About Archaeology at Northwestern
Archaeology at Northwestern is characterized by the three key themes.
Understanding history
- The understanding of history, with a focus on the archaeology of social complexity and inequality
- A comparative approach to complex societies and political/cultural inequality around the world, from the ancient Maya to medieval and historical Europe to the American colonial experience
- Commitment to analysis at different scales, from the study of everyday life and the household to the widest questions of social change
Theory and practice
- A belief in the importance of rigorous and diverse theoretical approaches in the understanding of the past
- Commitment to the interaction of theory and empirical research
- A set of methods and intellectual questions that cross the borders between the humanities and the sciences
Intellectual context
- A belief that scientific knowledge is always framed within social, cultural and political concerns
- Archaeology as part of the wider project of an integrated four-field program, powered by the intellectual differences and complementary approaches of an holistic Anthropology