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> Archaeologist nets triple degrees as proponent of lifelong learning
Archaeologist nets triple degrees as proponent of lifelong learning
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Contact:
George Kaufmann: through SFU pub, 604.291.3874; gwk@sfu.ca
Media and public relations, 604.291.3210
George Kaufmann: through SFU pub, 604.291.3874; gwk@sfu.ca
Media and public relations, 604.291.3210
May 31, 2004
Having spent his early years on the wrong side of the tracks in the worst end of town, George Kaufmann faced the usual adversities of the many neglected youth of his age while growing up in Ontario.
Being on his own since his mid-teens he first came west in 1970 to settle at Whistler, when it was little more than a gas station and a chair lift. A student at SFU off and on since1984 — and a fixture as a part-time employee at the Highland pub for the past 15 years — Kaufmann, 54, is a proponent of life-long education and world travels. He is currently a senior archaeologist on the on-going Barkley Sound Archaeological Project, an SFU/Douglas College affiliated cultural inventory survey on the West Coast of Vancouver Island with the Toqhaht and Tse Shaht First Nations.
Since its beginnings in 1991 the project has brought together First Nations teenagers and young adults to study the traditional cultural practices of the past through the archaeology of their ancestors. This summer Kaufmann and a small team plan to work with the young people of the Huu Ay Aht First Nations, excavating an ancient traditional village on Diana Island in Barkley Sound.
Kaufmann has earned three degrees concurrently at SFU, including a pair of bachelor of arts degrees in history and archaeology, as well as a bachelor of general studies degree with a First Nations minor.
For Kaufmann, the classroom will always be part of his life and he hopes to one day "settle down" to teaching at a First Nations school somewhere near the ocean.
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Kaufman is one of a trio of graduates who will celebrate, at spring convocation, the achievement of completing not one degree, but three. The milestone means that Kaufmann, Illeana Oostergo, 70 (Richmond) and Mabel Dumbrell, 88 (Vancouver) will be recognized for earning three concurrent degrees in the faculty of arts. Each of the veteran life-long learners accumulated the required credits necessary to complete three academic programs as the result of studies spanning one or even two decades.
A typical bachelor’s degree is earned upon completion of 120 credit hours, 45 of which are upper division credit hours. To earn a second degree, a student would have to complete another 45 upper division credit hours, plus any required lower division courses. The same would apply to a third degree. However if students just keep going instead of graduating after the 120 credits, they could conceivably do two and even three degrees concurrently. All three had a minimum of 210 credit hours.
Being on his own since his mid-teens he first came west in 1970 to settle at Whistler, when it was little more than a gas station and a chair lift. A student at SFU off and on since1984 — and a fixture as a part-time employee at the Highland pub for the past 15 years — Kaufmann, 54, is a proponent of life-long education and world travels. He is currently a senior archaeologist on the on-going Barkley Sound Archaeological Project, an SFU/Douglas College affiliated cultural inventory survey on the West Coast of Vancouver Island with the Toqhaht and Tse Shaht First Nations.
Since its beginnings in 1991 the project has brought together First Nations teenagers and young adults to study the traditional cultural practices of the past through the archaeology of their ancestors. This summer Kaufmann and a small team plan to work with the young people of the Huu Ay Aht First Nations, excavating an ancient traditional village on Diana Island in Barkley Sound.
Kaufmann has earned three degrees concurrently at SFU, including a pair of bachelor of arts degrees in history and archaeology, as well as a bachelor of general studies degree with a First Nations minor.
For Kaufmann, the classroom will always be part of his life and he hopes to one day "settle down" to teaching at a First Nations school somewhere near the ocean.
- 30 -
Kaufman is one of a trio of graduates who will celebrate, at spring convocation, the achievement of completing not one degree, but three. The milestone means that Kaufmann, Illeana Oostergo, 70 (Richmond) and Mabel Dumbrell, 88 (Vancouver) will be recognized for earning three concurrent degrees in the faculty of arts. Each of the veteran life-long learners accumulated the required credits necessary to complete three academic programs as the result of studies spanning one or even two decades.
A typical bachelor’s degree is earned upon completion of 120 credit hours, 45 of which are upper division credit hours. To earn a second degree, a student would have to complete another 45 upper division credit hours, plus any required lower division courses. The same would apply to a third degree. However if students just keep going instead of graduating after the 120 credits, they could conceivably do two and even three degrees concurrently. All three had a minimum of 210 credit hours.