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Student Experience

Academics / Departments & Programs / Archaeology / Student Experience

Archaeology at Calvin will give you many opportunities to get your hands dirty, overseas on actual historical sites or in the lab on Calvin's campus.

The projects below represent some of the ways that archaeology minors might engage in fieldwork. The opportunities available vary from year to year; contact the archaeology program for the latest information on fieldwork opportunities.

Interim in Jordan

Professor Bert de Vries periodically leads groups of students to Umm el-Jimal, Jordan, where they cultivate and employ skills from diverse fields including art history, education, and engineering. The Umm el-Jimal Project was founded in 1972 by Prof. de Vries as an archaeological research program. Today it is an ongoing collaborative enterprise focusing on archaeology and community.

For the latest information on the Umm el-Jimal project and fieldwork opportunities there, follow the links below:

  • Project website: get the latest updates from the project, as well as a virtual museum, educational resources, fieldwork archive, and more
  • Facebook: become a fan for news alerts and announcements
  • Blog: read up on current project research and events
  • Flickr: view our photo archive of assorted project photos from 1974 onward

Lab assistants

The archaeology department at Calvin houses an archaeology lab that employees several students in work including archiving, research, writing articles, and more. Research assistantships are also available. Contact Professor Bert de Vries for more information.

The Clean Water Institute of Calvin University

The archaeology program works with the Clean Water Institute of Calvin University to provide access to safe drinking water to threatened communities—most recently by preserving and reactivating an ancient water delivery system in Jordan.

Off-campus programs

As an archaeology minor, you will have the opportunity to study at universities and archaeological sites in New Mexico, Britain, and Hungary, through Calvin's off-campus programs. The interdepartmental archaeology minor committee members can also help you make arrangements to study abroad through the non-Calvin programs in countries including Greece, Israel, Japan, China, and Egypt.

Field work locations

Recent Calvin archaeology minors have done field work in the following programs:

Asia
  • Sino-American Field School of Archaeology (SAFSA), China
Central America
  • Programme for Belize, Belize
Europe
  • Palakaistro, College Year in Athens Field School
  • Mitrou Archaeological Project, Greece
  • Aechill Archaeological Field School, Ireland
  • Plain of Rosia, Valdosta State University
  • TERP Excavation (Early Medieval), Netherlands
Middle East
  • Hesban excavations, Jordan
  • Hubras, North Jordan
  • Umm el-Jimal Project, Jordan, Calvin University
  • Megiddo Expedition, Tell Aviv University
North America
  • Desert Research Institute, Arizona
  • Historic Archaeology in Indiana, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
  • Fortress of Louisberg National Historic Site Field School, Canada

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