St. Cloud State University - Program in Cultural Resource Management Archeology - Overview
Cultural Resources Management Archaeology
The St. Cloud State University Master of Science (MS) in Cultural Resources Management (CRM) archeology prepares students to make essential contributions to the preservation, conservation, and stewardship of the records of the human past.
The program is founded on a broad, 4-field anthropology education that focuses on theoretical knowledge, legal and ethical background, technical skills, and practical experience necessary for professional practice or continued study at the doctoral level.
Meets Professional Qualifications Standards
SCSU's CRM master's degree meets the U.S. Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualifications Standards for working as a professional archaeologist. Students develop the experience, confidence, and credentials required to work as principal investigators or managers for federal, state, or tribal historic preservation agencies, non-profit organizations and museums, private contracting firms, or as private consultants.
In-depth and Interdisciplinary
Students in St. Cloud State's master's program take seminars in archaeology and biological anthropology or cultural anthropology and take classes in technical writing, regional culture history, and a 2-semester CRM sequence that focuses on: the history of historic preservation in the U.S.; federal legislation; American Indian perspectives; professional ethics; the infrastructure of CRM; research design development; project logistics; and management skills. Students are encouraged to take numerous interdisciplinary electives in order to strengthen their abilities in their CRM practice. The program is designed to be completed in 2 calendar years.
Thesis Option
SCSU's CRM program offers students the flexibility to choose from 3 degree plans, which include a thesis option, a starred paper (literature review) option, or a portfolio option.
Plan A, the thesis option, includes a culminating project that results in a traditional thesis based on any combination of field, lab, or literature analysis. The thesis, typically between 100-200 pages in length, includes an oral defense; a written comprehensive exam is not required.
Starred Paper Option
Plan B, the starred paper, includes a culminating project that results in a minimum of 3 term papers (at least 30 pages each) whereby the student develops graduate course assignments into publication quality, scholarly works. Plan B includes 2 options -- students either analyze previously published data from multiple sources and synthesize them in original ways, or use original research that does not comprise enough data to develop into a thesis, but could be best covered through shorter publications. Other requirements for plan B include a final oral defense and a comprehensive exam covering material from core courses.
Portfolio Option
Plan C is the portfolio option, which includes a culminating project that demonstrates the student's skills as an anthropologist, archaeologist, and cultural resource management professional. A minimum of 3 projects are included in the portfolio. Examples of projects include: a National Register of Historic Places nomination; a CRM project report; a museum exhibit related to human culture, the archaeological record, or history; a CRM contract proposal; and an article for publication. Other requirements for plan C include a final oral defense and a comprehensive exam covering material from core courses.
Valuable Internships
All degree plans involve internships, thereby giving students valuable work experience. Current agreements are in place for students to intern with the Minnesota Historical Society, the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, various local Minnesota county historical societies, and several CRM contracting firms ranging in size from large environmental engineering and land development companies to small contract archaeology firms.
Rich Research Opportunities
CRM students conduct research through independent projects or in conjunction with the anthropology program faculty members. CRM faculty members Debra Gold (bioarchaeology, theory) and Mark Muñiz (lithics, geoarchaeology) are conducting archaeological field research at historic sites in central Minnesota and Paleoindian sites on the western Great Plains and Boundary Waters region of northern Minnesota. One of the sites, Hudson-Meng, is one of the most important Paleoindian archaeological sites in North America, dating from between 10,200 and 11,500 years old. The research in the Boundary Waters region has established a previously unrecognized Paleoindian presence that dates to over 12,000 years ago. Faculty member Kelly Branam (ethnography, ethnohistory) has worked with Dakota communities in Minnesota to develop protocols for documenting traditional cultural places, with the Crow in Montana to train THPO staff members, and is developing an ethnographic field school that incorporates elements important to working in CRM. Faculty member Matt Tornow (primate evolution, forensics) offers courses in forensic sciences, human evolution, and faunal analysis.
At the Council for Minnesota Archaeology 2011 conference, CRM graduate students and archeology undergraduates presented a number of papers relating to their archeological work. According to Mark Muñiz, Director of the CRM archaeology graduate program, the number of presenters from St. Cloud State outnumbered any other state university, which is a testament to the strength of the program. Graduate students will also be presenting the results of their research at the 2011 Midwest Archaeological Conference in LaCrosse, WI. CRM graduate students have also presented papers and posters at other regional and national conferences including the Society for American Archaeology.
CRM resources include SCSU's archeology lab, which has ArcGIS and Adobe Illustrator software; an artifact collections lab; a reference library; lithic and faunal comparative collections; a biological anthropology lab; and specialized equipment, including Canon digital cameras, a Sokkia reflectorless total station and Carlson data collector, Trimble GeoXH high-precision GPS unit, and an Olympus incident light stereomicroscope used for conducting high-magnification microwear analysis.
Assistantships Available
Graduate students may be eligible for SCSU graduate assistantships which are available for each fall and spring semester. Graduate assistants are also eligible for partial tuition waivers.
Campus on the Mississippi River
St. Cloud State University is located on a 100-acre campus on the banks of the Mississippi River, some 75 miles northwest of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is the second-largest university in Minnesota, with more than 18,000 students.