"Does your career lie in ruins?"

Recent graduates from the program in Near Eastern Culture and Archaeology at Lycoming College have gone on to careers in academia, museum work, journalism, artistic work, religious/pastoral work, National Park Service program work, and even positions as local “city archaeologists.” However, within a liberal arts program, the Archaeology major develops valuable skills in analysis, use of evidence, writing, history, culture and language that will be useful in most any career – as many of our other graduates have discovered. Going on a dig is a great way to gain real job experience too.

The Academic route - plan on Graduate School.
Departments vary, depending on specific interests and career goals. Try Anthropology, Archaeology, Art, Bible/Biblical Studies, Classics, History, Near East, Religion and various combinations (e.g. Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Ancient History, History of Art and Archaeology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and so on). If your primary interest is Near Eastern archaeology (which is our major emphasis) and you plan on graduate school, then we recommend intensive language study - including as much French, German, Greek and Hebrew as you can fit into your schedule.

Check out http://www.gradschools.com/listings/east/archaeology_east.html for some listings of specific graduate programs in Archaeology in the Eastern U.S. to which you could apply after graduating with a major in Archaeology.

Interested in Museum work? Think about getting some background in Art, learn to write well, and set up an internship to check it out (see below)!

Interested in Ministry? Lycoming College has a great pre-ministerial program, and studying Biblical Archaeology (as well as the opportunity to travel in the Holy Land) can give you some wonderful background for deeper study of the Bible as well as fertile material for lots of great sermons! Check out the information on the Theological Professions Advisory Committee on the Religion Department homepage and plan to set up an internship while you're here!

Interested in doing Archaeology-related Journalism - writing for National Geographic or the like? Learn to write well! Do some creative writing courses in the English Department, think about doing some Communications courses, and have something really interesting to write about - like a summer dig experience! Archaeologists are notoriously bad at getting their results published in a timely manner. An Archaeologist who can write well, or a good writer with a background in Archaeology, would be a valuable commodity!

Interested in being involved in Film projects for the Discovery Channel or the like? Think about a double major in Archaeology and Communications!

Interested in Egyptology? Find out more...!

Interested in Historical and Underwater Archaeology? Sign up to get scuba diving certification and check out the graduate programs listing at SCAnet.

Interested in doing Archaeology in the U.S.? The Society for American Archaeology has compiled a wonderful list of resources for those interested in pursuing Archaeology as a career within the U.S., including a number of good Anthropology-oriented graduate programs and a regular listing of current job openings for archaeologists. Although this is not our area of specialty, we can certainly aid you in pursuing such an interest. In this case we would highly recommend a double major with either Anthropology/Sociology or History.
Further recommendations are listed on the "American Archaeology" page.

Other listings of job opportunities specifically in Archaeology may be found at archaeologic.com or at Yahoo! Jobs, which lists academic programs, employment opportunities, FAQs about careers in Archaeology and numerous other resources.

Good with Computers? Computer Technology is the wave of the future for Archaeologists as well as the rest of the world, but few of the older generation of Archaeologists have the know-how. If you can gain a good background in Archaeology as well as the advanced skills of computer data-manipulation and web-based technology, your expertise will be in hot demand!

Interested in Architecture, Geology, Linguistics, Photography, Sculpture or Zoology? Archaeological Digs regularly employ a variety of specialists to aid in this increasingly multi-disciplinary field - including Architects, Photographers, Linguists/Epigraphers, Bone Specialists, Botanists, Geologists and experts in Art History, among others. Combining your outside field or career with an interest and background in Archaeology as an avocation can provide you with life-long opportunities for interesting travel and experiences alongside your regular job.

Interested in Law School? Archaeology is an ideal major to prepare you for Law School and just about anything else! If you major in something that interests you - in something that you love - then you will work harder at it and will do well. This is what future employers will look for. Plus you will gain valuable skills in analysis, putting together concrete facts with historical background with various theories to argue for particular solutions to larger problems. Making connections between different fields of knowledge is another valuable skill developed by the inter-disciplinary nature of the program. An Archaeology major within a general Liberal Arts education is great preparation for anything!


INTERNSHIPS

Students will have opportunity to gain hands-on work experience by participating in internship programs, either with a local archaeologist (through the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, or as listed above), with a local historical museum (such as the Lycoming County Historical Museum in Williamsport), or with other major historical museums, art museums having more extensive Classical or Ancient Near Eastern collections, or museums of natural history or anthropology.

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission runs a Summer Internship Program, with locations in Harrisburg (the State Museum and Commission Headquarters), Ambridge, Birdsboro, Chadds Ford, Ephrata, Erie, Galeton, Lancaster, Pittsburgh, Scranton, Strasburg, Washington Crossing, Weatherly, Womelsdorf, and many others. Possible subject areas include Collections Management, Curator in Archaeology or Zoology/Botany, Field Curator, Exhibitions, Museum Education, Archives, Conservation, Historic Preservation, Publications, History Division - Library, and Marketing, among others.

Find out more! For more info on possible internships click HERE for some great ideas, and visit the Career Development Center.

CAMPUS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Qualified students will also have opportunity to gain hands-on work experience on campus through the work-study program in various positions sponsored by the Religion Department, the Academic Resource Center, Snowden Library and elsewhere. Click HERE for some great ideas!

DEPARTMENTAL PRIZES AND AWARDS

Hard work is definitely rewarded! Click HERE to find out more about special opportunities for our outstanding students, including the recently established Faculty Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in Religion and Archaeology, and Eduardo Guerra Prize in Biblical Languages!

For more information contact:
Robin J. DeWitt Knauth at (570)321-4298, knauth@lycoming.edu
Steven R. Johnson at (570)321-4283, johnson@lycoming.edu
Or visit the Lycoming College web site.

Advisory Committee: Knauth, Johnson, Piper, Golahny