Rhode Island Archaeological Colloquium (RIAC)

I am emailing to spread the word about the newly founded Rhode Island Archaeological Colloquium (RIAC). Founded by four undergraduates from Brown, University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, the primary idea behind the Colloquium is to foster inter-scholastic archaeological collaboration. Our mission statement is as follows:

"The Rhode Island Archaeological Colloquium aims to encourage dialogue between undergraduates in Rhode Island regarding the interdisciplinary nature of archaeology by providing a social forum for students. In addition the RIAC serves as a resource for networking, intellectual discourse, and professional development."

In more informal terms, we want the group to operate on the premise of bringing all archaeology students together. Not only will students benefit, but so will all fields of, and related to, archaeology. Bringing people together will ultimately aid professional development, encourage shared ideas and stories "from the trenches," make crucial contacts within a selective job market, and ultimately provide a social support network for people to develop themselves and their research. We all essentially DO the same thing, so why not talk to each other outside of the classroom, outside of journals, candidly about what we THINK about what we do.

We have included the focus on undergraduates to open up the avenues of archaeological possibility before decisions about graduate school and careers have to be made, and also to provide resources that are not offered to undergraduates at all of our schools. However, we want RIAC to be as inclusive as possible, and we hope to have as many professors, recent graduates and graduate students involved as want to be.With this in mind, I hope to encourage you to get involved with the Colloquium, and to spread the word to any of your colleagues and students who would be interested. We have formed a Google Group for the purposes of keeping members up to date with the latest news and information. If you would like to be added to the email list, please let me know.

Our first event is scheduled for the 23rd October 2009. and each institution will take turns holding sessions. This first event will be held at Brown, hosted by the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World who are now located in Rhode Island Hall (fittingly named for the purpose of RIAC). If you have any questions, thoughts or comments, please feel free to contact me.

I hope to see you at our first event,



Sincerely,


Elise Nuding
Brown class of 2011
RIAC Co-founder