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via Manoa Now, 14 February 2020: This article is a couple of years old, but appropriate for Valentine’s day. A feature on Profs. Miriam Stark and James Bayman who are married to each other. Prof. Stark is a great mentor to many of us in Southeast Asia.
Miriam Stark and James Bayman met more than 30 years ago when they were doing archaeological field research in Tucson, Arizona.
“I liked her energy and her spirit,” said Bayman, now a professor and undergraduate chair for the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Stark, an anthropological archaeologist and educator at the same institute, was similarly impressed with Bayman, who said “I liked his sense of humor and outlook on life.”
It would be another five years before the two professors eventually got married and moved to Hawaiʻi to teach at UHM. The couple is one example whose romance was catalyzed by their love for archaeology.
“We would make more money if we did not work at an academic setting, but we like the autonomy, we like the flexibility, and we both really like to do research,” Stark said.
February 14 marks 27 years that Stark and Bayman have been married. They have been working in the same department teaching numerous courses in anthropology and archaeology since 1995. This semester, Bayman teaches an Introduction to Archaeology course, but also helps students with anything from how to write a paper to directed reading and building professional experience.
