If you’re a student engaged in area studies, the financial pressure may be even more daunting, if not insurmountable. Especially if you’re focusing on Russia.

Any Russian-related study program includes language training beyond what the University offers. It will likely also involve overseas travel for conferences and field research, something that can put a sizable dent anyone’s pocketbook, let alone a full-time student without the benefit of a salary.

Frank Stronach, Chairman of Magna International, Inc. The Magna Fund, endowed at $90,000.00 annually for five years will support students and faculty engaged in Russian-related studies at Carleton University.

For this reason, academic units like the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS) rely heavily on outside funding to support the research activities of their students and faculty.

Until recently, EURUS received significant funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) for several Russian-related projects. These were multi-million dollar projects which provided research jobs for students and funding to organize conferences and build collaborative relationships with external organizations.

But two years ago, CIDA withdrew their funds for Russian-related studies. Consequently, the Institute was facing a financial crisis which threatened the academic and financial welfare of its students and faculty. With no outside funding, the Institute could offer little more than a roster of Russian-related courses and access to academic supervision. While EURUS is known for delivering courses of the highest quality, students and faculty needed more just a graduate curriculum to really engage in Russian-related studies.

The time had come to move beyond relying solely on government support. With the assistance of the Russian Embassy, an appeal was sent out to companies who were commercially engaged with Russia. And, of the twelve companies initially contacted, the first to respond was Frank Stronach of Magna International, Inc., a manufacturer of automobile spare parts with a large factory just outside of St. Petersburg.

Stronach met with Political Science professor and former Institute Director Piotr Dutkiewicz to talk about possibilities, and the result was the establishment of the Magna Fund: $90,000.00 annually for five years – almost half a million dollars in total – to support students and faculty engaged in Russian-related studies at Carleton University.

While particularly relevant to students and faculty in EURUS, the fund is designed in such a way that any student or faculty member pursuing Russian-related studies or research may apply for funding, including those from Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, History and the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

The fund will take the form of bursaries to support senior undergraduate students and graduate students who need to travel to Russia for language training or to conduct field research, and grants to support faculty in these units who travel to Russia or elsewhere for to attend conferences or conduct research related to Russian-area studies.

Funds will also be provided to establish a course in business in Russia, or another course on topic related to Russian-related studies, delivered jointly by the Institute and the Department of Political Science, and to support travel for Russian scholars and senior officials to deliver seminars and public lectures in Canada.

It may still be a struggle for a student of Russian-related studies to pay all the bills. But, thanks to Frank Stronach and Magna International, it’s no longer impossible.

The thought of discovering a human skull might elicit horror, fear or disgust. But for Elizabeth Upton it was a thrill. 

Of course, context is everything. Upton and two other FASS students spent their summer exhuming ancient remains at an archaeological dig in Spain.

Elizabeth Upton and Tabitha Williams, both fourth year anthropology students and Brittany Mann, a third-year anthropology student, all chose to focus their efforts on the ancient Roman city, Menorca’s necropolis.  The site is thought to date to 100 BC – 500 AD.

They joined an international team of students and archeologists at the on-going field school. The site comprised digs focusing on either the necropolis or city, or a combination of both. 

Students participating in the dig also selected their area of focus – either on human remains or materials and buildings.

Upton, Williams and Mann opted to dig up the dead.

“I loved the excavation of the tombs and the finer lab work which preceded it,” said Upton. “The most challenging was definitely the manual labour required to dig up the surface layer.”

Arduous physical labour was not the only challenge the students encountered. Affixing dates to and determining the origins of the skulls and bones they unearthed proved difficult due to the centuries-old work of thieves.

“The looting means that there are almost no grave goods, only a few beads and earrings, which make dating the site and the group of people living there very difficult,” said Williams.

Nevertheless, the students were able to see examples of the evolution of funerary practices. These included the discovery of multiple remains found in one grave, an indication that final resting places weren’t so final.

“It looked like when remains were first buried, they were laid out in fetal position or on their backs, however when a sufficient amount of time had passed, the remains were pushed to the sides of the grave, and new ones were placed in,” said Williams. 

The students made discoveries about themselves too.

“It was a major push in helping me make decisions about my future career goals,” said Upton, who plans to pursue museum studies.

Participating in a dig is an experience she recommends to any student currently casting around for ideas to fill their future summers.

The clamour of the 5:30 a.m. alarm was the worst part of Jessica Haskell’s day. Rising before dawn, irritation would slowly give way to anticipation of what the day’s labour might uncover.

Haskell, a fourth-year anthropology major, was one of a team of 25 students who spent a month this summer excavating Argilos, a Greek colony. Located along the Northern Aegean, the site is segmented into three excavations – an acropolis, a road and a slope dotted by the ruins of houses.

“Our trench and area were attempting to find the Classical occupation level and understand the architecture at the highest altitude of the site,” said Haskell.

Bronze button found in Argilos, Greece 2010

On the acropolis, Haskall’s trench eventually gave way to reveal the remains of a road and walls.

“I enjoyed the anticipation that builds progressively from the beginning of the excavation, when the ground is initially covered in weeds and loose topsoil, to the uncovering of ancient material that you know hasn’t been touched or disturbed in two thousand years,” said Haskell.

It was this same enthusiasm that would transform the drudgery of hacking through sun-hardened layers of soil and tangled tree roots into an adventure into the past.

The summer yielded the thrill of discovering bronze coins, iron and bronze nails, sling bullets, a button and a decorated vase almost completely intact.

Earlier excavations had uncovered an olive press.

The vase was both a thrill and a loss for Haskall. Although she held the pieces, she might never see the whole.  The shards she discovred could be carted off to the museum for reassembly and restoration to its former glory.

Digging holes in the dirt is not how most envision spending a summer holiday. But, for four Carleton students, sifting through Ontario’s past was a dream come true.

Kelly Berckmans, an anthropology major, Patrick MacIntyre, BAHons/10, Jonathan Ouellet, a Greek and Roman Studies major, and Adam Fraser, a student of in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, participated in a seven week archaeological field school located just outside Ottawa.

Marianne Goodfellow, College of the Humanities, helped the budding archaeologists in their quest to participate on a local dig.  The pre-contract Aboriginal site is located in Casselman.

Paul Thibaudeau, professional archaeologist, Intermesh Enterprises and a cross-appointed adjunct research professor of Sociology and Anthropology and the School of Industrial Design, led the team. Slated for residential development, an archaeological evaluation of the property had to be conducted to fulfill the requirements of the Ontario Heritage Act.  

The property “is along the South Nation River which is a well-known trade route for Aboriginal peoples, and has likely been used for thousands of years,” said Thibaudeau.  The discovery of pre-contact artifacts was an exciting surprise for the crew.

As proof, the earth offered up glimmering clear and milky white quartz tools.  MacIntyre also found 20th century farm equipment buried in the strata.

For MacIntyre, the discovery of the differences between Canadian and international archaeological processes proved just as fascinating as unearthing of the detritus of previous cultures.�

Vast and mostly uninhabited much of Canada’s land has not been “artificially disturbed.”  To find prospective sites, foot-deep holes are dug at regular distances to find deposit-rich land. “Discovering a site is sometimes just luck,” MacIntyre said.

The dig began with test-pitting in a grid format to determine where the team would be most likely to hit the archaeological motherlode.

“The team lines up five metres apart from each other, and a hole is dug at each five metre point,” Fraser explained. “We also lined up and walked through a plowed field to look for disruptions in the land.”

Any area boosting significant deposits was then roped off for more exhaustive investigation through excavations of one metre squares following the same interval pattern.  As of result of the students’ work, two archaeological sites were uncovered on the property. They are believed to date to back 4,500 to 2,000 years ago.
Work continues at the site through this Fall to completely excavate the two sites so that the land can be cleared for development next spring.

One precious discovery was made above ground. Berckmans’ realized that the vision her six-year old self conjured as a future archaeologist was confirmed into a passion.  “It is exactly what I want to do for a profession. Once I am done my BA, I am planning on going on to complete a Masters in archaeology.”