There are currently three faculty members in Archaeology at WMU:
- Alan Zagarell (Moore Hall 1023, 269-387-3978)
- Britt Hartenberger (Moore Hall 1025, 269-387-3974)
- Michael Nassaney (Moore Hall 1014, 269-387-3981)
Click on our names to visit our individual web pages in order to learn a little more about us. Scroll down this page to learn more about our program, including the undergraduate and graduate courses we teach at WMU, our summer field school, some thoughts on our theoretical orientations as anthropological archaeologists, and some examples of recent undergraduate and graduate (MA) theses, and a list of some of the Ph.D. programs our recent graduates have attended.
| Undergraduate Courses | Graduate Courses |
| Lost Worlds and Archaeology (1100) | Topics in Archaeology (5000) |
| Introduction to Archaeology (2100) | The Rise of Civilization (5010) |
| Ancient America (3000) | Origins of Agriculture (5020) |
| Historical Archaeology (3030) | Social Archaeology (5050) |
| Archaeology of Civilization (3060) | Archaeology of Gender (5060) |
| Archaeology of Inequality & Resistance (3090) | Seminar in Archaeology (6020) |
| The First Americans (3440) | Archaeological Field School (6900) |
| Midwest Prehistory (4000) | |
| Early Technologies (4040) | |
| Archaeology of the Great Lakes State (4050) | |
| Archaeological Field School (4900) |
The Department of Anthropology’s archaeological field school, now in its 33rd year, provides students with the opportunity to put into practice the theories and methods taught in the classroom. Recent emphasis has been placed on the investigation of Fort St. Joseph, an 18th century mission-garrison-trading post established by the French in Niles, MI. The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project is a collaborative venture between WMU, the City of Niles, the Fort St. Joseph Museum, and other community groups in which students engage in community service learning, public education, and outreach.
To request an application to take part in this field school (for either undergraduate or graduate credit), click here or contact Michael Nassaney.
The philosophy of research and pedagogy of the archaeology component links the concerns and interests of the archaeology faculty and students directly to broader anthropological concerns. We believe that archaeology can best contribute to the anthropological enterprise by building on its strengths as a long-term history that has both material and symbolic dimensions. Our strengths lie in the areas of historical archaeology, public archaeology, social archaeology, political economy, and ethnohistory.
The investigation of archaeological sites dating to the recent past is a burgeoning field. Much of historical archaeology is synonymous with the study of the modern world, including colonialism, capitalism, enslavement, and industrialization.
Increasingly central to archaeology today is a concern for the communities in which it is practiced. From uncovering the untold histories of marginalized groups to providing economic development opportunities through heritage tourism, the significance of archaeology extends beyond academia with the practice of public archaeology. Engaging the public through education and outreach initiatives is an important component of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project and other initiatives. This often takes the form of community service learning in which students learn archaeology while providing a service to many diverse publics.
Social archaeology focuses on the dynamics of social relationships in the past, and their role in archaeological interpretation in the present. This perspective hinges on the ways in which power relations and social identities are created and reproduced through the material world and how these relations are expressed archaeologically along the lines of class, gender and ethnicity.
Our study of political economy examines the ways in which surplus is produced and mobilized in human societies worldwide We aim to explore how wealth is created and accumulated through material and symbolic capital, as well as the global efforts to resist this process.
We recognize that the study of the history of culture requires more than an examination of material remains in various archaeological settings. As part of our interest in ethnohistory, we advocate that material analyses be combined whenever possible with observations drawn from ethnographies, oral accounts, and historical documents. The integration of multiple lines of evidence often provides a more coherent and parsimonious account of the histories and cultures we wish to explore. The departments of anthropology and history offer a combined graduate certificate in Ethnohistory.
Recent graduates in archaeology at Western Michigan University have been accepted at graduate schools throughout the country and been employed in both the governmental and private sectors. Some of the graduate programs our students have attended in recent years include:
| State University of New York at Binghampton | University of California at Berkeley |
| University of Massachusetts, Amherst | University of Pennsylvania |
| University of Pittsburgh | Michigan State University |
| University of Illinois | University of Michigan |
| Vanderbilt University | University of Kentucky |
| Southern Methodist University | Ohio State University |
We have access to a variety of technical equipment at Western Michigan University. Our goal is to acquaint our students with the newest relevant technologies and teach the application of these techniques to archaeological problems. The techniques include, but are not limited to, geophysics, geographical information systems analysis, digital imagery analysis, computer applications in archaeology, and characterization studies.
- Where the Past Meets the Present: A Comparative Analysis of the Process of Archaeological Site Registration in the United States of America and the United States of Mexico
- Getting to the Point: The Dart-Arrow Transition in Plum Bayou Culture
- Crafting Culture at Fort St. Joseph: An Archaeological Investigation of Labor Organization on the Colonial Frontier
- Class and Gender in Southwestern Michigan: Interpreting Historical Landscapes
- Of Agrarian Landscapes and Capitalist Transitions: Historical Archaeology and the Political Economy of a Nineteenth-Century Farmstead
- Eating Ethnicity: Examining 18th Century French Colonial Identity Through Selective Consumption of Animal Resources in the North American Interior
- An Intensive Surface collection and Intrasite Spatial analysis of the Archaeological Materials from the Coy Mound Site (3LN20), Central Arkansas
- The Urban Landscape of Health, Hygiene, and Social control: The Development of Urban Services in Battle Creek, MI
- Exploring the Social Dimensions of Grog-Temper Use at the Ink Bayou Site (3PU252): A Plum Bayou Culture Site in Central Arkansas