The Undocumented Migration Project Historical Archaeology & Ethnography Arivaca, Arizona – Institute for Field Research

Location: Arivaca, AZ 85601, USA

Season: May 24, 2020 to June 27, 2020

Application Deadline: April 3, 2020

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://ifrglobal.org/program/us-az-arivaca/

Program Type:
Field School

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Institute for Field Research, Connecticut College, UCLA, University of Massachusetts

Project Director:
Dr. Haeden Stewart & Dr. Jason De León

Project Description:

The Undocumented Migration Project (UMP) is a long-term anthropological study of clandestine migration between Latin America and the United States that began in 2009. In the summer of 2020, we will expand this research through a multi-method study of the longer histories of migration, labor, and environmental transformations in Southern Arizona. Specifically, this study will take the form of an archaeological/ethnographic field school in the ghost mining town of Ruby, Arizona and the adjacent community of Arivaca, Arizona, an area located directly in the center of one of the busiest zones for undocumented crossings from Mexico into Arizona. In this field school, we will survey, excavate, and perform limited environmental tests on the remains of Ruby, Arizona, one of the first centers of industrial production, labor, and migration in Southern Arizona.  This archaeological study of Ruby will be combined with local interviews and oral histories with residents of Arivaca, concerning the early mining history of the region, the role of Ruby to local tourism, as well as towards local identity. Our research will investigate how the deep history of resource extraction, labor migration, colonial settlement, and border infrastructure have defined the border landscape over the past 150 years and continue to influence the life of locals in the area, as well as migrants who pass through.

Period(s) of Occupation: Ethnography, Contemporary & Historical Archaeology

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Participants are required to stay for the full duration of the field school.

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: No prior experience is required to participate in this field school.

Room and Board Arrangements:
Students and instructors will stay in the Arivaca Action Center, a multipurpose facility and community center that has been the base of operations for UMP field work since 2012. In this community center students will share unfurnished private rooms and should bring sleeping bags. The project will provide foam mattresses for all students to sleep on.

Academic Credit:
8 Semester Credits credits offered by Connecticut College. Tuition is $4,430.