Steve Silliman (faculty website)

Dr. Silliman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology and serves as the Graduate Program Director for the Historical Archaeology Graduate (M.A.) Program.

He received his Ph.D. from UC-Berkeley with specialties in archaeological theory and the archaeology of Native North America. His interests include theories of identity, labor, and postcolonialism; collaborative indigenous archaeology; and the impact of post-Columbian colonialism on Native Americans. He has conducted field research in Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Texas, and Japan, but his current geographic focus is on both southern New England and California. He works regularly with the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation in Connecticut on issues relating to historic preservation and archaeological research, much of which is conducted as part of his annual summer field school. Dr. Silliman teaches undergraduate courses in introduction to archaeology, method and theory, ancient North America, archaeological field methods, and archaeological myth and mystery, as well as graduate courses in archaeological theory and colonialism. He has published two books: Lost Laborers in Colonial California: Native Americans and the Archaeology of Rancho Petaluma (2004, University of Arizona Press) and Historical Archaeology (co-edited with Martin Hall, 2006, Blackwell Publishing). For full details his research, publications, teaching, and field school, please visit www.faculty.umb.edu/stephen_silliman.

He also teaches courses and advises students in the Historical Archaeology Graduate (M.A.) Program.