Master of Science in Industrial Archaeology at Michigan Tech
Resources
The Program in Industrial Archaeology and History at Michigan Tech maintains close ties with the Michigan Historical Center, the National Forest Service, and the National Park Service. MTU is close to any number of industrial sites within Keweenaw National Historical Park to the north, and to Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests, to the respective east and west. Houghton itself is the headquarters for the Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior.
The Archaeology Laboratory has worked closely with both the State of Michigan and the Federal government on a number of projects, such as the Ohio Trap Rock copper mine site from the 1850s, and the Carp River Forge Project in Negaunee, Michigan, the region's first iron making site. The Laboratory serves as the curation facility for archaeological materials from both Hiawatha and Ottawa National Forests, as well as material from the State of Michigan.
The Robert J. R. Van Pelt Library, in addition to its extensive holdings on industrial technology and history, maintains the Copper Country Archives, containing a massive amount of original documentary material. Holdings range from historic photos of the Keweenaw and Copper Country to the records of many of the copper mining companies that dotted the region as few as fifty years ago.
The Department of Social Sciences supports IA graduate students through its ongoing projects, and through MTU-funded teaching assistantships. Internships are often available to interested students though its connections with the U.S. Forest Service, the Michigan Historical Center, and others. The Department is also the institutional home of the international Society for Industrial Archeology, and the graduate program works closely with the Society.
The Archaeology Laboratory also houses a computer graphics facility with a mix of Macintosh and PC computers. The computer lab has a color scanner, two digitizing tablets, laser printers and a plotter. The lab machines run a variety of programs for acquiring, processing, and analyzing digital images and digital map data. The lab supports several different programs for computer assisted drafting (CAD) and ArcView for GIS analysis. The Archaeology Laboratory also houses a variety of microscopes, kilns, furnaces, tools for chemical/soil analysis and artifact conservation.
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