Research Opportunities

Field Schools

Historical Archaeology Field School: Nate Harrison Site

Harrison, a freed black slave, was one of the region's pioneers and likely San Diego County's first African-American homesteader. The excavations focus on Harrison's cabin and surrounding areas. During the course of the field school, students learn how to excavate, map, and record all that they find using the latest archaeological technologies. Students dig and camp out at Palomar Mountain Monday to Friday and have the weekends off. The dig runs from May 27-June 20, 2008.

You do not need any previous classroom or field experience to join these field schools, just an eagerness to dig up the local past with your own hands. There is an additional $300 field and lab fee for this class on top of tuition costs.  However, there are no book costs for the course.

There are limited spaces in the class, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested.  Application (Must have Abobe Reader to view the file)

There will be two informational meetings about the field school on Weds. April 9th from 2:00-3:00pm and Thurs. April 10th from 2:00-3:00pm; both are in AL-462. 

If you have any questions, please contact Jaime Lennox at jaimelennox@gmail.com or Hillary Sweeney at starzz8200@yahoo.com.

Historical Archaeology Field School: Whaley House in Old Town San Diego

Professor Mallios is directing an archaeological field school this summer at the historic Whaley House in Old Town San Diego. Excavations are focused on finding and digging the 19th-century well, which is located in back of the main house. The field school runs July 14-August 8, 2008.

There are limited spaces in the class, so please apply as soon as possible if you are interested.  Application (Must have Abobe Reader to view the file)

There will be two informational meetings about the field school on Weds. April 9th from 2:00-3:00pm and Thurs. April 10th from 2:00-3:00pm; both are in AL-462. 

If you have any questions, please contact Jaime Lennox at jaimelennox@gmail.com or Hillary Sweeney at starzz8200@yahoo.com.

Oaxaca Summer Program

There were two classes offered, one in Mixtec language instruction and one in the methodology of ethnographic field work. These photos are labeled as to what locations they were taken at and most of the people pictured are students at either SDSU, UCSD, or UCLA. View photos taken while in Oaxaca, Mexico for the Summer session.

Primate Research in China

We are seeking highly motivated graduate students with interests in primatology, wildlife conservation and landscape ecology to join the M.S. program in Geography and/or the M.A. program in Anthropology at San Diego State University. In addition to course work, you will be expected to develop a thesis project that includes 3-6 months of fieldwork at Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve (China). The project, co-sponsored by the Zoological Society of San Diego, will be part of a large-scale study aiming to identify and map the habitat of Guizhou snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus brelichi), and to understand how spatial and temporal variations of food resources influence the monkeys' movement pattern.

The ideal starting time is the spring semester in 2008, and the corresponding application deadline is September 15, 2007 (for Geography) and October 1, 2007 (for Anthropology). We also welcome applications starting in Fall 2008, for which the application deadline is March 1, 2008 (Geography & Anthropology).

Pending on funding availability, the departments may offer graduate assistantship to the successful candidates based on his/her background, intellectual merits, and past academic performance. Please visit the corresponding websites for the Anthropology (http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~anthro/) and Geography (http://geography.sdsu.edu/Programs/masters.html) departments for further information on the graduate program, application processes, and financial support. In addition to following the departments’ application instructions, you may contact and send your CV to Dr. Li An at lan@mail.sdsu.edu (Geography) and/or Dr. Erin P. Riley at epriley@mail.sdsu.edu (Anthropology).