Scott D. Haddow
Abstract
Why Study Archaeology? Assessing Diversity in Undergraduate Archaeological Degree Programs at UCPH
While archaeology as a discipline has made significant progress in terms of gender representation, many in the field note the persistent under-representation of minority ethnic groups. Socioeconomic status may also play a role in the type of student who decides to pursue a degree in archaeology. With the planned creation of a new BA programme in “Near Eastern Archaeology” within the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies (ToRS) in the Faculty of Humanities at Copenhagen University, beginning in 2020/2021, the time is right for an attempt to assess whether or not gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status play a role in the type of student who might be attracted to such a degree. The aim of this project is to characterize - via a survey of currently enrolled undergraduates in the ToRS archaeology program - the types of students that pursue undergraduate degrees in archaeology and to determine the criteria on which their decisions are based. Ultimately, this research can be used to find new ways of recruiting students to archaeology that may otherwise not have considered such a career path.