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 Jack Rossen
Professor, Department of Anthropology
Faculty, School of Humanities and Sciences
Specialty: Archaeology, Eastern US Woodlands, Archaeobotany,
Ethnobotany, Hunter-gatherers, early agriculture, lithic technology
Phone: (607) 274-3326
E-mail: jrossen@ithaca.edu
Office: G132 Gannett Center
Ithaca, NY 14850
Curriculum Vitae
Phone: 607-274-3326.
E-mail: jrossen@ithaca.edu
I am an archaeologist who has worked and taught throughout South America and the U.S. The last 15 years I have working primarily near Cayuga Lake on Cayuga sites. I work within the framework known as indigenous archaeology. This approach strives to work with Native people, make archaeology more of a positive force for them, and challenge dominant narratives of the

past that have oppressed and denied their rights. This is a growing reform movement within the profession and a reorientation of the discipline's ethics. My specializations include archaeobotany, the study of archaeological plant remains, and lithic technology, the study of stone tools. I have the opportunity to see the interface between generalists, who run site excavations and coordinate the results of a large research team, and the specialist who becomes attached to various projects, because I do both. Only our imagination limits the scientific possibilities and special studies that may be done in archaeology. I also run the Landon Hall
Archaeology Lab, which provides numerous opportunities for students, ranging from casual hands-on experience washing and sorting artifacts to serious senior thesis lab analysis projects.
My middle level classes are North American Prehistory, The Iroquois (Haudenosaunee), Native
Peoples of the Northeast, and People, Plants, and Culture, an ethnobotany course. I also enjoy teaching my upper level seminars, which include Hunter-Gatherers, Origins of Agriculture, and
Ethnoarchaeology. Recently I developed a new 100 level course, Box Office Archaeology, that explores the portrayals of archaeologists in popular cinema as compared to the realities.
Brooke Hansen and I finished our ninth December-January trip to the Big Island of Hawai'i for our course (The Anthropological Experience in Hawai'i). We met Native Hawaiians who are rebuilding the ancient sacred temples, worked in a taro patch and ethnobotanical garden, and learned about the ancient lifeways and modern struggles for respect and soveriegnty. Our IC students were transformed and some plan to return for internships and maybe careers there.. This semester I am teaching on faculty exchange at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, but I'll be back for the spring 2015 semester!
Courses:
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World Archaeology
 Box Office Archaeology
North American Archaeology
 The Iroquois
Native Peoples of the Northeast
People, Plants, and Culture: Ethnobotany & Archaeobotany
 Hunter-Gatherers
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Origins of Agriculture
 Ethnoarchaeology
Archaeological Field School in the Cayuga Homeland
The Anthropological Experience in Hawai’i
School of Humanities and Sciences · 201 Muller Center · Ithaca College · Ithaca, NY
14850 · (607) 274-3102 · Full Directory Listing
953 Danby Road, Ithaca, NY 14850
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