Graduate Certificate Program

​The Certificate in Cultural Resource Management is designed to prepare professionals for careers in the growing field of cultural resource management.  

Practitioners in this multifaceted field assist private and government entities in identifying cultural resources such as archaeological and historical sites, culturally or historically significant structures, and culturally significant locations or resources, assessing such sites and resources, and developing plans for their preservation, curation, and ethical use. 

Program Goals:

Students in the CRM program will learn how to:

  • describe, explain, and comply with federal laws, statutes, regulations, and ethical principles associated with cultural resource management
  • describe and explain the key components of material and non-material culture situated within a pre-historic or historical period
  • practice the skills appropriate for discovering, preserving, curating, interpreting, and/or making available to various publics the material culture developed by the people within a pre-historic or historical period
  • communicate effectively with appropriate lay and professional people

Career Options

The program will prepare professionals who can pursue careers either as independent contractors or through employment in government and private non-profit agencies dedicated to the preservation and understanding of cultural heritage.​​

Over the last forty years the field of Cultural Resource Management has exploded largely due to federal legislation that requires each state to manage the cultural resources within its boundaries and to make assessments about the potential of any project using federal money or permits to negatively impact significant cultural sites.  

The 2013 Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the employment of anthropologists and archaeologists working in this field is expected to expand 21% between 2010 and 2020. Likewise, during the same period historians are expected to enjoy an 18% increase and museum curators a 16% increase in the number of available jobs. 

A current trend in the National Park Service—one of the largest employers of people in this line of work nationally—is to combine these three occupations under the Cultural Resource Manager job title as a method to foster a dynamic, broadly trained work force.

Certificate Program Requirements

The Cultural Resource Management program is built upon an interdisciplinary foundation with core work in History, Anthropology/Archaeology and Museum Studies.​

Required Courses (15 hours)

ANT 645 Cultural Resource Management in Archaeology 3(3-0)
ANT 626 Theory and Research in Archaeology 3(3-0)
HST 580 Public History 3(3-0)
MST 610 International Cultural Laws and Ethics 3(3-0)
MST 620 Museum Management 3(3-0)

Additional Requirements I (3-6 hours)

Select one of the following Internship/Fieldwork capstone experiences for at least 3 hours’ credit:
ANT 500 Field School in Archaeology 3-6(Spec)
HST 595 Internship in Public History 1-6(Spec)
MST 598 Museum Internship 1-6(Spec)

Additional Requirements II

Comprehensive examination on laws and ethics relevant to cultural resource management.  The examination will be scheduled during the final semester of the student’s program and will be evaluated by a committee of at least two examiners.

Total: 18-21 semester hours