Welcome to WAC Student Committee (WACSC) website!

The WAC Student Committee aims to provide representation for all student members within WAC, through which student participation in international academic debate and practice can be fostered and developed. The WAC Student Committee considers student participation to be important as it is an opportunity to network and share research interests with other student and professional members of WAC. The WAC Student Committee seeks to achieve its aim by:

1. Encouraging student membership from different regions around the world;
2. Liaising between students and other WAC members at Congresses and other WAC events;
3. Establishing a network of communication and debate amongst student members and with WAC members through WACSC activities and programmes, such as academic events/activities and the mentoring programme;
4. Encouraging and organising student participation in academic events within and outside WAC (e.g. WACSC organised a session "(Re) Defining Archaeology: Emerging Perspectives from International Student Research" at WAC Jamaica Inter-Congress in May 2007. Click here for details);
5. Providing financial support for students in relation to membership and participation in academic events related to WAC.

Members of the WACSC are: Arwa Badran (Jordan), María Florencia Becerra (Argentina), Ranjan Kumar Datta (Norway), Ali Ghobadi (USA), Stelios Lekakis (Greece), Susanne Montanna Jones (Australia), Akira Matsuda (Japan), Dru McGill, (USA), Anastasia Sakellariadi (Greece), Elina Sultanbek kyzy (Kyrgyzstan), Diane Teeman (USA), Jordi Teixidor (Spain) and Edith L. Thomas (USA). See below to know more about each member's research interests.

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Arwa Badran (Jordan)

I am from Jordan. I am doing my PhD at the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies / Newcastle University- UK. My research is about the integration of archaeological museums in formal education. The teaching of the past in the Jordanian formal education follows a traditional classroom-based methods and it is limited to selected historical narratives prescribed in textbooks. Despite their potential to carry out archaeological education and give school children access to multiple interpretation to enhance their understanding of the past and its interpretation, archaeological museums are poorly used in formal education. A major part of my research assesses the situation in Jordan and suggests how Jordan can benefit from the many examples worldwide that have used museums and archaeological education to enhance the teaching of the past in formal education.

María Florencia Becerra (Argentina)

I am a fifth-year (final year) student of archaeology and have a range of research interests. I am interested in prehispanic and colonial metallurgy, combining the analysis of archaeological evidence with ethnohistorical studies. I am involved in two research projects in the North of Argentina. I am also working in a research group focusing on archaeology in the context of political violence (during the last military dictatorship in Argentina).

Ranjan Kumar Datta (Norway)

I am doing MA in Social Anthropology in university of Bergen, Norway at present I am writing my thesis on Indigenous women and Labour Migration in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. There has been a growing trend among the indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh to migrate from their traditional occupations and take up new activities in the suburban and big cities. These changes have led to critical shifts in the social relations and institutions of the indigenous people. So I am enplaning how the relationship has been changed and how it is connected with indigenous women empowerment.

Ali Ghobadi (USA)

I am a PhD student at American University in Washington, DC. I was introduced to WAC by participating in the organization of the WAC 5 conference in 2003. My interests in Archaeology focus on methodology and theory and -- like many of you -- I am particularly interested in the social practices related to "doing" archaeology. In some of my research, I have looked at the use of technology in archaeology and how social practices influence the kind of archaeological questions that are asked using particular technologies. These questions are even more interesting to me on a global scale when one takes into account different traditions across the world in "doing" archaeology. I am planning to do my dissertation in research in Japan. So my current geographic focus is in Japanese archaeology and I participated in the recent WAC Inter-Congress in Osaka. In the past, I have been involved with projects in or lived in Egypt, Southwest United States, Northwest Argentina, and Hawaii. I worked on projects involving GIS/GPS mapping and analysis, archaeological visualization, as well as old-fashioned excavation.

Susanne Montanna Jones (Australia)

I am an undergraduate archaeology student interested in maritime archaeology, submerged occupation sites, public archaeology and just about anything else that crosses my path. Aside from studies, I am the coordinator for National Archaeology Week in my home state. It means getting out there and creating lots of public archaeology opportunities. This year, I managed to do filming and get it on television - wonderful experience. I am also coordinating some film work on practical field work exercises to complement a field methods book (by Claire Smith and Heather Burke). This has come about because lots of students do not feel confident or competent about some of the field work exercises. I am also interested in the archaeological representation in museums. Given that archaeology has very few avenues for reaching the public, this seems to be an important area.

Stelios Lekakis (Greece)

Areas of interest: Archaeological heritage management, Classical archaeology

Akira Matsuda (Japan)

I am from a Japan, and a PhD student at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London in the UK. I am doing research in the field of public archaeology and examining the relationship between archaeology and the local community by various methods such as questionnaire surveys, face-to-face interviews and ethnography. I am a member of an excavation team from the University of Tokyo, and we are digging a Roman site called the ‘Villa of Augustus (Villa di Augusto or Villa augustea)’ in Somma Vesuviana, Italy. I am addressing research questions such as: how do the local people of Somma Vesuviana engage with the excavation of the Villa of Augustus; how does the excavation relate the local people to socio-politically wider issues than ‘the local’; does the excavation affect local people’s sense of place, and if so, how; how should/can Japanese archaeologists improve their relationship with the local community, and to what extent?

Dru McGill (USA)

I am a PhD student at Indiana University, where I study in the Archaeology and Social context track. My primary research interests are in the intersections between archaeology, ethics, law, and the public.  From these topics, I have developed interests in performances of nationalism, identity, cultural biographies of artifacts and material culture in general.  At IU, I also study cultural property laws, the illicit and licit antiquities market, museum ethics and collecting practices, and archaeological ethics in the hope of promoting responsible and applied archaeology. Recently, I have developed an interest in studying the multiple modern contexts of archaeological resources and practice through ethnography.  I believe archaeological resources act as a sort of cultural commons, through which certain groups create tradition and parts of their identity.  I plan to pursue this interest by performing an ethnography of a North American town closely affiliated with archaeological sites and the practice of archaeology.  I will be looking for “systems of heritage”-- or the various contexts (political, educational, economic, etc.) in a community where archaeology influences identity.  If you would like to know more, check out my bio page and the Center for Archaeology in the Public Interest (CAPI) : http://www.indiana.edu/~capi

Elina Sultanbek kyzy (Kyrgyzstan)

I am from Kyrgyzstan, better to say from Central Asia. I study at the American University-Central Asia, Department of Cultural Anthropology and Archeology. I am fond of Anthropology and Archeology. To be honest, it is hard for me to stay what I am interested in most because everything is interesting for me. Maybe when I go to Graduate school I will focus on my thing. But now whatever I look at seems interesting. Now I am doing two kind of research; anthropological and archeological. For anthropology, my topic is "Violence against women in Kyrgyzstan" which will be also my senior thesis. For archeology, "Tomb guards (Balbal)".　Also I am a coordinator of Anthropology and Archeology Club. There are not so many students. I think because people misunderstand about Anthropology and Archeology here. But we invite researchers who are conducting their research here in Kyrgyzstan and talk about anthropology, archeology and everything which is connecting with this two great fields. Sometimes we visit other schools to give them information about our archeology and anthropology.

Anastasia Sakellariadi (Greece)

The provisional title of my doctoral research is: “Archaeology for the people? Greek archaeology and its public, if there is one: an analysis of the socio-political and economic role of archaeology in Greece from the foundation of the Modern Greek state (1831) to the present day”. Keywords are: public archaeology, community archaeology, history of archaeology, Greek archaeology and national identity, state archaeology and management of archaeological sites

Diane Teeman (USA)

Areas of interest: Collaborative Archaeology (between Indigenous communities and archaeologists); Lithic Technology; Landscape Archaeology; Legal Anthropology

Jordi Teixidor (Spain)

Areas of interest: History of the Antiquity, Archaeology and cultural heritage, the rest of my interest: Middle Age and Modern History.

Edith Thomas-Anderson (USA)

I am an Akimel O'otham/San Carlos Apache from the Gila River Indian Community, Sacaton, Arizona. I attend Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, where I am a Master's candidate in Archaeology. I am the first Archaeology student of my tribe (Akimel O'otham), and my goal is to become the Director of the Cultural Resource Management Department, because currently all archaeologists who work for my tribe are non-Indigenous. This is a problem because our ancestors are the ancient culture known as the Hohokam. My thesis topic addresses this problem, which is: "Huhugam: The Contrasting Ideologies between Archaeologists and the Akimel O'otham". All archaeological research and studies done about the Hohokam, are not shared with my tribal community, so there is currently a large gap of knowledge between the non-Indigenous archaeologists, and my tribe, who are the stakeholders and descendants of the Huhugam (Hohokam).