Recommendations for Safety Education and Training for Graduate Students Directing Field Projects

Graduate schools provide students opportunities for fieldwork and training in archaeological methods and theory, but they often overlook instruction in field safety and well-being. We suggest that more explicit guidance on how to conduct safe fieldwork will improve the overall success of student-led projects and prepare students to direct safe and successful fieldwork programs as professionals. In this article, we draw on the experiences of current and recent graduate students as well as professors who have overseen graduate fieldwork to outline key considerations in improving field safety and well-being and to offer recommendations for specific training and safety protocols. In devising these considerations and recommendations, we have referenced both domestic and international field projects, as well as those involving community collaboration.

Online Higher Education

Online higher education has been a critical element in the lives of refugees trying to create a better future for their families and community (Kekwaletswe 2007; Crea and McFarland 2015; Giles 2018). Education programs in refugee and humanitarian contexts have been inadequate for a variety of reasons such as: a lack of resources and poor infrastructure, shortage of trained teachers, overcrowding, lack of funding from national governments and NGOs (LWF, 2015). In the last 10 years we have seen an influx of educational institutions and Northern-based universities partnering with development organizations to provide online higher education to bridge the gaps in quality education (Kirk 2006). There have been studies that speak to the potential of higher education for refugees from the perspective of development organizations. However, little has been said from the perspective of refugees themselves about their educational experiences in their local contexts. There are major differences in how men and women experience online education that deserves attention. Higher education equips refugees with the practical skills and qualifications to obtain employment opportunities within the camps or in their home countries should they return. It also enables them to think critically about their lives in a meaningful way. For women the impact goes even further, as it creates a path towards self-sufficiency, independence and empowerment (i.e., economically, politically and socially) (Kabeer, 1999). The gendered nature of access to technology has had significant impacts in the rates of participation (Kekwaletswe, 2007). Furthermore, it is also a pathway for creating female refugee scholars which is an area that is under-researched. Much of the writing on refugees by refugees themselves and development practitioners have been primarily male-dominated. The purpose of this article is to give the opportunity to heighten the female refugee scholar voice from the lens of a recent graduate of the Educational Studies program provided by York University under the Borderless Higher Education (BHER) project online higher education model. The purpose of this article is to explore the empowering potential of BHER’s online teacher education program that has allowed women (and men) to be critical, thoughtful scholars speaking about their experiences, on their own terms. BHER is a development project that seeks to build the capacity of untrained refugee teachers in the Dadaab refugee camps by delivering gender-sensitive teaching and learning skills that can build the capacity of future leaders and teachers in their communities. The findings shared in this article are from the direct experiences of Dahabo Ibrahim, who is a recent graduate of the Educational Studies program. It will highlight the unique experiences of women in Dadaab pursuing tertiary education, through their own lens. The value of women authoring their own lives, and what is meaningful to them in a patriarchal society and development industry. Our aim is to ultimately examine how female scholarship shifts the way we think about refugee education in the humanitarian context.

Lessons learned in academic libraries: What I wish they told me in library school

This column muses on topics and issues not covered during a Master of Library Science program and offers advice that would be useful for a recent graduate with little experience in libraries entering the field.

Graduating in lockdown

Fabian Rivers, recent graduate rep on BVA Council, spares a thought for those graduating during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lady scientist, technological treasures and the making of a discipline

The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford is known for its abundant ethnographic and archaeological collections and typological displays. Conceived as an educational museum serving the purposes of evolutionist anthropology and its comparative practice, the collections grew considerably in size and geographical scope during Henry Balfour’s curatorship (1893–1939). The museum’s Siberian collection is almost entirely made up of objects from a single expedition to the Yenisei valley in 1914–15, led by a recent graduate from the University of Oxford Diploma in Anthropology, Maria Antonina Czaplicka (1884–1921). This article follows the journey of the making of this collection, starting from the context of the newly established diploma, and moving through international networks of museum professionals, into the Illimpei tundra, and back to what is now its institutional home in Oxford. Examining the practices of an early professionally trained anthropologist, the article offers novel insights into the complex entanglement of museum collecting and early twentieth-century anthropological teaching and research.

Time to love the word ‘no’

There are lots of long words in the veterinary vocabulary but sometimes it’s the smallest words that are the hardest to learn, says Fabian Rivers, recent graduate rep on BVA Council.

The Relationship between the Use of Building Performance Simulation Tools by Recent Graduate Architects and the Deficiencies in Architectural Education

This paper examines the actual knowledge regarding Building Performance Simulation Tools (BPSTs) of recent graduate architects in Spain. BPSTs quantify aspects of building performance that are relevant to design, construction, and operation. Recent graduate architects are those who have been awarded a first degree from a university or college and face their first professional experience. This article aims to identify the deficiencies within the current curricula of Spanish universities relating to BPSTs. The authors have surveyed 171 recent graduate architects, and the analysis of the data reveals the deficiencies in university education. Regarding the collected results, the Spanish university syllabi must undergo necessary modifications to encourage the use of simulation as a part of university training courses. The incorporation of energy simulation in such training courses can provide recent graduate architects with tools that would assist them during the design stage. The use of these tools is key in the development of innovative pedagogy-based teaching materials for the courses. In this sense, the present work aims to delve into the usage deficiencies associated with BPSTs and propose ways in which to bridge the gap between higher education and first professional experiences.

What makes a good place to work?

Fabian Rivers, recent graduate rep on BVA Council, hopes that new graduates will contribute to a BVA initiative that is developing a vision for a good veterinary workplace.