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Michigan Technological University

Dept. of Social Sciences
1400 Townsend Dr.
Houghton, MI 49931-1295

Phone 906.487.2113
Fax 906.487.2468
E-mail: pemartin@mtu.edu

Department Web Site

Areas of Specialization:

Industrial Heritage and Archaeology

Program Description

The department launched an MS program in industrial archaeology in 1992, building upon a unique combination of interdisciplinary faculty expertise (history of technology, archaeology and anthropology, architectural history) and regional resources. A PhD program in industrial heritage and archeology that extends this program to the doctoral level granted its first two PhDs in 2009. Faculty scholarly interests in industrial societies, industrialization, and environmental policy span the disciplinary boundaries of anthropology, history, architecture, and sociology, offering students a broad perspective. The doctoral program has an explicit focus upon industrial history questions that reside at the intersection of archeology, architectural history and material culture; heritage and memory; and environmental history.

Special Programs or Resources

The program sponsors an annual field school focusing on industrial archaeology and history and historical archaeology. The site of field programs from 2002 through 2008 focused on the remains of one of the America's leading 19th-century cannon and iron production facilities, the West Point Foundry in Cold Spring, NY. In 2009 the field school studied the remains of a Mormon pottery in Utah, and in 2010 the target is the Cliff Mine, the earliest successful copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Information about the field schools can be obtained from the Department web page. We support an archaeology lab that is actively involved in regional, national, and international archaeological field projects. The lab has full range of equipment for archaeological fieldwork, Macintosh and Windows-based computers with graphics scanning capabilities, equipment for both low-power and polarized light microscopy, access to magnetometer, ground-penetrating radar units, and GPS equipment as well as GIS software.

The University Library has extensive holdings related to engineering and industrial history and the University Archives contains an important collection of original materials concerning the history of the Keweenaw region, including the records of many of the copper mining companies that once worked in the area.

The industrial archaeology program serves as the institutional and editorial home for the Society for Industrial Archaeology and its journal, IA.

Financial Aid

Teaching and research assistantships are available with stipends valued at about $5200 (MS) and $5900 (PhD) plus tuition and fees per semester. The program seeks to identify research projects for all MS students with external funding for support during their second year. Doctoral students normally receive support during their first two years.

Degree Requirements

MS: 34 credits; thesis or sponsored research report required; defense and presentation of proposal. Doctoral students with an MA/MS will complete an additional 45 additional hours (including two required seminars) and about 30 hours of coursework or directed reading culminating in comprehensive written and oral examinations. Students then are expected to complete 15 hours of dissertation research. Degree requirements adhere to the general rules established by the university's Graduate School.



University Information:

Information from Department of Education
(Includes information on the size, location, and general characteristics of faculty and student body)

Information from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
(Includes rating of the institution's rating of the graduate instructional program and size and setting)

 

Faculty Information (Fall 2011):

Full-time Faculty:

Relative Size based on Number of Full-time Faculty: [Explain]

 

Student Demographics (Fall 2011):

Number of Doctoral Students in Program: 6

New Doctoral Students Entering Program: 2

Proportion of Doctoral Students Receiving Financial Aid: 100%

Number of Graduate Students Enrolled:

Relative Size Based on Graduate Student Enrollment: [Explain]

 

Degree Information:

First PhD conferred: 2009

History PhDs conferred to Date: 2

Number of PhDs Conferred (2011–12):

Relative Size Based on PhDs Conferred: [Explain]

Current Dissertations in Progress

PhDs Conferred by Department

 

 

Last Updated: October 19, 2012