For five decades, Trent University has played an important role in educating and training some of North America’s leading archaeologists. 

This role and the successes and experiences of some of Trent’s most renowned alumni in the field of archaeology were featured and celebrated at the Trent@50 Archaeological Symposium – a special day-long event hosted by the Trent University Archaeological Research Centre (TUARC) on October 25 in honour of Trent’s 50^th anniversary.

The symposium featured presentations from ten Trent alumni who are internationally renowned for their research and expertise in topics as varied as the origins of chocolate, Spanish colonialism in Ecuador, and ancient burial practices on Canada’s west coast. The speakers were chosen because they are senior professionals who represent a variety of archaeological research areas: different regions, different kinds of archaeology, different interests.

Dr. Paul Healy, professor emeritus at Trent, who helped organize the event, said that the selection of speakers was not easy because there are many successful Trent graduates working in universities, museums, government institutions, and private sector consulting firms all across the world. “We could very easily have had three days of alumni speakers with equally impressive credentials,” he said.

The distinguished lineup of speakers included Dr. Douglas Stenton, the territorial archaeologist for Nunavut, who spoke on his involvement in the recent discovery of one of the lost ships of the Franklin Expedition. Dr. Stenton is a graduate of Trent’s M.A. program in Anthropology.

Another speaker, alumna Dr. Heather McKillop, who is currently the Doris Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Studies at Louisiana State University, attributed Trent’s success in producing successful archaeologists to the small classes with faculty who are doing archaeology and including students in their research. “We didn’t just hear the story of archaeology, we saw the archaeologists doing the research,” she said.

Alumnus Dr. Jaime Awe, who hails from Belize, came to Trent in 1978 to study archaeology. He agreed that interaction with faculty who are sharing their research makes the Trent learning experience unique. “When you see your teachers talking about their work in Peru or Belize or Mexico, it lights a fire and makes you desire to go out into the field to explore, to investigate and to do research,” he said.  Dr. Awe, who specializes in the prehistory of the ancient Maya of Central America, is an assistant professor at Northern Arizona University.

Speaking of the symposium, Dr. Anne Keenleyside, chair of the Department of Anthropology at Trent, said: “This symposium demonstrates that Trent has one of the strongest archaeology programs in the country. Students who want to pursue a career in archaeology have tremendous opportunities for hands-on learning in labs, in field schools, and through projects funded by various grants.”

To learn more about the Tren@50 Archaeology Symposium, visit www.trentu.ca/tuarc