How to Choose?
How to choose a Field Program
The many options available to UCLA Field Program participants may make choosing one a challenge. In general, we recommend asking yourself four questions before deciding which program is best for you:
What type of program best fits my needs?
The UCLA Field Program offers four types of field experiences:
Museology – This type of program is designed for students who have an interest in the presentation, documentation and cataloging of archaeological objects in museums. Students will also learn to replicate ancient technologies such as pottery manufacture and visit archaeological sites in the region. We currently are offering one such program in Argentina.
Field Archaeology – This type of program is designed for students who seek to learn how archaeological data are recover, collected, documented and preserved in the field. Students in these programs participate in primary research alongside leading scholars and partake in some of the world’s most well-established archaeological projects. In very general terms, archaeological research includes two types of investigation: survey and excavation. Each field program includes the following research activities:
- Catalina Island (California): This field school primarily offers archaeological survey experience using cutting edge data recording technology. The school is co-directed by Tongva archaeologists and strongly emphasizes Native American perspectives.
- San Bernardino Forest (California): This field school offers both survey and excavation opportunities. Its focus is historical archaeology with a strong emphasis on Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and extensive training in federal and state historical preservation law.
- Canada: This field school primarily offers excavation experience, but will also incorporate oral histories and historical data to answer research questions. Located a few hours from Vancouver, this is a lateral study of an entire river valley system and focuses on household excavations.
- Chile: Both survey and excavation opportunities are offered. This is a complex, lateral study of an entire river valley system that includes mapping, extensive survey, rock art recording, and bioanthropology.
- Ecuador: Both survey and excavation opportunities are offered. This program is unique in its emphasis of individual student projects. After a short training period, students embark on an independent research project, closely monitored and supervised by project directors and staff.
- Egypt: Extensive excavation opportunities are offered. This program runs during the Fall Quarter (October-November) and pairs an Egyptian archaeologist with every student participant.
- England: Extensive excavation opportunities are offered. The program focuses on early churches and their economic role in trade between the British Islands and France.
- Italy: Excavation opportunities are offered. Just an hour by bus from Rome, students will engage in vertical excavations of a pre-Roman sanctuary, a Roman-era villa, a medieval hospital, and the still-standing medieval church
- Panama: Excavation and laboratory analysis opportunities are offered. Working on an island just off the Panamanian coast, this is a tropical field experience where the preservation of archaeological materials is quite spectacular.
Conservation – This program is designed for students who are seriously considering careers in object conservation. Working closely with archaeologists at the Tarapaca Project (Chile), students will engage in intensive learning and hands-on experience conserving, cataloging and documenting a wide range of both organic and inorganic archaeological objects.
Travel Study – This program is designed for students who are interested in learning on-site about ancient cultures. The program combines lecture, reading, and a wide range of site visits to illustrate the emergence of complex societies in a designated area. For 2008, the Peru Program will focus on studying the emergence of the Inca and their rise to Imperial power in the Andes of Peru.
What region of the world is interesting to me?
One of the important components that will influence your decision is the area of the world where the field school will take place. While the discipline of archaeology has field methodology shared by archaeologists across the globe, regional variations do exist. Furthermore, the cultural histories of a specific region, including the languages spoken or local traditions, may be more attractive to you. Finally, the field projects focus on different levels of social complexity and this may affect your decision. For example, are you interested in imperial strategies of the Inca, chiefly societies in Panama, or contact period indigenous complex societies of British Columbia?
How many credit units will I get and will my university accept those credits?
Each of the UCLA Field Programs awards 12 UCLA credit units. If you are a UC student, program courses are UC-transferable and will automatically transfer to your UC transcript in October (for applying specific credits to your major/minor, please consult your department advisor). Non-UC students should consult with an academic advisor and the Registrar's Office at their home institution. Students may take the program as an undergraduate class (C159) or at the graduate level (C259), which will include a submission of a paper in addition to fieldwork. Lastly, you will find that for the number of credits awarded, the field programs are a very cost-effective way to continue with your studies. There are a number of scholarships and financial aid packages available to students and we encourage you to explore these options.
How will I pay for the program?
The UCLA Archaeology Field Programs range in price depending on location, length of program, and whether you are a University of California (UC) system student or from another school. In general, our North America programs are less expensive than international programs. Program fees do not cover airfare to and from the field.
To assist with financing, the UCLA Archaeology Field Programs offer a range of scholarships and financial aid packages. Most scholarships have no restrictions and non UC students are eligible to apply.