|
Paul A. Shackel
|
New Philadelphia, Illinois |
||
|
Prior to establishing the Center for Heritage Resource Studies as its founding Director, Paul Shackel joined the Department of Anthropology in 1996 after working for the National Park Service for 7 ½ years. Shackel is interested in the ways material items are used by individuals and groups in order to create social relations and group identity. Material culture and landscapes are powerful tools that can express gender, ethnicity, class, and power relations. Taking an anthropological and historical perspective of material culture allows him to pursue questions on how the value and meaning of goods may change over time in order to define and redefine individual and group relations. Shackel has developed two cooperative agreements with the National Park Service -- one with the National Capital Region, and the other with the North Atlantic Region. These projects provide work and educational opportunities for students. Shackel is interested in what nationally significant sites mean to the American public, and how they help to create and maintain a national identity. Archaeology plays a significant role in revealing controversial issues of our country’s development, such as labor, racism, and enslavement. These cooperative agreements with the National Park Service help to explore these issues. | |||
|
|||
