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Anthropology Tushingham Lab

WSU Pioneers in CRM Project

An Experiment in Public Archaeology and Engagement

The “Pioneers in CRM Archaeology” project is an experiment in public archaeology education that investigates Wikipedia as an engaged pedagogy and practical tool for improving equity in science. Under the direction of faculty mentors Shannon Tushingham and William Lipe, students complete Wikipedia biography classroom assignments focused on archaeologists and leaders in cultural resource management (CRM) with a connection to WSU. Students gain research and science communication skills as well as knowledge about the history of archaeology. Class assignments (given in Tushingham’s CRM class and in an undergraduate special topic class) tasked students with writing Wikipedia biographies on WSU archaeologists who have made substantial leadership contributions to the discipline. Students researched, wrote, and published Wikipedia biographies about one of the “Pioneers,” many of whom remain mostly unknown, and their contributions underappreciated, largely because much research about them has not been compiled or communicated in an engaging way.

Why Wikipedia?

As recently articulated by Grillo and Contreras (2019), Wikipedia can provide archaeologists a powerful means of interfacing with the public, and this is a notion that Tushingham and Bill Lipe explored in an assignment they developed for both graduate and undergraduate students. With Wikipedia being one of the most heavily used sources of information on the internet, we saw this as an interesting experiment in public archaeology . For instance, the project provides a practical and innovative means of teaching students while also tracking and compiling important/overlooked historical data about the history of WSU. Students learn about the history of archaeology, develop critical public archaeology and science communication skills, and are provided with a professional career building opportunity to publish a Wikipedia project. For more information about engaged pedagogies in archaeology, including a summary of this project, see Tushingham and Fulkerson (2021).

Pioneers

Our list of Wikipedia entries is growing, but here is a preliminary list of bios that students have worked on. Note that names without hyperlinks are pending publication on Wikipedia.

Pioneer Student Lead/ Class
Judy Bense Jackie Rumberger (CRM 2019)
Richard Daugherty William Damitio (CRM 2019)
Janet Friedman Kathleen Scanlan (CRM 2019)
Roald Fryxell Megan Plummer (CRM 2019)
Paul Gleeson Michael Lorain (CRM 2019)
Bennie Keel Kaitlyn Eldredge (CRM 2019); Harrison Lantier (2021)
Ruthann Knudson Kim Sheets (CRM 2019)
David G. Rice Chris Halderman (CRM 2019)
Priscilla Wegars Maia Wilson (CRM 2019)
Gary Wessen Kate Shantry (CRM 2019)
Leslie E. Wildesen Laura Brumbaugh (CRM 2019)
Thanik Lertcharnrit Alec Bowder (ANTH 499 2021)
Lynn Sebastian Shelby Donahue (ANTH 499 2021)
Dale Croes Nan Peery (ANTH 499 2021); Alexis Evans (CRM 2019)
William Lipe Jessica Edwards (ANTH 499 2021)

Mary Collins

Shelly Davis-King

Patrica Parker

Tom King

 

Other Project Outcomes and Primary Data

In addition to the Wikipedia bios, the project has produced primary data (including interviews, transcripts, photographs, and other materials), archived at the WSU Research Exchange. (We work with Talea Anderson at the WSU library and are grateful for her help!!) For instance, see:

Dr. Thanik Lertcharnrit, interview and interview transcripts, photographs as an undergraduate at Silpakorn U., at Silpakorn U., and at Princess Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre

Dr. Paul Gleeson, interview transcript

Dr. Ruthann Knudson, 2021 SAA paper, “Ruthann’s Rivers: Archaeology and Archaeopolitics on the Middle Fork and Dolores Projects” by William Lipe.

Dr. Dale Croes, interview and interview transcripts. Archival materials and records.

Course Materials, the project was incorporated in a graduate student seminar in CRM: CRM class assignment, as well as an undergraduate special topics class, see ANTH 499 Science Communication in Anthropology Flyer

Publications

The project led to the publication of an interview with Paul Gleeson authored by Kate Shantry (Shantry 2021). The project is summarized in Tushingham and Fulkerson (2021), and Tushingham and Lipe are currently working on a larger article detailing the project for a major society journal.

Note that this is an ongoing project–we hope to find funding to expand this work! If you are interested in finding out more or contributing to the project and supporting student projects, please contact Shannon Tushingham and/or William Lipe. 

The 2019 Wikipedia Biography Team: Project participants in Dr. Tushingham’s Graduate Seminar in Cultural Resource Management

References

Grillo, K.M. and Contreras, D.A., (2019). Public Archaeology’s Mammoth in the Room: Engaging Wikipedia as a Tool for Teaching and Outreach. Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(4):435-442. DOI:10.1017/aap.2019.8

Shantry, Kate (2021). Truckin’ On The Northwest Coast: A Sage’s Philosophy Of Archaeological Science. Archaeology in Washington 20:30-45.

Tushingham, Shannon and Tiffany Fulkerson (2021). Public Archaeology Education “Of the People, For the People, By the People”: Democratized Science Communication in Theory and Practice. In How Do We Reach More? Sharing Cultural and Archaeological Research with Others, J. Northwest Anthropology Special Publication 4, edited by Darby C. Stapp and Julie Longenecker, pp. 188-207. https://www.northwestanthropology.com/how-do-we-reach-more