The question was asked in an archaeology listserv, I'm just relaying it,
though I've some answers.
> The general question is: What should constitute an introduction to
> our (archaeology) discipline?
>
> Some specific questions:
>
> What should form the content of an intro course that serves both as a
> gateway to the major and as a liberal arts service course?
>
> What should majors and non-majors take away with them?
My own biases (I've plenty) are that the subject should be taught in the
context of the evolving European construction of Indians and culture, it
should cover ARPA and NAGPRA and at least hit on what is the most contentious
issue (pre-contact population estimates, and post-contact population dynamics)
and archaeology's "real life" in justifying various forms of legal oppression.
Basically, to put some teeth into the usual phrase that "the Indian Wars are
not over", and show that up until _very_ recently, archaeology had serious
problems as practiced in the US, and that a very different kind of archaeology
and anthropology was practiced outside of Anglo-America.
If you have pointers to really good cases or essays, please send them to me
and I'll pass them along to the real archaeologist who is thinking about
making real changes in how archaeology is taught at his or her University.
Eric