Southern African Archaeology Student Society
What is the Southern African Archaeology Student Society?
This society serves as a community for students to have a system and an organization to engage with academically, which motivates and creates opportunities for students to network with one another and with other professional researchers in archaeology. As well as to gain further insight into the laboratory and practical field skills.
The Student Council
The Southern African Archaeology Student Council (SAASC) was formed as a body representing the needs of students. The council aims to not only help students in their development as academics but also as a support system, with the annual student development workshop (SDW) becoming a forum to air out grievances and investigate solutions as well as hosting students from various universities and countries to enrich their academic paths in the form of workshops on various specializations and topics.
Our vision and goals:
SAASC envisions advancing collegiality, fostering a sense of belonging, and promoting collaboration among SADC archaeology students and early career professionals. The council believes in and supports the transformation and decolonizing of the discipline by providing an equitable and inclusive platform for emerging voices. The processes and actions to arrive at this endeavor are supported by providing access to and facilitating opportunities and resources through student led-initiatives for cohesive enrichment and development.
Annual Student Development Workshop
The idea was conceived by Dr. Tim Forssman and Dr. Matt Lotter in 2011 while, as students, they attended an ASAPA conference and felt there was a gap in including students and their needs in order to have a successful career. They thus developed the workshop, which has been held every year since 2013, and introduced those who have attended it to the various elements of requirements of different archaeological careers. With each workshop, we invite leading and early career experts to present on various topics ranging from fieldwork skills to laboratory analysis and from funding applications to publishing peer-reviewed papers and giving presentations.
The aim of the workshop is to bring students together from around the SADC region and teach them invaluable skills not taught in a university lecture theatre. Over the last eight years, the ASAPA-PAST-sponsored SDW has shown itself to be an invaluable step in the lives of aspiring archaeologists.
