

Mississippian Cosmology

by April Sievert, Dept. of Anthropology

  

SATURDAY, FEB. 22 - 1:00pm

End of Prehistory: A Historian's 

Perspective on America's Ancient Past

by Christina Snyder, Dept. of American Studies & History

  

FRIDAY, FEB. 28 -  6:00pm

Yankeetown Pottery

by Susan Alt, Dept. of Anthropology

 

 

ANGEL MOUNDS STATE HISTORIC SITE 8215 POLLACK AVENUE Evansville, IN 47715

Student Catie W. attends AIA conference

Being an undergraduate, this was my first time going to an archaeological conference, or really any conference of this size, and it was an awesome experience! I am from the suburbs of Chicago and since the AIA and APA conference was in Chicago this year, it was really a no-brainer that I should try and go. I was especially excited to get the chance to meet up with some of our UE alums for lunch that Friday thanks to Deb Trusty organizing it through the UE Archaeology Facebook page. It was so great meeting/seeing them!

I went to the conference Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and it was really interesting to hear about the new research, finds, and theories presented, and to just be around so many people so interested in archaeology. Walking in on Friday it really hit me that everyone around me was somehow related to the field of archaeology and it was such a great feeling to already have that connection to them. I really learned a lot and going to the conference just made it even clearer to me that this field is where I belong. I look forward to the day that I may give a presentation or a paper at a conference like this.

UE had multiple people attend the conference along with Catie. Many alumni went or presented including Andrea K., Lisa D., Hilary C., Deb T., and Mike K.

Student Brianna M. gets published

I had an internship at Willard Library in Spring of my sophomore year.  During my time as an intern, I transcribed the records from the Evansville Home for the Friendless, which was a maternity home in the late nineteenth century.  Maternity homes typically housed unmarried women and widows, but this particular Home was home to a variety of sexually delinquent girls and women.  The Matron of the homes recorded the stories of these women, and I noticed a blatantly judgmental tone in the records throughout the transcription process.  A selection of my transcriptions have been published in the September 2013 issue of The Tri-State Packet of the Tri-State Genealogical Society.

I subsequently approached the records with questions regarding why the Matron was judging and shaming the admitted women. Two years later, I wrote my senior thesis on my conclusions about the transcriptions as well as the influence of the Women's Movement in Victorian Era America.  I ultimately concluded that the Women's Movement harmed women through sexuality shaming.   I am submitting an article for an Indiana history scholarly journal this semester, and I plan to continue my research this semester as well as after graduation.

SAHA Makes Mummies!

SAHA had an amazing time making our own mummies. Everyone brought in their own doll, stuffed animal, toy, etc. We started the evening with a short presentation on what a mummy is and why the Egyptians made them, then went straight into wrapping what we brought. We added sequins in-between the wrappings to symbolize the amulets ancient Egyptians would have used. Some turned out really nice, some funny, and others were a little creepy. 

                                           



Tim S. wrapped up a loveable sponge character.

Lydia M. Won creepiest mummy.





Student Carissa K. at Angel Mounds

Over the summer I worked at Angel Mounds State Historic Site. Day camps are what the summer is all about. We do whatever we can to make the camps authentic and fun. We work late hours and get to work early, but it is all worth it. The counselors are like family, which gives each camp a great feel because we are not afraid to act strange and silly.

This year we even added a Hunger Games themed camp, where the campers learned ancient and modern survival techniques and took part in their very own Hunger Games at the end of camp.
Angel Mounds is an amazing place to be. Everyone has the same opportunities and interns are asked to do a variety of things including planning and running their own activities. I love the camps because they are so different from those I’ve seen. We go on field trips to the Parthenon Museum, Burdette Park, and Scales Lake to give the kids a fun day of play and relaxation that still relates to camp.
 
We do so many activities it is hard to choose a favorite. We give the campers real materials to work with, like flint for arrow heads or magnesium for their Roman army kits. We want the campers to get the feeling of what ancient people would have worked with and do our best to avoid cardboard and construction paper. We make sure they always have something to take home.
Angel Mounds is relaxed, fun, and gives everyone involved great experience and friendships. It is an amazing part of my life and I encourage those looking for an internship or a place to volunteer to go there.

I got to be Aphrodite during Greek camp. We each
had campers as “children”, which made them demi gods for the week.

Student Travis J. at Vinovium, UK

Travis digs Vinovium.

From June 28 to July 28, 2013, I participated in an amazing field school in the north of England at the Roman fort of Vinovium (Binchester) built in the late 1^st century AD. During the excavation season we lived in the nearby town of Durham, which is located about a 30-minute drive from the site. Our accommodations were provided by Durham University, which sponsors excavations at the site during the summer. Our team consisted of students from several countries, including the United States, Nepal and Australia. We were assisted by a large number of students from the University of Durham and local volunteers from the area surrounding Binchester. The site itself consisted of two trenches: one focused on the fort and the other on “Vicus,” or the town. We had the option to work in either section and I chose to be a part of the team working in the fort itself.

 

During the dig I was moved around constantly to different sections; this was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know all of my awesome trench-mates and work in different parts of the fort. During the first week I worked in one of the barrack blocks and our group was given the extremely difficult task of excavating Roman cobbles. I was then moved to the Roman latrine where we excavated down until we reached the stone bottom of the structure. We were constantly running into a number of massive stone items which were identified as two wash troughs and two sections of stone that turned out to be toilet seats. I was lucky enough to find three round Roman tokens engraved with numerals which were later discovered to be game pieces and a bronze belt buckle. It seems that at every field project the most exciting thing is discovered near the end of the dig. During our last week, as we reached the bottom of the latrine, we discovered was appeared to be the top section of an arch. Upon digging down further, we uncovered the full arch and determined that it was one of the drains that evacuated water and waste outside the fort.

 

Our typical workday schedule was to eat breakfast at 8:00 and then head off to the site to begin work at around 8:30. As to be expected while in England, we had a mandatory “tea break” around 11:00 and then lunch around 1:00. One of the surprising things about my experience at Vinovium was the heat and the severe lack of rain.  During the middle of the day temperatures would peak at around 93 degrees and we only had one day of rain. This led to a large portion of the team returning home with tans or major sunburns.

 

On the weekends we went on field trips organized by Dr. Devore and Dr. Chatfield, directors of the field school. Our trips included a five-mile hike along Hadrian’s Wall to the fort of Housteads, a unique experience touring Durham including watching the miner’s gala, and a trip to the west coast of England to visit a museum about Roman Britain. Each student had the opportunity to work on a number of projects related to the site out of the field. One option was to work in the lab facilities at the University of Durham classifying and learning about different types of pottery and the processes through which they were made. Another option, which I chose, was to assist in the virtual reconstruction of the fort that was to be presented to the public in an online environment. The final option concerned the conservation of artifacts, mostly coins, iron fragments, gold artifacts and glass. One of the best and most rewarding aspects of my field school was the opportunity to work with a diverse and dedicated group of people from various backgrounds. Our team became more than just a group of students working at a site; we became a group of friends that came home after a day under the hot sun covered in dirt and still be able to laugh and enjoy the experience. I think that everyone on our team, students and professors alike, left the field school feeling a huge sense of accomplishment and pride in our work. I know I did.