Here is a video I made about the project for students. It is probably the best way to learn about the program.
I made it in Feb so it is somewhat outdated but still helpful
March 4th, 2021 update with new Covid protocols detailed.
Dear applicants,
You are receiving this email because you submitted a preliminary application for the Clear Lake Archaeology Project (CLAP). We are thrilled with the response from around the country and cannot wait for July.
For you early applicants, I have already sent out a preliminary welcome email and promised a more extensive welcome packet. That is still in the works and will come after one more serious step that I am asking everyone to undertake. Below is a bit of a repeat of some material for you but much is new.
There have been major changes to the program since we last spoke and you will all need to read this very carefully and take the necessary action of submitting another student information form.
The first of many Covid protocols are being decided upon by Foothill College and these may affect your ability to attend. We are working to get approval from Foothill College and the County of Santa Clara regarding these protocols. Most colleges in California are not running face to face classes this year, and our summer field classes will be some of the first our college runs.
Covid rules: Big Stuff
The details are being worked out, but I can already tell you that these first major programmatic decisions made by the administration, which I will list below, may affect your decisions going forward. If you still want to come to the field program then fill out the attached detailed student information sheet (see attached).
Be aware that these rules are all subject to change at a moment’s notice. I expected these sorts of restrictions and am sure that you were expecting them too. If you are not from California please be aware that different states have different protocols for this stuff, but we are following California.
1. Everyone will need to show evidence of a successful Covid test result within 72 hours of July 6. If you are flying the expectation is that you are doing this to get on a plane. You won't need to be vaccinated but we are assuming many will be at that point.
2. Transportation will not be provided by the program. Under no circumstance will the college or its employees (that’s me) be able to drive or hire someone else to drive you around. We urge you to figure out transport before getting to the project.
If you cannot drive to and from the campground and you cannot arrange ride shares with someone else on the project or pay someone to drive you around then you will not be mobile and thus unable to get to the site. Ride shares among students or private coaches may be arranged at your discretion.
Vehicles will be charged $8 per day at the campground and you will pay this directly to the park attendant upon entry.
If you are flying by plane to California, we are not picking you up at the airport. You could also rent a car, but there are age restrictions and the cost would be obviously more. You could arrange transport to the State Park, but then you would need to have some way to ride share with others. The project is not organizing anything to do with transport. For those of you traveling from out of state this could be a major issue. I can give advice regarding this but cannot arrange anything for you.
3. As of today, if you are flying to California, you should self-quarantine for 10 days after arrival and before attending the field program. You will need to be able to document this. See California regulations for further information. These restrictions may change, but for now it is in place. Right now the website states the following: “Californians should remain local (not traveling more than 120 miles from their home or other place of residence) and avoid non-essential travel. Travelers from other states or countries entering into California for tourism and recreation are strongly discouraged. See CDPH’s Travel Advisory for more details.”
4. If you are under 18 you will be unable to participate in the program.
5. Parents will not be able to bring young children to be a part of the program.
6. You will be required to enroll in 8-12 units of course work.
These restrictions will likely curtail our applicant pool and that is unfortunate because under normal circumstances we would be much more welcoming. If you cannot attend the program it would be great if you could let us know, if you don’t respond at all, we will assume you are not able to meet these requirements. Please know that you will be top of the list for future programs here in California, and also in Ireland and Hawaii where we have programs in normal years.
Next step
If you still intend to come, please confirm your application by filling out the attached student information form and sending it back. This will show the college administration that our students are committed to the idea of taking part in a safe environment.
Currently there are over 60 people in the applicant pool, we expect that more than half will be unable to attend. Because we do not want to take more than 30 students, we will try to make sure everyone who has applied gets a fair shot at coming. I have already contacted the first 25 applicant references, and they are all very glowing.
Thank you very much for your patience. We are working very hard to make this happen and it will be an amazing time when we all get out here!
Everything else
Below is an updated bit of information that I sent to the first applicants that includes new sections and updates.
Thank you for applying to the 2021 field program!
We are pleased to offer you a warm introduction to the Clear Lake Archaeology Project, which is beginning it’s first of many field seasons in July. Consider this your preliminary contact from me regarding the program pending your information sheet submission and reaching out to your references.
As you know this is a Foothill Anthropology program in which you will be taking anthropology classes as we carry out our research and education project. Clear Lake is a wonderful place full of amazing people and places, and we are excited to be sharing it with you. By ‘we’ I mean not just me, but Doug Prather from Mendocino and Woodland Community Colleges, Dr. John Parker from UCLA, Ana Gonzalez who also teaches at Foothill College, and Mo Carpenter who has led many student field programs around the world, among other scholars along for the ride. We are all equally involved in the process leading up to our trip and also when we are on the ground up here in northern California.
There are a number of things you should prepare to do in the coming months. This email serves as your first official project news flash, with many more to come. Parts of this email will be redundant to those of you who have reached out to us on email or who have visited our project website; but please read it carefully all the same. We are also adding a very detailed Participant Information tab on the website and it will be the go to place for information regarding the program and archaeology project.
Covid (see above now)
We are closely monitoring the current COVID-19 pandemic in advance of the 2021 program.
It goes without saying that the pandemic may cause problems for the summer. However, at this moment we are moving forward with plans to have the program. While we are cautiously optimistic for a field season in 2021, we will continue to monitor the issues around travel restrictions and the various jurisdictional requirements as these develop through the Winter and into early Spring 2021. We also anticipate applying COVID-19 safeguards to our operation both in the field and where we reside to protect ourselves as well as the community we are working with.
Date of Arrival/Campground/Lodging/Food
You should arrive to the Clear Lake State Park campground on July 6th in time to set up your camp. We have an entire section of the campground reserved. Beginning the evening of July 6th food is provided by caterers for 10 days (July 6 dinner – July 16 lunch), then there is a 3 day break and food will be served for 10 more days (July 19 dinner to July 29 breakfast). We have to check out of the campground on July 16 and July 29 by noon. If you decide that the campground is not for you, then you are free to make alternate lodging arrangements. We expect that some individuals who are enrolling might want to seek other accommodations.
Program Fees and Credits
You will be sending your program fees ($800) directly to Foothill College. I will send you an address soon. This will be due by the end of May, early June. Students will also enroll in course units in June through Foothill College online portal. You must enroll in order for us to establish liability protection.
Financial Aid
The director of financial aid at Foothill College, Kevin Harral, is preparing for applications for summer quarter aid that need to be processed quickly. You will need to make the department aware by stating on the top of the application that this is for the Summer California program. These are the 'unusual circumstances' that are talked about on the Financial Aid web page. http://www.foothill.edu/aid/
Scholarships
We intend to be offering up to $10,000 in scholarship money combined to all students coming on our Anthropology programs. This is an unheard of fantastic amount. The applications will be reviewed by an independent panel of 2 anonymous professors here at Foothill. I will send out the information when it becomes available. This is the website for last year, it is outdated but will be more or less the same https://foothill.edu/anthropology/field/scholarships.html.
Project Resources Online
We have many online resources up and running, including our website. In addition, our student staff members with lots of experience read the online posts on Facebook regularly in case student questions come up. You will see that there are threads of prior conversations that you might find very helpful. Our senior staff members in charge of student well-being will be reaching out to you. They are graduate students who have been on our archaeology projects for years and started out as students.
Canvas Courses
The college courses will begin a week early online in the Canvas online education system. We will set up learning modules one week prior to July 6, and then for 3 or 4 weeks following July 29. Students will be asked to take part in the online portion of the course work as part of their final grades.
Airline Travel: Purchasing Tickets
Do not purchase airline tickets yet for the summer. Covid makes everything difficult. Our suggestion is to hold off on purchasing tickets because we simply cannot know what the pandemic landscape will look like at that time. We are hopeful but we hope numbers keep dropping and Lake County moves to an Orange Tier. .
Health Insurance
We are requiring that you have health insurance. You will have to document that you are covered if you are coming to the program. You will need to provide documentation of insurance at a later date.
Being Prepared Academically - What should I read?
Well at this point we have some PDFs we will post up on the website under the Library tab for you to read that will situate you in time and space.
Lakeport and Kelseyville and Finley
There are several towns near to the state park and around the lake. It is important to understand the community where you do fieldwork. We have lived up here for much of our lives and are happy to help you out with info, but for me personally much of the magic of doing fieldwork in a new place is taking the time to explore a culture and its people.
To Sum Up
Archaeological field projects are an amazing mix of energetic people with similar interests and different backgrounds. It always makes for an incredible experience. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to send us an email or give us a call. We are excited to meet you and stay in touch as you make your plans. For me personally, I am excited to return to California to begin our research project! The students who I know already are all great people while the archaeology and community service work should be special. I am sure this will be an excellent season.
There will certainly be more upcoming emails in the near future. For now, send back the Information Sheet, and then I will quickly contact your reference (if I have done this already then you are good to go). Stay in touch! If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to ask.
Best,
Sam Connell
Hey everyone,
We are now three months away from the beginning of the project. This is going to be exciting because it is all new here in Lake County. Last week John Parker (one of our directors) was on the local radio explaining the project to the whole area. We think there will be lots of interest. The amount of people who have done a preliminary application is over 130, and the number of more detailed information sheets we have is close to 40. So we are about to open up the waiting list. Also, if you are a potential staff member, you still need to make sure you are on our radar by submitting the info sheet.
The potential issues behind the '4th wave' of Covid and these dangerous variants may send us into a spiral that will be problematic. But for now we are still working under the assumption that our summer plans are happening. The rules laid out by my college will be strict. We will be doing things like daily check-ins and insisting on proper spacing.
It is my hope that everyone can be vaccinated but we haven't heard anything from the college about making that a requirement. All project directors have been vaccinated, and we hope that the rest of you will be soon as well.
Your payments are in limbo because I want to wait a bit longer until we know for sure this is happening. Let's wait until 2 months out to start processing payments.
Scholarship money is still expected but no word has come forth from the college.
So basically we are proceeding as planned with everyone hoping that we can bust out of this pandemic hypnosis and have an excellent summer.
Stay good,
Sam Connell
Hello everyone,
I hope this email finds you well. We have the final go ahead from Foothill College to do our field school this summer and you are now officially accepted! Welcome. Yesterday I made it up to campus and took the ground-penetrating radar and lots of equipment out of the lab. I now have shovels and trowels in my basement -- that means we are getting seriously close to July!
This email includes your official acceptance letter and two waivers you have to sign and send back to me as an attachment (a photo of them signed is fine if needed). The official letter says payment is due by May 15th to Foothill College (see address included). This is short notice I know, but we have lots of demand and we need to make sure you are coming. Read the letter for more info.
Course enrollment will take place in June. If you are not in Foothill you automatically join the college when you enroll. I urge you to re-read those earlier blasts and I have them on the website as well.
All the best,
Hey everyone,
We are now actively taking people off of the waitlist and adding them to the project. Welcome newbies! The Facebook page is active with people trying to figure out transportation. You may have missed some info emails so I am putting it all together here from everyone.
Adam asked me about the 'what to bring' page on the website. Must you bring everything on that list? Well not really- it likely won't rain. And if you are coming on a plane, then maybe some of this can be purchased at the local Walmarts. But you will be camping! We will have lunch and dinner prepped with some breakfast stuff ready to use -- but you can be prepping stuff at any time with camping stoves etc. If you are a camper - bring your stuff!
There are several emails that you may have not received, so I am making sure that everyone has this information...
1) Quick update from Foothill College on payment of Program Fees...
Comes from the Dean of Enrollment...
We accept checks, money orders, and cashier checks. We aren't on the campus at the same time each week so drop off would be difficult.
Respectfully,
Anthony Cervantes
Dean of Enrollment Services
Foothill College
2) scholarships!!!!
We have only one applicant so far - this is free money!!!!!
Hello students!
I have great news. The scholarship money has been approved and we are now opening up the application process. We have over $10,000 in funding available.
What you need to do is fill out the attached form by June 1st and send it directly to my college email address connellsamuel@foothill.edu (or I can forward it along).
Please consider doing this application if you are in need of funds.
Best,
Sam Connell
Hey Clear Lake Archaeology Project (CLAP isn't that fun?),
Two things for this blast
1) Wednesday night June 9th 6pm -- Zoom Orientation Meeting for Everyone
https://fhda-edu.zoom.us/j/99533357195?pwd=aGhiUldGdnYyYVVSVjNLV0FVelVrQT09
2) You can now apply for summer classes - the schedule is open. Follow the steps online. You have to enroll in the college and then choose the classes. It is a pain, but that is reality.
https://foothill.edu/reg/registration/
Most, if not all, of you will be taking the full 12 units of coursework for the summer. Your canvas classes will open up 1 week before the field program begins (on 6/28 one month from now) and you'll have preliminary pre-field modules to work through. Then we have our field project and all that it entails.
And lastly, three weeks of Canvas classwork afterwards with the final projects due 8/19.
The classes you are taking are
1. ANTH 12: Applied Anthropology (4 units)
2. ANTH 17: Archaeology Laboratory (2 units)
3. ANTH 51: Archaeology Survey (2 units)
4. ANTH 52: Archaeological Field Methods (4 units)
5. ANTH 70-73: Independent Study (1-4 units) (optional)
These are all overlapping classes that intermesh with each other. Here is the syllabus that I am working on for the summer (see attached). If you so desire, we can add Independent Study courses and switch something out if needed. But otherwise these are a great suite of courses that help your CV.
PS.... Get those scholarship applications in!!!!