Session: #1128

Round table (without formal abstracts, only list of confirmed discussants / session co-organisers to be provided)

The skills we need as archaeologists have always been varied and the skillset seems to be constantly evolving. From digging to data, scientific techniques to storytelling, project management to professional ethics, how can we help archaeologists, their teachers and their employers keep knowledge and skills up to date when skills needs are expanding faster than ever before and the potential of new techniques and technology keeps increasing what is possible? This session will explore how universities, training providers, employers and professional organisations are rising to the skills challenges of advancing technology and techniques, AI and big data, widening access and diversity and the delivery of value to society amongst many other things. Are teaching and training methodologies innovating or struggling to keep up? How can they harness new technologies themselves? In a world that is rapidly changing and a sector that is often under-resourced, how are we bridging the gaps? This session, jointly organized by the Early Career Archaeologists (ECA) Community of the EAA, will also address questions early-career archaeologists may have regarding career paths, both inside and beyond academia. It will also touch upon issues of 'professionalisation' and what it means to be a professional archaeologist in the 2020s.

Teaching, Skills, Training, Innovation

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Kate Geary (United Kingdom) ¹

Raimund Karl (Austria) ²
Nicola Scheyhing (Germany) ^3,4
Bianca Preda (Finland) ⁵
Jesper de Raad (Netherlands) ⁶