Donald Keough, Staff Writer & Anna Gulyas, Special to The Denisonian—
In the midst of the hiring process of a new archeology professor, the anthropology, Earth sciences and classical studies departments are pivoting towards new classes, abroad programs and a potential minor in archeology.
“It’s really exciting to have archeology at Denison,” Dr. John Soderberg said. “There are very few small liberal arts colleges in the country that have a robust archaeology program. So it’s a nice distinctive piece for Denison.”
Dr. Soderberg is currently an archeology professor in the anthropology department. He most recently worked with Denison students over the summer excavating McDermott’s Castle in Ireland. As one of the only practicing archeologists on campus, it is difficult to expand course offerings in archaeology.
“Increasing the number of archaeologists [at Denison] is the first step towards broadening the ways students experience archaeology,” Dr. Soderberg said. “There will be more classes, but adding professors also gives more depth, connections and perspectives to the field.” The new additions to the field will offer more ways for students to get involved with archaeology at Denison.
“We’re figuring out how students can become engaged with archeology in different ways,” Dr. Soderberg said. “There are some students who want to be archaeologists, and that’s great and we need to serve them, but there’s a lot of people who want archeology to be just a part of what they do.”
With this diversity of interests, the expansion of the program means different things for many students.
M.J. Mitchell ’25, an anthropology and sociology major with a classical studies minor and a focus on archaeology, believes that the addition of the professor will be a great asset for the anthropology department and beyond. “I certainly hope the class is popular as I really enjoy archaeology and hope other people find joy studying it,” Mitchell said. “I don’t know if the course is going to be geared toward majors or non-majors but I will be taking the course regardless.”
Mitchell explained how she hasn’t heard much about the new professor or contents of the course, but she believes Denison is working hard to integrate the new professor into the school, which would help create a successful archaeology program. “I haven’t heard anything specifically about the new hire, but Dr. Rebecca Kennedy has reached out to myself and a few other students asking if we would be willing to go to lunch with the new professor,” Mitchell said.
Dr. Kennedy is a current professor and chair member of the classical studies department who teaches classes like the interpretation of ancient artifacts. She has been helping oversee the new hiring process of the archaeologist professor, and part of this process includes students getting a chance to sit in one of the prospective professors’ classes.
“After we finalize which candidates we want to interview, students can look forward in November and December to having archaeologists on campus to come and pitch their ideas and their teaching to us,” Dr. Kennedy said. “We’ll have open teaching demos for students to come and visit so that they can give us their input.”
Among other possibilities, Dr. Kennedy has hopes of a future minor in archaeology in the next two years.
“We’ve made a conscious point in our outreach for the position to advertise only for experienced teachers,” Dr. Kennedy said. “ So people who already have some experience behind them will be able to hit the ground running and in two years have the minor.”
Looking into the future, Dr. Kennedy along with other professors are excited for what archaeology might look like at Denison.
“I have a dream and I think it’s a realizable dream of having a practice archaeology pit on campus,” Dr. Kennedy said. “Or maybe in five years we decide that we have enough momentum and faculty on campus, we could think about turning [archaeology] into one of those
ort of interdisciplinaries, like international studies or gender studies… there are lots of possibilities.”