Launch of the Center for Community Archaeology and Heritage

The Kelsey Museum is thrilled to announce the founding of the Center for Community Archaeology and Heritage, directed by Research Scientist Geoff Emberling and co-directed by Tiffany Fryer of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. This center is being launched in response to the growing recognition that archaeological fieldwork and heritage management projects are more equitable and more successful when local communities are equal partners. As Geoff Emberling explained, “The idea for the center developed partly out of work that many Kelsey archaeological projects have been doing in the field—working collaboratively with local communities and colleagues to identify research questions and heritage-management strategies; to develop public presentations, including exhibitions; and to structure research so that it has local benefits.”

The Center for Community Archaeology and Heritage will begin by supporting University of Michigan–based archaeological projects in efforts to incorporate local knowledge and improve the quality of research while addressing archaeology’s colonial past. Specific goals include providing support for graduate students through fieldwork funding and offering residencies for colleagues and community members working with U-M projects. “We aim to host conferences in which we collectively discuss how our community engagement efforts have gone well—and perhaps also not so well, a regular risk of doing this kind of work,” Geoff added. “We hope in the future that the Center will begin to have a broader national and international impact in community engagement and heritage.”