Idaho Students and Alums Shine at SHA

The University of Idaho has had a long record of leadership in the field of historical archaeology, particularly at the graduate level, and this year’s annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) certainly demonstrated that. Both present and past generations of Idaho historical archaeologists were honored at this year’s event, held in Leicester, UK during the second week in January.

One of those Idaho Alums, Karlis Karklins, received the Carol Ruppé Award—an award that has only been given six times since its establishment in 1988, which honors individuals who have a record of sustained and outstanding service to the SHA. Karlis, who earned his MA from Idaho in 1979, has held just about every position possible in the Society over the past 30 years. Karlis’ biographical sketch will be featured in an upcoming issue of Historical Archaeology.

As for the current generation of scholars, MA student Ashley Morton became the first Idaho student to win the society’s student paper prize, receiving a generous award of books. The research she based her paper on, as well as her travel to the conference, was supported through a grant she received from the John Calhoun Smith Fund. Morton also organized and chaired the student rap session, a session organized by student archaeologists to provide a venue to discuss student concerns with becoming a professional archaeologist. She further organized and co-chaired a forum on “Equity (issues) for All: Historical Archaeology as a Profession in the 21st Century” with Lewis Jones from Indiana University.

Also noteworthy at the conference this year was undergraduate anthropology major Olivia McDaniel, who presented a paper and was named the undergraduate student representative for SHA’s student subcommittee. Her travel was partially supported by funds from the Sociology & Anthropology department and the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. Current MA student Mary Petrich-Guy and alums Steven Holm and Sarah Heffner also presented papers, although they did not attend the conference.

Idaho Faculty member Stacey Camp’s paper was also presented at the conference. Camp is active on the society’s Academic and Professional Training Committee, where she has served as a judge for SHA’s dissertation prize and as a contributor to SHA’s blog, posting most recently on the topic: “Teaching and Teaching Portfolios in the Academic Job Search.”

This conference marked the conclusion of Sociology and Anthropology Professor Mark Warner’s three year term on the Board of Directors of SHA. He notes that his services to SHA are not over, however, as he will be the co-chair of the 2015 conference to be held in Seattle.