A Taste of Things to Come?

So on Monday my archaeology professor invited me to attend an archaeology seminar at Columbia University. My professor (whom I will simply refer to as The Professor) hosts a series of monthly lectures at Columbia, and the guest speakers are visiting professors from all over the world. These academics typically discuss the excavations they are working on, as well as new discoveries in the field. I attended this lecture series last year, but I missed a bunch in the fall because I was abroad. Now that I was back, I was eager to attend the lectures once more.

I bummed a ride with The Professor downtown (Fordham is in the Bronx, and Columbia is on the upper west side of Manhattan), and on the way we talked archaeology. The Professor is my mentor; he's been an archeologist for over thirty years, and I never cease to be amazed by the breadth of his knowledge. I've known him since the end of my freshman year, and I've done independent archaeological work for him for two semesters (my independent study in human bones, for example, is under his tutelage). Besides his knowledge, he is also a practical, down to earth kind of guy. On the car ride, for instance, we were discussing grad school:
"You'll probably want to get your degree before you get married," he had said. "It's easier to get it done before you have kids and everything."
"Well, I don't have to worry about marriage with all the losers I've been dating," I replied (immature on my part, but the statement is true, nontheless).
He had looked at me, raising his white eyebrows. "Now Anne, you know that not all boys are losers. They are just immature at your age. I remember, I was a young man once about a hundred years ago."
See, the man knows everything. He doesn't hesitate to tell me when I'm full of crap (although he'll say it more delicately). I think it's because he has two adult daughters, so he's heard it all before.

So we get down to Columbia, (which is an awesome part of the city, by the way-it's also the neighborhood were Seinfeld was set), and we headed over to this faculty building for the lecture. The attendants of these lectures are usually other Columbia academics, and they all tend to be over 50. The Professor, being the organizer of these lectures, knew everybody, and he drifted off to talk with them while I grabbed a seat at the seminar table and proceeded to drink Red Bull and read my sociology book. I find that the few times I have engaged these lauded academics in converstation, I end up coming across as the total rookie archaeology girl that I am, so I usually keep my head down and stay out of the way.

The lecturer for that evening was great; she was this tiny woman with steel gray hair who had been excavating an awesome middle-bronze age site in Turkey, named Alalakh. She was also from the University of Chicago and had a resume that was over 20 pages long (trust me, I looked at it). All in all, she was a bad ass in the world of archaeology.

All the while I sat there amongst these academics, feeling like a kid who was allowed to sit at the grown-up's table at Thanksgiving. These people really know their stuff, and while I completely admire them, it also makes me realize that I don't know anything- I am a neophyte compared to them. Although to be fair, they all have decades on me.

There was a really old guy sitting right next to me, and I guess he had had a long day, because he kept nodding forward, as if he were about to fall asleep. About every thirty seconds or so, his head would nod foward, and then he would snap it up, startled, and then he would tug at his chin, as if reprimanding himself. Thirty seconds later his head would slump forward again. This process went on for an hour. I am assuming he was not very riveted by the lecture. Hey, we've all been there.

So at the end of the lecture, the professors all went to the faculty dining room for a nice formal dinner, and I had to head back to the Bronx. I've never gone to the dinner after the lectures, but I am not a member of that club. Besides, it costs 25 dollars for non academics, and what student can afford that?

I walked through Columbia's main quad on the way to subway. It is a beautiful campus, and I've always been envious of the Columbia students (my older brother included). There's such a aura of academia at that place; there's a real sense that you are surrounded by some of the greatest minds around. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be some gray haired archaeologist going to formal dinners with a bunch of my collagues at a place at like Columbia. Until then, I am perfectly content to take my classes and drink beer with my friends on the weekends. You're only young once....