Project Overview
Students collaborating in the HEARTH experience will have the opportunity to study the deep historical relationships between people, technology, and the environment through the application of experiential and experimental archaeology. Through guided research projects and public facing workshops, students will help generate knowledge about the complex interfaces between people and technology. Simultaneously, students will gain practical skills that can be directly applied in the workplace and in graduate school. These skill sets include independent research and problem solving, oral and written communication, public relations, and confidence. More specifically, student researchers will participate in one or more initiatives central to HEARTH’s mission. Potential topics include historic preservation carpentry, blacksmithing, stone age technology, bushcraft, open hearth cooking, wood-fire oven baking, traditional food processing/production, fiber arts and craft school programming and outreach.
"At HEARTH we are committed to public engagement. The HEARTH experience goes beyond producing knowledge for knowledge's sake. Students learn to make the past relevant for a myriad of publics using hands-on activities and workshops where the students learn from experts, hone their skills, and then they become instructors. The HEARTH experience prepares students to be the story-tellers and problem solvers of tomorrow."
Associate Professor, Archaeology
Faculty Bio
Dr. Tim Messner, Associate Professor (Archaeology), has long been interested in the intersection of people, technology and the environment. After receiving a PhD from Temple University, he conducted post-doctoral research at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in the Human Ecology Lab. Today, he approaches these topics using Experimental Archaeology.
"By immersing oneself in the traditional trades and technologies, we can gain a greater understanding of past peoples and their relationship with the environment. My goal is to highlight the relevance of the past in creating a more sustainable tomorrow. I have completed several projects while at Potsdam, including making a dugout canoe using only fire and stone tools, built a cob bread oven, timber framed a cabin using mainly antique tools, enjoy green woodcarving, blacksmithing, sourdough bread baking, maintain a sizable blueberry patch, produce hard cider using forged apples, and operate a micro-sugarbush. Each of these activities engages the past and informs the future at HEARTH." ~ Tim Messner
Students
- Matthew Johnson (Junior, Archaeological Studies)
- Rebecca Gomez (Junior, Anthropology)
- Shannon Gould (Freshman, Archaeological Studies)
- Rebecca Gatto (Freshman, Music Education)
Questions?
Students interested in participating in this project can contact Dr. Tim Messner at messnetc@potsdam.edu or (315) 267- 2039.