Purdue University Fort Wayne announced that it will be offering a certificate in cultural resource management through its department of anthropology and sociology. The program will train students to identify and investigate cultural resources as well as plans for their use, curation, and preservation.
Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology announced the approval for a new certificate program in cultural resource management.
The course will teach students how to identify and investigate cultural resources like artifacts and historical and archaeological sites, as well as plans for how to ethically use, curate, and preserve those artifacts.
There are not many schools that offer a certificate in cultural resource management, and most of these programs are tied to contract archaeology and graduate degrees in archaeology.
Hal Odden is an associate professor at Purdue University Fort Wayne, and chairs the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. He was quoted in a press release from the school about the importance of this new certificate program, saying, “This will be useful for students interested in historical preservation, museum curation, environmental consulting, and those interested in pursuing graduate studies in archaeology and related fields. We also believe the recently signed $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will lead to considerable growth in the CRM industry with an added need to determine compliance with federal, state, and local regulations for new projects resulting from the legislation. Recipients of this certificate will help fill these expanding roles.”
Six students are already enrolled in the certificate program in its first semester. The program meets the requirements students will need to be able to be hired as archaeological fieldworkers in Indiana, and in federal positions in archaeology, or similar jobs around the country.
Odden spoke on the future available to students who earn this cultural resource management certificate: “Those who earn the certificate will have demonstrated that they are prepared for careers working for professional archaeological firms, environmental consulting and management firms, museums and archives, and relevant local, state, and federal government agencies.”
American archaeological companies employ over 10,000 workers with Cultural Resource Management Certificates in a billion dollar industry, according to the American Cultural Resources Association.
A 2020 report from IBISWorld showed that environmental consulting firms who employ cultural resource assessment generated $15 billion in 2019. IBISWorld collects and disseminates data from many global industries. These firms employ many different types of people, including those who focus on archaeology.
Purdue University Fort Wayne has received feedback from area cultural resource management firms that suggests that there are many entry level jobs that need to be filled all over the country due to a lack of workers with the needed skills.
Purdue’s Department of Anthropology and Sociology has garnered a close relationship with the environmental consulting firm RESCOM Environmental Corp to help with the education and job readiness of students. Creating such partnerships has been an important feature of the creative resource management certificate program as it allows students to receive training provided by academics as well as members of the corporate workforce. Two of RESCOM’s leadership team members, Andrew Smith, chief operating officer, and Jamie Cochran-Smith, vice president of cultural resources, are now professors of practice at Purdue University Fort Wayne and teach three courses within the archaeological field school.
Students interested in the cultural resource management certificate program can call Hal Odden at 260-481-4183, or email him at oddenh@pfw.edu.
For more information about Purdue University Fort Wayne, visit its website.