The SAA Student Paper Award recognizes an outstanding student paper at each year’s meeting. It is a great way to gain valuable writing and speaking experience, and professional recognition for your original research.
We score papers on a number of criteria:
(1) quality of the arguments presented
(2) quality of the data used for support
(3) contribution to broader methodological or theoretical issues in archaeology
(4) contribution to understanding a specific region or topic
(5) quality of the writing and structure
(6) appropriateness of length, number, and kind of graphics for a 15-minute presentation. Although written papers are submitted tothe committee, we evaluate submissions as if they were oralpresentations— an important tidbit for students to keep in mind.
Structure
Good organization and clear structure are key for any paper, but even more so for a verbal presentation. Fifteen minutes might fly by for you, but it can be a long time for an audience member to pay attention. Anything you can do to help explain what you are going to say, what you are saying, and what you have said will be helpful.Your introduction should orient your audience completely— not only to your own research, but also to the broader area and problem. A research paper is not the time to create suspense. Help the audience anticipate what is to come by providing a brief overview of your entire paper. Above all, make sure that you have a clear thesis statement in your introduction. If you are not quite sure what your paper is about, your audience certainly will not be. The body of your paper should be organized around your argument, with sufficient data for support. It can be difficult to decide what is necessary supporting information and what is extra detail, but making those decisions during the writing and editing process will pay off later. Clear structure will help you organize your findings, making it easier to keep the audience with you throughout your presentation. If you have three main lines of evidence, use those numbers to your benefit— “The first line of evidence is... Second, paste composition indicates... Third, temper type also suggests....” This might seem repetitive on the written page, but these verbal signposts can be a great help for the listening audience. When you are ready to conclude your paper, be sure to signal that the end is near. You can literally say, “In conclusion...” or you can be less blatant by pausing and changing your tone of voice a bit. Once your audience knows to listen more carefully, you should recap your work briefly, reminding them what you did and why. Wrap up your conclusions and touch on the implications of your research for the region you work in and the discipline as a whole.
Content
SAA papers are short— just 7 to 8 pages double- spaced. You will need to decide which lines of evidence are most important for your presentation. You might give a brief overview of multiple main points, perhaps referring to another paper that provides more detail.
Another possibility is to concentrate on just one point, presenting it in full, acknowledging the other evidence as showing a similar trend, providing additional insight, or whatever the case may be. Another tip for dealing with length is to keep method and theory sections very brief, unless they are the primary focus of your paper. If your study employs Neutron Activation Analysis of ceramics, for example, there is no need to explain exactly how it works. Instead, give the full name of the technique and a very brief description of the kind of information it provides, then move on to how your results support your larger argument. One thing that you must include is some indication of why your topic matters.
You do not need to spend half of your paper justifying the continued existence of archaeology in a postcolonial world, but you should be able to point out some greater significance. Does your analysis of artifacts from an eighteenth- century privy add to our understanding of foodways in early America? Does tar-build- up on the teeth of dogs from British Columbia help shed light on the relationship between people and domesticated animals? Even a single sentence placing your findings within the broader discipline will help ensure that your paper is of interest to more than the few people with firsthand knowledge of your topic.
Visuals
Well- chosen visuals will engage your audience and help themfollow your arguments more easily. Make sure that each slide is legible and uncluttered, with good contrast between the text and background. Check to ensure that all parts of your slides are sharp and clear and try to use at least 16-point font. A pixellated photo or a map with too many fine lines may be impossible for the audience to read. Be ruthless with your slides. If you find yourself tempted to say “You can’t really see this, but...” —then remove the slide or replace it with something better. Most of all, keep in mind that people need time— as much as a full minute— to make sense of each slide. This is especially true for slides with a lot of data (e.g., graphs and tables). Give the audience time to examine your plots of X- ray fluorescence data or your beautifully rendered geographic information system maps and avoid dense, full- page tables.
Style
Remember that there is a great deal of difference between written and spoken language. Keep your audience in mind as you write. Use short, declarative sentences and avoid jargon. Those beautiful sentences that you have so carefully crafted on paper can be nearly impenetrable when spoken aloud. Build up complicated ideas in small steps. If you make great intuitive leaps, your audience might be left behind. Such brief papers are a real balancing act. You need to include all of the necessary information without overwhelming your audience. Edit carefully, for content and clarity. Run your paper by an advisor or trusted friend before you finalize it; he or she may notice a glaring omission or a rambling digression that you have overlooked.
Submit!
Once you have outlined, organized, and edited to perfection,please consider submitting your paper for the SAA Student Paper Award, or encourage others to do so. Award winnersreceive acknowledgment from the SAA president and more than $1,000 worth of books and other prizes. All student members of SAA are eligible to participate. The deadline for this year’s submissions is January 12, 2011. More information is available on the Student Paper Award page of the SAA website at http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/Awards/StudentPaperAward/tabid/185/Default.aspx
This article orignially appeared on page 8-9 in SAA's Archaeological Record in the Volume 9, No. 5 (2009). For the full text please go to http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/Publications/TheSAAArchaeologicalRecord/tabid/64/Default.aspx and go to the Volume 9, No. 5 issue.