Archaeological survey and excavation provide critical information to fields as diverse as Classics, Art History and Biblical Studies. As a scholarly discipline, however, archaeology is more than a way of recovering physical evidence. It is a way of understanding the rich record of past human societies through the study of their material cultures.
Learn Archaeology
USC now offers students an undergraduate degree in Archaeology drawing on the University’s many resources and diverse faculty research locations and interests. The exciting archaeology program is ideal for the student who has an abiding interest in how the past informs the present and is looking for a broad interdisciplinary approach to understanding the world and its material history.
More Information
Archaeology Major/Minor
Resources and Opportunities
Explore the many options students can choose to enrich their experience at USC ranging from hands-on excavation courses, to exploring our collections at our very own Archaeology Research Center.
Students can also explore the financial and academic resources we offer here.
Student Group
The Society for Trojan Archaeologists is a student-run organization that fosters and expands student interest and knowledge about the field of archaeology.
Keep Up With USC Archaeology
USC Students and Faculty Participate in Summer Archaeological Field Research on Old Providence and Santa Catalina Islands, Colombia https://t.co/3sdknldce6
— USC Archaeology (@USCArchaeology) September 28, 2022
USC archaeology major Camila Grases volunteered in the ArcLab this summer. Camila was a great help in checking in all the flood artifacts, checking for damage (mold, spalling, cracking, etc.), returning them to their home boxes, and updating our PastPerfect database.
“What excited me the most about the prospect of working at the lab at the beginning of the summer was the close proximity I would have to the thousands of years of history stored in the collection here at USC. What I failed to understand but was ecstatic to learn was that I would actually be working with these objects, touching them, moving them, examining them, and entering them into the data base.”
@uscarchaeology
Interested in Egyptology? Solange Ashby (PhD, UChicago; current post-doc @ UCLA) will be delivering a talk titled “Jewelry of Nubia’s Royal Women” at the Getty Villa (and online) on October 15th at 2 pm PST.
For more info and to get tickets, check out this link: https://tickets.getty.edu/Online/seatSelect.asp?createBO::WSmap=1&BOparam::WSmap::loadBestAvailable::
performance_ids=239EEC13-A519-4CBA-8067-BC999FC39E3C
@uscarchaeology
Dr. Tracie Mayfield and @uscarchaeology students completed an archaeological field school on Old Providence and Santa Catalina Islands, Colombia during summer ⛏
Located 130 miles off the coast of Nicaragua, the islands have been a center of global trade and commerce since the establishment of an English colony in 1629.
Novelist Robert Louis Stevenson was inspiried to write the book ‘Treasure Island’ after visiting in the 1800’s, and Pablo Escobar was a resident in the 1980’s.
The community-led project seeks to assist ongoing Native efforts to untangle and decolonize the complex culture history of the Islands, by collecting and exploring archaeologically landscapes.
To learn more about these research projects visit: hunterblatherer.wordpress.com
@uscarchaeology
STARC Summer Spotlight: Elena Prado spent the first part of her summer doing an Experimental Archaeology class on Catalina Island. She finished up with a Getty Marrow Undergraduate internship in the GCI!
@uscarchaeology
STARC Summer Spotlight: Luis Rodriguez-Pérez, a recent archaeology and history graduate (and former president of STARC), spent this year at the @cyathens program studying ancient languages and archaeology, before continuing his work on @opsciap as lead ethnographer, surveyor, and archaeologist this summer.
Hunter Blatherer
Life as an Archaeology Student at the University of Southern California
Contribute to Archaeology
You can contribute to archaeology at USC with either in-kind or cash donations — we welcome all your support! Be part of safeguarding over 5,000 ancient artifacts in the USC Archaeology Research Collection for future generations of Trojans through the purchase of a climate control system, conservation and materials analysis equipment needed to protect these ancient treasures. We also welcome the donation of recent computer equipment.
If you have a special interest or would like to support a specific archaeological project, please e-mail the curator, Lynn Swartz Dodd, at swartz@usc.edu or call (213) 740-0266.
USC is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and so your donation is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. You can Donate Now by credit card or donate by check. Checks should be made out to “USC”, with the subject line reading “Archaeology Research Center.” Please mail check donations to: Lynn Dodd, MC 1481 825 Bloom Walk, ACB-130, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1481
Thank you for your support!