{"id":382,"date":"2016-11-18T19:19:44","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:19:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/?p=382"},"modified":"2020-12-20T15:54:14","modified_gmt":"2020-12-20T15:54:14","slug":"first-year-first-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/first-year-first-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"First year…first semester…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"meghann-l_blog-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hi All! My name is Meghann and I am very excited to be writing my first post for this year\u2019s Graduate Student Blog. As many of my fellow bloggers have already expressed, it is my hope that you will find my stories and experiences of some benefit to you, whether you\u2019re a prospective grad student or possibly already doing your Master\u2019s or PhD here at Memorial University.<\/p>\n

I have just started the first year of my two-year Master\u2019s program in Archaeology. I graduated with a BA with First Class Honours in Anthropology with Subsidiary in History from StFX University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 2015. Following my undergraduate degree, I decided to take a year off of academic studies in order to gain some hands-on archaeological experience. I volunteered wherever I could, and was also hired by Kelman Heritage Consulting, a Cultural Resource Management (CRM) company based in Halifax, where I spent the past two field seasons assisting in archaeological assessments in Debert, Nova Scotia. By deciding to take a year off, I gained invaluable experience digging many shovel test pits, recording pages of notes, assisting in excavations, and sorting, cleaning, and cataloguing many artifacts.<\/p>\n

Although I was fortunate to be able to focus on the sub field of archaeology while pursuing my anthropology degree, I still left StFX with a desire for more. I decided to apply for my Master\u2019s not only because I knew it would enhance my employability in the field of archaeology, but also because I believed this would help fulfill my desire to simply continue studying and learning a subject I love. I applied to the archaeology program here at Memorial University because of my research interests in historical archaeology, material culture studies, and the history of northeastern North American and the North Atlantic world in general. I knew the archaeology program here at Memorial had an impressive faculty, strong research opportunities for students, and most importantly, that it would be well suited to me and my research interests.<\/p>\n

For my Master\u2019s thesis, I am researching 17th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup> century landscape archaeology in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, France. Saint-Pierre et Miquelon is a small French territory just 22 km off of the southern coast of Newfoundland. My research will be the first step within my supervisor, Dr. Catherine Losier\u2019s larger, multi-year archaeology project which aims to document the colonial context of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon and its role within the French colonial world. Together, we will be investigating the archipelago\u2019s maritime connections with other colonial territories like Newfoundland, as well as its connections to Europe. My research specifically aims to investigate the lives of everyday people living on the archipelago throughout the 17th<\/sup> and 18th<\/sup> centuries including not only the territory\u2019s French occupancy but also the periods within this frame of time that the islands were under British occupation.<\/p>\n

To achieve these goals, my research project will consist of three parts: archival research, fieldwork, and lab work. This past August I was fortunate enough to travel to Saint-Pierre et Miquelon to assist in the project\u2019s first portion of fieldwork, a pedestrian survey. During my week-long trip we successfully identified and mapped a site with great archaeological potential ideally located at the mouth of the Saint-Pierre Harbour. My only complaint is that my trip was too short! Alas, I had to return to my new home (at the Battery Facility<\/a>! The picture above is a view from my building) in St John\u2019s in order to attend graduate student orientation and my first week of classes here at Memorial. I absolutely cannot wait to return to Saint-Pierre et Miquelon next summer and I am excited to say that the Department of Archaeology\u2019s annual Field School will be taking place over there this year as well!<\/p>\n

Before I can make my grand return to \u201cNorth America\u2019s often forgotten French enclave\u201d however, I must first successfully get through my coursework. For my program, we have to take four courses over the Fall and Winter semesters. This term, I am enrolled in a \u201cTheory and Methods\u201d course, and another called \u201cSpace, Place, and Landscape.\u201d In addition to my \u201carky\u201d seminar-based courses, I have decided to overload this semester by also taking a language course called \u201cReading in French.\u201d I haven\u2019t taken French since my high-school days so I thought this class would be a good idea and serve as a sort of refresher to the very little French that I already know. It is my hope that \u201cReading in French\u201d will help me to better understand and translate French sources (such as historical documents) for my thesis and if possible to also help me somewhat overcome the language barrier I will be experiencing during my fieldwork in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon next summer.<\/p>\n

I have to say, all of my courses are going well so far. I have really appreciated the chance to get to know my classmates, be it my awesome cohort or the other graduate students enrolled in \u201cReading in French\u201d who come from a whole variety of really cool programs offered here at Memorial. Having the opportunity to speak with so many people about their research interests, experiences, and backgrounds has been truly incredible and I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s November already! The first semester of my Master\u2019s degree is really flying by!<\/p>\n

I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said, \u201cIsn\u2019t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back everything is different\u2026\u201d If I take a look back to even the beginning of this semester, for example, I start to realize how much has changed. I have begun new research, at a new school in a new city, and a new province. I have travelled to other new places as well, had many new experiences along the way, and met a lot of really great new people too. I have to say, my graduate student experience so far has been pretty great and I have already learned so much.<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading,<\/p>\n

~Meghann<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Hi All! My name is Meghann and I am very excited to be writing my first post for this year\u2019s Graduate Student Blog. As many of my fellow bloggers have already expressed, it is my hope that you will find my stories and experiences of some benefit to you, whether you\u2019re a prospective grad student … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-meghann-livingston","4":"post-382","6":"format-standard","7":"category-student-blog"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1670,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/1670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.mun.ca\/studentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}