Only about 5 percent of the world's oceans have been explored, and much of the underwater archeology, including exploring submerged cities and shipwrecks, has taken place in shallow waters.
The new program plans to take archeology deeper. Technological advances with unmanned deep-sea submersibles and robotic excavators sensitive enough to handle artifacts much like a human would on land have invigorated the drive to explore what lies at the bottom of the world's oceans.
The accepted students say they're attracted to the program because of its novelty, and the opportunity to be part of major expeditions.
Next summer, the group is scheduled to assist Ballard and other scientists in searches for Phoenician and Minoan ships in the Mediterranean.
They'll also help with studies of hydrothermal vents and deep-sea corals in the North Atlantic Ocean.
"I think that it's time that we put those tools to use that we have for other sciences . . . to go look for things that actually mean something to human history," said Katy Croff.
The 26-year-old has an undergraduate degree in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree in maritime archeology from the University of Southampton in England.
Other students have undergraduate or graduate degrees in subjects including anthropology, geology, marine science, and maritime history.
Ballard said they're special because they have a background in human history and an academic foundation in physical sciences.
"I was looking for crossover students," he said.
The university, with its main campus in South Kingstown, has billed the program as the only one of its kind.
Other schools offer graduate degrees in archeology and oceanography, though none have rolled them into one formal curriculum, the university says.
Bonnie Clendenning, executive director at the Archaeological Institute of America, said the school is capitalizing on its strength in ocean sciences, while adding archeology to the mix.
"That would make a great deal of sense for them to do this," she said.
A few other schools have similar credentials. Texas A&M University, for example, has a graduate program in nautical archeology with about 10 new students each year.
It also offers advanced degrees through its oceanography department.
The College Station, Texas, school has asked the state's Board of Regents to create a Center for Maritime Archeology and Conservation that would somewhat resemble the archeology oceanography program at URI, said Donny Hamilton, head of the nautical archeology program at Texas A&M.
The main difference is that the coursework would concentrate mostly on shipwrecks in shallow water, where extensive excavations can be done, said Hamilton, an archeologist for nearly 30 years. URI's program is predicated on exploring deep-water environments.
