N.J. professor goes on archaeological digs. Now she’s teaching students to do the same.

Stockton University is introducing a new course this year that uses archeology to help students be, potentially, more competitive in finding a job, or a hidden passion.
“It reminds us there is more to picking the career you are going to pursue for the rest of your life, more than safe choices,” Bobbi Hornbeck, assistant professor of Archaeology and creator of the new program, told NJ Advance Media on Monday.
Stockton’s Archaeology minor echoes real-world demands of the field and can lead to jobs in research science, protecting or preserving heritage sites or museum curation, the university said. It can also lead to jobs like helping determine if a new road, bridge or building would disturb hidden archeological finds in the area.
Hornbeck, a 2009 alumni of Stockton, does more than talk the talk.
She was part of a 10-day National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expedition in the summer to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to survey and inventory historical sites tied to the World War II Battle of Attu between the United States and Japan. She served as the expedition’s sole Aleutian archaeologist and offered expertise regarding the maritime life of the Indigenous people of the islands. She also supported the Aleutian Mercury Dynamics Project by working with Stockton archaeology students to examine bone samples that will help scientists track mercury concentrations in the area over the past 3,000 years.
Hornbeck thinks Stockton’s new program will provide students with opportunities to do hands-on research. She also has students working on an archaeological dig at the Museum of Cape May County and helping to re-catalog about 5,000 Indigenous and colonial artifacts found in the Richard Cook Curation Collection. Cook, a former longtime Cape May County resident, donated his collection to the Nature Center of Cape May.
“I just want to learn more about the history of humans and how different cultures have shaped us today,” said Andreya Rusnak, a sophomore who initially thought the new course wouldn’t interest her. “But when Dr. Hornbeck explained it to me, she talked about how it’s actually the study of cultures of the past.”
Hornbeck said archeology has a long and ugly history with indigenous cultures for many reasons, including the ignoring of some voices and perspectives. She is passionate about unraveling and contributing to those histories and teaching her students to do the same.
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Bill Duhart may be reached at [email protected].