Campus Archaeology at MSU’s Science Festival
This year, Michigan State University will hold its first ever Science Festival (http://sciencefestival.msu.edu/)! This 10-day celebration of all things science will be held on campus from April 12 – 21st, 2013 and will include lectures, hands-on activities, excursions, demonstrations, tours, and other platforms of engagement with the wider community. This event, which will be run by MSU students, faculty, and staff, is anticipated to attract many, many people from throughout the state of Michigan, and beyond. Sponsored by MSU’s University Outreach and Engagement, Renee Leone and her assistant Blair Zaid (also a CAP researcher!) have been doing a great job with planning this event from the ground-up.
Campus Archaeology is very excited to announce that we will be taking part in this celebration of science! Although currently tentative, we have scheduled two hands-on activities and we invite people from all age groups to come and engage with Campus Archaeology staff. Our planned activities will be held on Saturday, April 13th and Friday, April 19th, respectively, from 10am – 12pm. By participating in our hands-on activities, we hope that people will be able to learn more about archaeology and about the kinds of inferences we make based on evidence recovered from the archaeological record.
Dr. Lynne Goldstein (Director, Campus Archaeology), Katy Meyers (Campus Archaeologist) and CAP researchers Sabrina Perlman, Amy Michael, Blair Starnes, and myself (Sylvia Deskaj) will all be participating in these planned activities. As a member of Campus Archaeology, I am very excited to be able to talk about pot sherds, lithics (i.e. stone tools), glass, nails – and other kinds of artifacts typically found during archaeological investigations – to lifelong learners (both young and old!). Mark your calendars and be sure to come out and say hello!