Beginning in fall 2013, students at the College of Charleston will be able to major in archaeology. For the past eight years, students could choose an archaeology minor—the only program in the state. Now, the archaeology program is marking another first, as it becomes the only university in South Carolina to offer an archaeology major.

“Charleston is a natural classroom,” says Program Director Barbara Borg, Ph.D., noting that students get hands-on experience at sites including the Charleston Museum, Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, and Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site, and with private cultural resource management consulting firms. “The time had come. We had evolved to a point where the faculty and students wanted it to happen. We were ready.”

The new archaeology major must be paired with a major in a related field, such as sociology, anthropology, art history, biology, chemistry, computer science, classics, geology, math, historic preservation or history. Other pairings are possible, if an appropriate link with archaeology can be demonstrated.

In addition to required coursework, the archaeology major includes active learning experiences: field work, lab work, study-abroad opportunities and internships.  Archaeology combines elements from the social sciences, humanities and the natural sciences, and because of its interdisciplinary nature, archaeologists find employment in a wide variety of work settings: museums, colleges and universities, government agencies, consulting firms, and public and private foundations.

For more information, contact Dr. Borg at borgb@cofc.edu or 843.953.5408.