Rob Beck - Materials and Archaeology

Episode 11 of the Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast podcast, hosted by Steve Yalisove and Tim Chambers, titled "Rob Beck - Materials and Archaeology" was published on January 11, 2026 and runs 81 minutes.

January 11, 2026 ·81m · Undercooled: A Materials Education Podcast

Summary

Steve and Tim talk with Professor Rob Beck at the University of Michigan.  Rob and Steve teach a joint course combining MSE with Archaeology & Anthropology to teach materials engineering students about the humanities and to teach humanities students about engineering.  The course is called "Making Things: Three Million Years of Materials and Culture".  It is based on work that Kevin Jones (see podcast episode S1E8) did in his Impact of Materials on Society project.  This version was reworked with Archaeology instead of the Sociology. We discuss all aspects of the course, including many tangents into the wild world of materials history and culture!You can find our more about Rob here:https://lsa.umich.edu/anthro/people/faculty/archaeological-faculty/rabeck.htmlThe article about Rob's work in Cahokia that he talks about at the end of the podcast can be found here (highly recommended reading):https://lsa.umich.edu/lsa/news-events/lsa-magazine/lsa-magazine-archive/spring-2025/notes-from-underground.htmlRob is also Curator of the UM Museum of Anthropological Archaeology: https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaaYou can find a video where Rob and Steve talk about the course for a virtual talk they presented on the meaning of social learning here:https://youtu.be/osBdpU5VA_sA video introducing the course from a few years ago can be found here:https://youtu.be/e82iosMorBoThe YouTube video can be found here:https://youtu.be/nxeVc67cLkkOur YouTube channel can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/@Undercooled.MaterialsThis episode is sponsored by the TMS Foundation and the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering department (https://mse.engin.umich.edu).

Episode Description