Developing a Decolonial Field School: Teaching Community-Engaged and Decolonial Collection and Preservation Methods through a Field School Approach

FAIN: PE-290134-23

Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, MS 39762-5227)
Jordan Lynton (Project Director: May 2022 to present)
Anna Jean Osterholtz (Co Project Director: February 2023 to present)
Jesse Goliath (Co Project Director: February 2023 to present)
Shawn Lambert (Co Project Director: February 2023 to present)

Implementation of a three-year, community-engaged field school located at Brush Arbor Cemetery in Starkville, MS, a designated location on the National Register of Historic Places, to educate ten advanced undergraduate or graduate students and one research fellow in community-based anthropological and archeological research and methods.

Located at Brush Arbor Cemetery in Starkville, MS, our field school will train advanced-undergraduate and graduate students interested in archival, archaeological, historical, and anthropological work to preserve African American sites through a community-based decolonial model. We pair community-based methods including oral history, public archaeology, participatory GIS Story Mapping and Black Digital Archives to train future practitioners in the critical skills necessary to equitably work with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations. Community-based anthropology is a growing field that aims to link traditional anthropological methods with the perspectives and voices of local communities. Decolonial community anthropology works towards dismantling traditional academic hierarchical barriers that in the past have not allowed the community to be appreciated and their voices heard. Students will receive a certificate in community-engaged anthropology at completion.