Program Overview
The University of Maryland Department of Anthropology and the Office of Continuing and
Extended Education announce the first season of the Archaeology of Labor and Immigrant
Identity in Crozet, Virginia. The 2012 season of excavation will occur on the property of the Pollak
Winery. The landscape once held the cabins of Irish immigrant laborers and their families between 1850 and 1861. The Irish immigrants were responsible for building the several railroad cuts in the area, manufacturing bricks for the tunnel projects, and building one of the longest tunnels in 19th century history.

Students can be a part of field school excavations at the site of a laboring settlement of Irish
immigrant families dating as early as 1850. The work will provide much needed data to create a
material history of the daily lives of the Irish men, women, and children laboring and living in
the area. Students will be actively situated in learning how to do archaeology and conduct
historical research that will provide an intimate understanding of the 19th century Irish immigrant
presence outside of urban areas.

The research is framed by questions such as what impacts did the Famine, eviction, and
transportation have on rural Irish cultural practices?  What kind of social and material life did Irish evictees have entering American society and how was it affected by their traumatic Irish past? How was it affected by their new industrial present? What traditions, cultural and material practices were adopted in the new place of settlement? Intensive excavations and survey of the domestic and industrial landscape of the
area will contribute to the knowledge of labor history of and immigrant contributions to the construction of America’s infrastructure.

Dates
May 29 - June 6

Location
Crozet, Virginia

Contact
Dr. Stephen A. Brighton
sbrighto@umd.edu
Department of Anthropology
University of Maryland
1111 Woods Hall
College Park, MD 20742
301-405-3700

Deadline
Advanced registration available until March 25.  Regular registration available until May 1, but immediate payment is required.  For summer course registration to receive credits: summer.umd.edu.

Enrollment
Enrollment is limited to 20 students at either the graduate or undergraduate level. While there are no formal prerequisites for the field school, at least one introductory course in archaeology is recommended. Physical ability and willingness to engage in field work outdoors is essential, and any student currently in good standing at a college or university is eligible to register.

Logistics
The field school meets daily in the field for approximately eight hours a day, Monday through Friday, for six weeks. The daily starting time will probably change over the course of the summer, depending on the
weather, and students should be flexible.  Room and board is available at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Transportation will be available from the University to the site (approximately 10 miles from Charlottesville).  A waiver of liability will be required by the University of Maryland before a student can participate in field work and/or laboratory work at the site.

Academic Responsibilities
Students are responsible for reporting to the site each day and contributing to the field work, lab
work, and ensuing discussion as each progresses. Students will complete weekly reading assignments
that address methods and theories of recent archaeology research, regional topics
such as immigrant and labor history, as well as readings discussing the history and archaeology
of the Irish Diaspora both in Ireland and the United States.

Students will review their assignments at a weekly discussion led by project staff. There will be weekly site seminars where students will share progress in their excavation units with others so that each student will understand the site in its entirety. Furthermore, there will be talks and presentations by Clann Mhór,(http://clannmhor.org/clannmhor/ Home.html) a local scholarly historical and heritage group. Moreover, students will be assigned time to work closely with members of the group to learn how to conduct intensive primary historical research. Readings will familiarize students with the local, national, and international history and archaeology of the Irish Diaspora to gain a fuller understanding and appreciation its history associated with early 19th-century rural Irish tenant farmers, mid-19th-century Irish immigrant laborers, and late 19th- and 20th-century Irish-
American working class.


Tuition and Fees
To receive academic credit, a student must be formally admitted to the University of Maryland,
College Park. Application information for non-UMCP students can be found online at
www.summer.umd.edu. Tuition and fees for the upcoming summer session are charged per
credit hour and at the same rate as other summer courses.  We are pleased to offer in-state tuition rates
to all students, regardless of their state of residence. For room and board possibilities, please contact Dr. Brighton <sbrighto@umd.edu>. Payment is due May 20, 2012 and fees are subject to change. In addition,
students may be expected to purchase readings totaling approximately $50.00.


For interested students, please contact Dr. Stephen Brighton as soon as possible.