One of the best ways to get hands-on experience in archaeological work or in paleoanthropology is to attend a field school. UW–Madison offers a range of field school experiences to our undergraduate students, with UW–Madison programs both internationally and within Wisconsin.
In addition to these field schools supervised by UW–Madison faculty, many of our undergraduates attend field school programs offered by other universities. If you plan to participate in an archaeology field school run by a school other than UW–Madison, you should investigate beforehand whether you will get credit for it.
- Review information about course equivalency online. See this link for the information required on a Course Equivalency Request. For a Course Equivalency Request, you must provide the following information:
- the number of classroom contact hours each week and whether the course is a semester or year-long course.
- a very detailed syllabus outlining the titles of books/textbooks, authors, etc. being used for the course. The syllabus should also ideally have a general outline of the expectations for the semester/year
- a brief description of the class. Students should write up a description that includes information on field trips and other activities.
- Before you go, discuss the field school with the Archaeology Certificate Advisor in Anthropology. If possible, submit a syllabus so the Undergraduate Advisor can determine how much credit you should receive and any course equivalencies. The Archaeology Certificate Advisor can then write or e-mail Undergraduate Admissions with this information. This may also be done after you return, but you should still speak with the Archaeology Certificate Advisor before you leave to be sure that the field school will be approved.
- Once you have completed the field school you should have your transcript sent to Undergraduate Admission at UW–Madison. If the department has already approved the program, the field school will automatically appear on your transcript unless you already have 90 or more credits. If this is the case, you will have to see the Dean regarding a residency requirement exception. The last 30 credits of your degree must be in residence at Madison unless you receive an exception from the Dean’s Office.
If you have any questions. see the Archaeology Certificate Advisor or the appropriate UW–Madison office before you go.