Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Katherine Parker
Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Katherine Parker gave a recent paper entitled, “AI^2: Artificial Intelligence Applications for Archaeological Instruction,” at the 2026 Society for Historical Archaeology conference. An invited contribution to the organized symposium on Digital Historical Archaeology, the paper outlined different opportunities for preservation professionals to incorporate AI-centered curriculum in undergraduate and graduate education.
Parker’s presentation featured course materials developed in part through UMW’s 2024-2025 AI Learning Excellence Grant. One such assignment pushed students in HISP 207: American Archaeology to explore the connections between popular chatbots like ChatGPT and misinformation in popular pseudoarchaeology media, such as Ancient Aliens and America Unearthed. Another example featured in the presentation highlighted how Parker guided upper-level students in HISP 471: Archaeology Conservation Methods through the ethical considerations, practical capabilities, and prompt engineering for generative AI when working with sensitive archaeological site data for their term projects.
Access to these assignments and the materials developed by other participating UMW faculty from the grant program will be made available through the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC). Read the press release from UMW
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