The conservation of archaeological materials is a very conservative practice. With the materials being conserved often being rare or irreplaceable, experimentation must be exhaustive and implementation of new techniques meticulous. This seminar-format course is designed to develop a familiarity with new and advanced archaeological conservation techniques and equipment. Additionally, topics will cover setting up and running a conservation laboratory, museum object conservation, curation considerations, and more.

Readings and Discussions (20% of final grade)
Throughout the course you will be assigned Readings and expected to contribute to Discussions. The readings will be posted on Perusall, which you can access via Canvas. To get full points, you will be expected to read and make comments/write questions on the reading in Perusall. Discussions will take place in class, and students will be expected to offer insightful comments based on assigned reading material. To get full points, students will be expected to be present and contribute to the conversation.

Seminar Presentations (30% of final grade)
During the semester each student will choose several topics to research and present in class (the number of presentations you make will depend upon the size of the class). Presentations should be around one-half hour in length, try to keep within this time limit. Please prepare and distribute a bibliography of the sources consulted for your seminar presentation. Note: this is part of your presentation grade, so make sure:

1) You prepare a bibliography

2) It has your name on it

3) Your professor gets a copy

PowerPoint presentations and handouts are strongly encouraged. Seminar presentations will be graded on the basis of their thoroughness, organization, and clarity, as well as their inclusion of illustrations (where appropriate) and the distribution of a bibliography of sources consulted in preparing the presentation.

Term Paper (50% of final grade)

Lastname_ANTH 617_SemesterYear.doc

In addition to the seminar presentations, each student will research and write a professional, publishable-quality term paper on some aspect of conservation. The first step, after selecting a topic and researching sources, will be to prepare a four-page “term paper proposal” (5% of final grade) modeled on a thesis proposal; in the proposal you will state the nature and importance of the question, discuss previous research and potential sources, outline your plan for analysis of the topic, and summarize the significance of the proposed research. A separate bibliography of primary and secondary sources that you intend to use in preparing the term paper must be included.

The term paper proposal is due by 5 p.m. in Week 6 sent as an email attachment to carolynkennedy13@tamu.edu.

The optimal length for a term paper is 15-20 pages of text (12-point font, double spaced), although papers of a greater or lesser length will be accepted (note: longer does not necessarily mean better!). The paper is to be submitted on or before Week 16. Submitting your paper after this date will result in a lower grade.

You will present your paper in a 15-minute, professional-style powerpoint presentation at the end of the semester. Your presentation will be worth 5% of your final grade.

Term paper grading criteria are as follows: (“A”) research, analysis, writing, and citation are professional and with minimal editing the paper could be published as a journal article or book chapter; (“B”) paper is good in most respects, but due to shortcomings in one or more areas would require significant editing before publication would be possible; (“C”) paper is at lowest levels of acceptability, and would require major new research or re-writing to achieve publishable standards; (“D”) paper falls below lowest levels of acceptability in research, analysis, writing, and citation; (“F”) paper fails to meet all professional standards, or the professor has found evidence of plagiarism.