Education beyond Preservation: An Archaeological Camp for Girls in Armenia

Since the early 2000s, public archaeology has begun to ask how archaeological education can be unfettered from preservation and stewardship, instead responding to wider educational or social needs among the publics it is meant to serve. This new direction in archaeological education has yet to influence informal education programs offered in the context of researchbased fieldwork, particularly in southwest Asia. In 2017 and 2018, the Aragats Foundation, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the American-Armenian research initiative known as Project ArAGATS, organized an archaeological camp for girls in the Republic of Armenia. This program was designed in response to social-justice concerns surrounding gender inequality in Armenia and disparities in opportunities between rich and poor, as well as urban and rural children. The camp harnessed the full research capacities of Project ArAGATS to provide girls with a multidimensional, hands-on learning experience that emphasized science and technology over heritage preservation.