Once they have identified institutions that appear to meet their needs, students should write to specific faculty members whose research most closely matches their own interests, inquiring about current and future research and educational opportunities. Contacting faculty directly is the single most important step students can take as they develop plans for graduate studies. Students should also discuss their choices with faculty advisers, instructors, and students who are currently in graduate school. Students should find a program where they can obtain the skills necessary to do historical archaeology, including training in field and laboratory methods and in conducting research successfully. Learning to write and talk about archaeology is an integral part of a student s education, as is obtaining a solid theoretical foundation.
Languages are also often an important part of a student s training.
Each student interested in pursuing historical archaeology as a career should begin obtaining these skills as an undergraduate and then continue to refine them throughout his or her training. The guide is updated yearly and includes listings for institutions from around the world. This year forty-nine institutions are listed in the guide. Attempts will be made to verify the accuracy of the latter entries before this version of the guide is posted on the SHA Web. Additional or new information on an institution will be posted throughout the coming year on the Web version of the guide.