Introduction to Archaeology

I enjoyed this class, if you were not attentive during lectures it would be difficult to understand concepts, but it never hindered my exam grades too badly. The discussion sections were amazing, we looked at bones and bits of pottery it was super exciting.

Prof. Fitzsimmons is awesome! The class is overall chill. Three 3 page papers, a mid-term, and an exam. The exams are a bit stressful, but he grades easy on essays. He is very passionate about the course material and we get to use atlatls.

Fitzsimmons was a great lecturer and very engaging. All the information in exams is given during lecture, so you should try to attend every class you can. The exams are very straightforward, consisting of multiple choice and a blue book essay.

I had an amazing time taking this class with Professor Fitzsimmons. He is very enthusiastic about the material and goes out of his way to make sure the class is engaged. Tests are fair but a lot of material. There is quite a bit of reading, but you can get away just fine without doing most of it since it is covered in lecture.

I really enjoyed this class. Fitzsimmons is so accommodating and helps students better understand the material in any way he can. He even had a study session for the final with students who struggled on the midterm exam. A decent amount of reading, but it is not difficult text.

I loved this course so much. Professor Fitzsimmons clearly knows a lot about the topic and loves to talk about it. He doesn't grade harshly at all and the exams aren't hard if you study the review guides. There is A LOT of reading but you can get by without doing it and still get a good grade.

Professor Fitzsimmons is a very engaging lecturer, the most fun part about this class are the labs. Exams are made up of half multiple choice and half essay, if you study the review guide he hands out they're not too bad. I would definitely take another one of his classes.

The lectures are a bit all over the place, but the prof is super enthusiastic. There is so much reading but its not necessary to do to understand the class. I don't do much work for it at all. The midterm wasn't too bad. It was multiple choice and an essay, and he graded the essay pretty easily and dropped multiple choice questions that everyone did bad on.

This course is a great exploration of archeology. The lectures are moderately difficult to follow and unorganized but the professor is very passionate about the topic. There is lots of reading but no other homework except for two essays and two exams. The exams are actually pretty difficult but the essays are low stakes as they are not a huge part of your grade. The lab sections are quite fun, one Friday we got to throw spears.

This course is a great exploration of archeology. The lectures are moderately difficult to follow and unorganized but the professor is very passionate about the topic. There is lots of reading but no other homework except for two essays and two exams. The exams are actually pretty difficult but the essays are low stakes as they are n …Read more

Professor Fitzsimmons is a very informational lecturer. He presents the topics in a cohesive way. The class was pretty relaxed and at times could be a little boring but overall the material did peak my interest. I especially enjoyed the evolution of hominins that is the focus for the first half of the class.

Professor Fitzsimmons is super enthusiastic! The course is very note and reading heavy to succeed on the exams which can be quite tough. The lab section was always super interesting and fun. The essays are very manageable.

Professor Fitzsimmons is a nice guy and cleary loves to teach about archaeology. The discussion sections are basically labs where you can throw spears, look at fossils, etc. The exams are difficult and there are three papers.

Prof. Fitzsimmons is amazing. He's a nerdy guy and cracks himself up which always cracks me up. His lectures are thoughtfully planned out and it's clear he both knows bucketloads about archaeology and also loves teaching it. The class is super accommodating and feels like even if you don't know a lot about archaeology you can learn a lot. Lab sections are super fun, maybe the biggest draw to the class but they have been cancelled more than I would have hoped. Just goes to show how fun they are though...

Prof. Fitzsimmons is amazing. He's a nerdy guy and cracks himself up which always cracks me up. His lectures are thoughtfully planned out and it's clear he both knows bucketloads about archaeology and also loves teaching it. The class is super accommodating and feels like even if you don't know a lot about archaeology you can learn a …Read more

If you have any interest in archaeology at all, I would highly recommend this class. Prof. Fitzsimmons is very engaging, and he brings a lot of energy and excitement to the course both through trying to keep lectures interactive and several hands-on labs throughout the semester. There are a few papers and a mid-term and final exam, but as long as you follow along in the class they aren't that difficult.

If you have any interest in archaeology at all, I would highly recommend this class. Prof. Fitzsimmons is very engaging, and he brings a lot of energy and excitement to the course both through trying to keep lectures interactive and several hands-on labs throughout the semester. There are a few papers and a mid-term and final exam, b …Read more

This class is entirely a lecture structure minus the discussion section which works out because Fitzsimmons is a really good lecturer. His passion is contagious and he consistently makes class lighthearted and interactive by playing music from the culture of the time or asking questions about our personal experiences with different sites. The essays and exams are fairly easily graded and it's not hard to do well in the class as long as you take notes in lectures and understand the general concepts of the readings.

This class is entirely a lecture structure minus the discussion section which works out because Fitzsimmons is a really good lecturer. His passion is contagious and he consistently makes class lighthearted and interactive by playing music from the culture of the time or asking questions about our personal experiences with different s …Read more

Professor Fitzsimmons clearly loves this topic, he is always extremely enthusiastic and excited while teaching. It is a large class, so the lecture can sometimes be a little boring, but the discussion sections are the opposite. These often have fun activities, or are more engaging because the student to teacher ratio is so much lower. As for assignments, there are readings every week, but you can easily get by just skimming them right before the discussion section. There are three papers, which seem to be graded pretty lightly. And there is a midterm and a final which are half multiple choice and half timed essay. He gives review sheets before the exams, so if you review the terms they aren't too bad. Anyways I would definitely take another one of his classes.

Professor Fitzsimmons clearly loves this topic, he is always extremely enthusiastic and excited while teaching. It is a large class, so the lecture can sometimes be a little boring, but the discussion sections are the opposite. These often have fun activities, or are more engaging because the student to teacher ratio is so much lower …Read more

I enjoyed taking this course, and I appreciated Prof. Fitzsimmons' enthusiasm of and knowledge of the subject. The class was very easy, only really consisting of three 3-page essays, an in-class midterm (multiple choice and an essay question,) and a self-scheduled final exam. I found the midterm challenging, and would definitely recommend studying well. There are also weekly readings from two different textbooks, but these are only really used for the essays and exams. Even though the Friday class is technically a discussion, I think you would be able to get by just fine without doing all of the readings. This class is not a part of my major/minor, and I chose it only to fill my schedule. It has been one of the easier classes I have taken at Midd, and I would recommend it if you're looking for a chill class. I will say, however, that I had hoped that this class would focus more on archaeologic methods and analysis, and was instead much more of a world history class. Also, both textbooks can pretty easily been found free online, so do with that information what you will

I enjoyed taking this course, and I appreciated Prof. Fitzsimmons' enthusiasm of and knowledge of the subject. The class was very easy, only really consisting of three 3-page essays, an in-class midterm (multiple choice and an essay question,) and a self-scheduled final exam. I found the midterm challenging, and would definitely reco …Read more

I love Fitzsimmons and he totally loves the topics that he teaches about in this course. Unfortunately, this course is super heavy with things to memorize, such as details about the evolution of hominids and the movements of homowhatever out into the world leading to the spread of humans, etc. etc. Once we moved past biological anthropology and into more early civilizations the class got much more interesting. In general, the course could be a lot, but it was manageable and fitz rocks.

I love Fitzsimmons and he totally loves the topics that he teaches about in this course. Unfortunately, this course is super heavy with things to memorize, such as details about the evolution of hominids and the movements of homowhatever out into the world leading to the spread of humans, etc. etc. Once we moved past biological ant …Read more

Fitzsimmons is awesome, I definitely want to take another course with him again. He is super enthusiastic which makes the content fun. Two lectures a week, and then a discussion in a smaller group where he brings out cool artifacts. There's assigned reading for each week, but it's not ever used except for 3 response papers throughout the semester which are done take home. Lots of memorization for the midterm, but other than that a pretty chill course.

Fitzsimmons is awesome, I definitely want to take another course with him again. He is super enthusiastic which makes the content fun. Two lectures a week, and then a discussion in a smaller group where he brings out cool artifacts. There's assigned reading for each week, but it's not ever used except for 3 response papers throughout …Read more

Second class with Fitzsimmons. He is super passionate about archaeology (specifically Ancient Maya area) and clearly has a ton of first-hand knowledge. Lots of stories from expeditions etc. Workload is pretty tame with two exams and two papers. Would recommend a Fitzsimmons class at some point at Middlebury.

Fitzsimmons is clearly passionate about sharing his passion for archaeology. I found lectures difficult to understand, mostly because he talks quickly and our classroom is basically massive, echoey cave. If I could hear him I probably would have enjoyed the class a lot more. Two exams per year, which are pretty memorization-heavy, and very chill discussion/lab sections which seem to be cancelled half the time.

Fitzsimmons is clearly passionate about sharing his passion for archaeology. I found lectures difficult to understand, mostly because he talks quickly and our classroom is basically massive, echoey cave. If I could hear him I probably would have enjoyed the class a lot more. Two exams per year, which are pretty memorization-heavy, an …Read more

I LOVE fitzsimmons. I had never intended to take any more courses in anthropology but he inspired me to take more. He is such a sweet and funny man who is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about the subject matter. And no matter what questions I had I always felt comfortable asking them and participating in class. I would ABSOLUTELY take another class with him. (I’ve been looking)

I LOVE fitzsimmons. I had never intended to take any more courses in anthropology but he inspired me to take more. He is such a sweet and funny man who is clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about the subject matter. And no matter what questions I had I always felt comfortable asking them and participating in class. I would ABS …Read more

This course is more difficult than I expected! Because I was not into the material, learning became a chore and difficult. Exams have strict time limits and long! So much memorization. The professor was enthusiastic and kind though!

This was a great course to take in a semester of heavy numbers and calculus. It was very interesting to be able to see how we came along as humans. This is much more than a history course and it provided great insight into the past and future.