200thatcanariseandthemistakesthatc<tobemade.Takingstudentsinto
thefieldisexpensiveandtime-consuming.We havetodealwithallthe
annoyancesofinternalionaltravel: crowds,delays, airlinefood, missed
conneclions,lost luggage,andjetlag.Duringa seasonofexcavationwe
willroutinelybefacedwiththechallcngesoffatigue,dehydration,home-
sickness, interpersonalconllicls,accidents,illness, injury,and intestinal
distress.Stillmoreseriollsly,thebondsoftrustthatImentionedamoment
ago-theconnectionbetweenteacherandstudentthathelpscreatean
uncommonteachablemomcnt--eanthemselvesbecomeoccasionsfordif-
ficultiesofanemotionalnature.Particularlyin theclosingdaysofa dig
season,whena kindofgroupeuphoriacandevelopthatis strangelyrem-
iniscentofsummercamp,wemaywellfindourelhicsandintegritybeing
puttothetest
Isitatallsurprising,however,ifI statemyhonestopinionthatthese
problemsare more than outweighed by the benefitsthat come from
involvingstudentsintheworkofexcavation?Ifourgoalistoteacha pro-
ductive interaction between the Bible and archaeology, in which the
disciplinesareneithertoointegratednortoosegregated,nopedagogical
strategyismoreeffective. IfwewanttoproduceagenerJtionofstudents
(andsubsequentlyanewgenerJtionofscholars)whocanunderstandwith
clarityandsubtletythatbotharchaeologyandtheBiblecontribuletoour
comprehensionofthehumanpaMintheNearEaM,thereisnobetterway
10 dosolhantoletthemgettheirhandsdill)'.
YetI belabortheobvious.Afterall,whowouldseriouslyargueagainst
lhepedagogicalvalueoftakingourstudentsintothefieldforaseasonof
excavation?Noone.Perhaps,then,itwouldbebesttoconcludethisessay
withsomepracticalsuggeslions.[nfact, therearesomeusefulstepsthat
canbetakenaswepreparetobringstudentswithliSintothefield.The
first andmostimportantistoevaluatethefieldschooloftheeXC<lvation.
Beforeagreeingtopanicipaleina dig,weshouldtakesometimetoexam-
inethe educationalprognllll thattheexcavationwill offertosludents.
Unfortunately,it cannotbe~Issumedthateachandevel)'archaeological
excavationwillincludea fieldschoolinwhichstudentswillbetrainedto
integratearchaeologyandbiblicalstudies.Onthecontrary,thequaliryof
field-schoolprogramscanV;;l1Ywidely,withsomeexcavationsprovidinga
coherentandcomprehensiveeducationalexperience--completewithread-
ings, classes, and tours-while others lack even basic orientation in
elementaryfield techniques.Thusit will beimportantto talk withthe
directorandascertainhow,when,andwhereIhefieldschoolwillbecon-
ducted. Ask for a copyofthesyllahus nfthere is one)orat least a
scheduleoftheclasssessions.Determinewhattextsthestudentswillbe
readingandwhatwritingassignmentswillberequired.Inparticular,look
forsignsthatthefieldschoolbuildsfrombasicarchaeologicalknowledge