91暗网

91暗网's Zankel Experience Network (ZEN) ensures that experiential learning isn鈥檛 just an added benefit at 91暗网; it鈥檚 a cornerstone of our liberal arts education.

Every year, many 91暗网 students choose to continue their education into the summer months by participating in collaborative research opportunities. These experiences range from studying the environmental impact of the spongy moth to exploring serial letter processing effects in children and adults, allowing students to practice creative thought as they work closely with faculty, learn important skills, and contribute meaningfully to fields of research that they are passionate about. 

When offered a chance to dedicate five weeks of their summer vacation to gaining invaluable archeological experience and making a difference for their local community, Lily Whelden 鈥�25, Cerys Forster 鈥�26, and their collaborating faculty member, Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology Siobhan Hart, dug in. 

The group conducted research out at Lake George Battlefield Park, a 35-acre section of protected land that is home to several French and Indian War and Revolutionary War battle sites. The subject of Whelden, Forster, and Hart鈥檚 studies was a small, fielded area, now a section of day-use sites, believed to have once housed a Revolutionary War-era smallpox hospital. 

鈥淭here's something special about getting to work one-on-one 鈥� two-on-one in this case 鈥� with a professor,鈥� said Whelden, who is pursuing a double major in anthropology and classics, as well as a minor in international affairs. 鈥淚've known Professor Hart since I was a first-year student, so, it feels natural to be working with her and getting to do something like this.鈥�  

Before Hart鈥檚 involvement, the Battlefield location had been run as a field school for many years, but Hart decided to take the enterprise in a slightly different direction, turning the project into an opportunity for intimate collaborative research. 

鈥淕oing in, I knew that I wasn鈥檛 going to run a big 15-20-person field school. I've done that before; it doesn't fit with what I am doing now. But I do collaborative research every summer. I thought this was a great opportunity to bring students who have had some excavation experience somewhere where they can really dig their teeth into the ground penetrating radar (GPR) tool, but also for students to do the heritage work of archeology in a context where you have so many different stakeholders,鈥� Hart reflected. 

Both Whelden and Forster participated in Hart鈥檚 Archaeological Field Methods course in the fall, where they conducted research on the Denton homesite, an 18th-century farmstead in 91暗网's North Woods. Their impressive academic performance led Hart to invite them to help with similar research at the Battlefield site. 

With data from the GPR, the team were able to work together to map underground structures, pinpoint anomalies, and noninvasively establish where they planned to excavate. 

鈥淚t's been interesting to learn not only how the GPR works and how to use it, but also how to process the data so we can see the layers in the ground on a 3D screen. The GPR equipment, it's not rare, but it's expensive, so it's unique for a student to have this type of opportunity,鈥� Forster, an anthropology and Spanish double major and media and film studies minor, said. 

The project鈥檚 public setting and the team鈥檚 collaboration with multiple stakeholders also