cmiles2

In CFP

The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is opening a call for papers for their annual meeting. The topic of this meeting is “Continuity, Transition, and Transformation of Urban Space in the Roman World,” and will be hosted Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It will take place from 2-4 January, 2025.

Throughout the Roman world, cities form a distinct locale for social and cultural interaction and are in a constant state of flux and transition. Under the lens of change and transformation, we are better able to observe the various socio-cultural dynamics and phases of development that are crucial for understanding urbanization processes of cities. Cities encompass not just the urban zones but also the surrounding suburban and rural areas. They are a combination of public and private spheres that intertwine in distinctive and fascinating ways. Over time, these spaces had various phases of occupation, abandonment, and reuse, encouraged by political, cultural, or religious events. These perhaps altered their original function and created new types of spaces and interactions within them. This panel intends to highlight the archaeology of Roman urban centers from across the Mediterranean and beyond, from the second half of the first millennium BCE to Late Antiquity. This colloquium offers a chance to explore these concepts, relationships, and the various methodologies used in archaeology and related fields to evaluate Roman urban areas

The AIA is open for papers especially pertaining to the following topics:

Creation, use and access of spaces
process of urbanization and deurbanization
Cultural interactions within spaces (entanglement, colonial encounters)
Reuse and recycling of space
Representations of public spaces (coins, mosaics, frescoes)
Relationships between urban, suburban and rural areas

The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2024. For more information on how to submit, please contact Katie Breyer at kbreyer@brynmawr.edu. More information on the call for papers can be found on this flyer.

Updates from the Society of Black Archaeologists

In CFP, News and Events

The Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) has released their February Newsletter! Featured information includes upcoming publications, conferences, and call for papers.

Publications

Dossiê Arqueologias Negras: nossas lutas, nossas histórias – Primeira parte – NegrArqueo has recently published a special issue on Black Archaeology in the journal Revista de Arqueologia v. 37 n. 1 (2024).

Upcoming Events

The Northwest Anthropological Conference: Portland, Oregon | March 6-9, 2024 – The 2024 theme is “Building Bridges”: Consultation and Community Engagement, Registration is now open. This conference will also host a Tribal Caucus, the Portland Indigenous Marketplace with other vendors/organizations, a silent auction to support local nonprofits (The Chúush Fund: Water for Warm Springs, and All Tribes Mental Health Services, Inc.), and much more! Tribal member admission is free and there is a stipend application for tribal members to cover costs of attendance through the Association of Oregon Archaeologists (AOA). See the nwaconference.com website for more details

Anthropology and the Black Experience Conference | May 15-18, 2024 – The Association of Black Anthropologists (ABA), Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA), and the Black in BioAnth (BiBA) Collective are pleased to host The Anthropology and the Black Experience Conference, May 15-18, 2023 at University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal. The 21st century has witnessed significant shifts in the anthropological landscape, with diverse voices and perspectives emerging to challenge traditional narratives. This conference seeks to explore the unique contributions and experiences of Black scholars in anthropology, emphasizing the rich tapestry of knowledge, methodologies, and insights they bring to the discipline. They invite scholars, researchers, and students from all sub-disciplines and related fields to reflect on the historiography of anthropology in Africa and the African diaspora, the role and contributions of people of African descent in the field, and the latest research being done by and in communities of African descent.

Opportunities

Herskovits Library of African Studies Research Grant | Northwestern University – The Northwestern University Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies is one of the largest separate African studies libraries in existence. Applications are open for the 2024-2025 Northwestern Libraries Travel Grants. This travel grant was established in 2021 to facilitate and support research projects that significantly benefit from substantial onsite use of the unique, special and archival collections of the Herskovits Library. The grant is available to researchers whose projects explore new lines of inquiry, interdisciplinary and multi-layered research and contribute to the deeper understanding of the diverse peoples and countries of the African continent. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2024.

Call for Papers – Archaeologies of Crisis and Constraint: African Tales from the Field | Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites – Contributors are asked to discuss the ways in which catastrophic or unexpected events influence the practice of heritage research, fieldwork, and management in Africa. In the issue, authors will detail how these occurrences (that we sometimes might not disclose) force us to adopt new innovative strategies that drive our work in new and exciting ways that would otherwise have not taken place. Email an abstract of no more than 300 words by April 1 2024 to Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann [raaengmann@theafricainstitute.org]

Call for Papers: Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology & Heritage – Consider submitting your article manuscripts to the peer-reviewed Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology & Heritage. Contact Chris Fennell for more information [cfennell@illinois.edu]

SBA Conference Travel Award – The award offers support for non-US SBA members traveling to present research at scholarly conferences. SBA will provide a total award of up to $1000 USD. Award funding is intended for conference and travel-related expenses, including conference registration, travel (e.g., airfare, vehicle rentals), and room/board. Questions about the award can be sent to treasurer@societyofblackarchaeologists.com

For more information on the SBA, as well as how to support their staff and scholars, please visit their website here.

ARCE Annual Meeting | Registration Open

The 2024 American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Annual Meeting is now open for registration. Every year, the ARCE gathers to explore and celebrate the latest research discoveries in Egyptology. This year, the meeting will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from April 19-21, 2024. It will be hold at the Omni William Penn Hotel.

One of the sessions to keep on your calendar is the Fellowship Information Session on Saturday April 20th at 12:45 PM in the Allegheny room of the Omni William Penn Hotel. View the meeting schedule.

Please visit arce.org/annual-meeting to register and learn more.

For assistance, please email AMHelp@arce.org

Call for Papers | Theoretical Archaeology Group 2024 Meeting

In CFP

The Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) is pleased to announce that the 2024 meeting will convene from May 21-23 in Santa Fe, NM. For the first time, the meeting will be hosted by an Indigenous nation, Picuris Pueblo, at a 100%-tribally-owned venue: Hotel Santa Fe. Taking up a conference theme of “place,” TAG extends a special invitation to sessions, papers, and workshops that pose new questions about the archaeology of placemaking, native science, ecology, landscape, situated knowledge, multispecies analytics, critical cartographies, and anti-colonial localism. For more information about scheduling and logistics, visit the conference portal.

Paper submissions are due by April 22, 2024. More information on how to submit a paper to a session may be found on the conference portal; to join a session, directly email the session organizers. A list of current sessions may be found below:

“Sanctity in Motion,” chaired by Robert Weiner (Robert.S.Weiner@dartmouth.edu) and Darryl Wilkinson (Darryl.A.Wilkinson@dartmouth.edu)
“Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism,” chaired by Severin Fowles (sfowles@barnard.edu) and El Morris (emorris@barnard.edu)
“Moving Place: Archaeologies of Mobility, Transit, and Emplacement,” chaired by Rosemary A. Joyce (rajoyce@berkeley.edu)
“Artiplaces: From the Phenomenal to the Hyperreal,” chaired by Benjamin Alberti (balberti@framingham.edu) and Christopher Watts (c3watts@uwaterloo.ca)
“Debating the Aesthetics and Poetics of Infrastructures,” chaired by Ed Swenson (edward.swenson@utoronto.ca)
“TAG Takeover: Theorizing Indigenous Emergent Geographies,” chaired by Lindsay Montgomery (lindsay.montgomery@utoronto.ca) and Nate Acebo (nathan.acebo@uconn.edu)
“Bioarchaeological Ethics in Practice: Returning and Emplacing,” chaired by Sabrina C. Agarwal (agarwal@berkeley.edu) and Alanna Warner
“New Theoretical Perspectives on Relationships with the More-than-Human World,” chaired by Katelyn J. Bishop (kjbishop@illinois.edu), Ripan S. Malhi, Jenny L. Davis, and Sarah E. Oas
“Situated Knowledge in a World of Archaeological Orthodoxy,” chaired by Jenny Ni (jn2512@columbia.edu), Brendon Connor Murray (bcm2153@columbia.edu), and Amanda Althoff (eaa2167@columbia.edu)
“Community-based Archaeology: Uniting Community Priorities with Archaeological Practice,” chaired by Michael Graves (mwgraves@unm.edu)
“Holding Uncertainty: Sketching the Unreliable Past,” chaired by Zoë Crossland (zc2149@columbia.edu), Andrew Roddick (roddick@mcmaster.ca), and Kathryn Killackey (kjkillackey@gmail.com)

The TAG 2024 meeting is still open to session proposals. To propose a session for the conference, submit a title and abstract on the conference portal or contact a member of the 2024 TAG Organizing Committee. Please note: unlike most conferences, session organizers do not need to solicit all or even most session participants. Once proposed, sessions will be advertised as a part of the wider call for papers. The 2024 TAG Organizing Committee and their contact information may be found below:

Darryl Wilkinson (Dartmouth College): Darryl.A.Wilkinson@dartmouth.edu
Rob Weiner (Dartmouth College): Robert.S.Weiner@dartmouth.edu
Lindsay Montgomery (U of Toronto): lindsay.montgomery@utoronto.ca
Severin Fowles (Barnard College): sfowles@barnard.edu
Tamara Bray (Wayne State U): t.bray@wayne.edu
Benjamin Alberti (Framingham State U): balberti@framingham.edu
Woody Aguilar (San Ildefonso Pueblo): aguilarj@sanipueblo.org
Michael Adler (Southern Methodist U): madler@smu.edu

2024 Black History Month at the Institute | Field Schools

On February 21, 2024

In Fieldwork Opportunity, News and Events

Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions African Americans have made to the United States and the world at large, both in the past and present. This February at the Joukowsky Institute, we are highlighting resources created by and for African American scholars of archaeology and anthropology. This will be a three part series with each blog post focusing on different aspects of contemporary African American archaeology: Associations and Archives, Resources and Funding for Black Students, and Field School Opportunities. This week’s post will highlight field schools centered around African American heritage sites, and that emphasize collaboration with descendant communities.

2024 Summer Field Schools of African American Archaeology

Montpelier Field School | The Montpelier Field School is open for applications for their 2024 Summer season. This year they will be documenting the Montpelier Burial Ground of the Enslaved to support the Montpelier Descendants Committee’s efforts in building a memorial adjacent to the burial ground. Students will be trained in foundational excavation methods, as well as get hands-on experience working with descendant communities. Applications may be accessed here.

Slave House Exploration and Evidence Tracing Field School (SHEET) | SHEET is an initiative of Saving Slave Houses’ Pharsalia Plantation Co-Stewardship Project aimed at preserving the histories of slave houses and their descendant communities. Interns will practice oral histories documentation and interpretation, as well as how to collect spatial data in the field. Applications open soon.

Black Life in Bellevue Field School | Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society is sponsoring an archaeological field school entitled “Black Life in Bellevue: Documenting African American Cultural Landscape Along the Chesapeake Bay.” Students will learn how to document cultural landscapes—measuring, drawing, and photography—as well as how to employ geographic information system mapping to digitize the Bellevue village. Contact co-directors Michael Chiarappa and Janet Sheridan to get involved.

Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Field School | The University of Virginia and Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest is hosting a Summer Field School in Historical Archaeology. Students will excavate sites of enslavement at the Poplar Forest plantation, including a stable, slave quarter, and other features associated with Jefferson’s plantation. Students will gain practical skills in survey, excavation, and mapping. Applications currently available.

If you are interested in discovering more field schools centered around African American or African Diaspora archaeology, please see resources available on the Society for Black Archaeologists and the African Diaspora Archaeology Network‘s websites. The Institute wishes you a happy Black History Month!

*Compiled and Written by Christina Miles (`25)

2024 Black History Month at the Institute | Resources for Black Students

On February 16, 2024

In Funding & Fellowships, News and Events

Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions African Americans have made to the United States and the world at large, both in the past and present. This February at the Joukowsky Institute, we are highlighting resources created by and for African American scholars of archaeology and anthropology. This will be a three part series with each blog post focusing on different aspects of contemporary African American archaeology: Associations and Archives, Resources and Funding for Black Students, and Field School Opportunities. This week’s post will highlight resources and funding available for African American/Black students to help them achieve their academic and career goals, both in the field of archaeology and beyond.

Funding and Resources for African American/Black Students

Student Excellence in Archaeology Scholarships (SEAS) | The SEAS is sponsored by the Society for American Archaeology. It aims to support students of historically underrepresented backgrounds in archaeology. Two scholarships are awarded each year to two undergraduates for training or research in archaeology, with an award up to $1,000. They award up to $3,000 for graduate students to help pay for tuition, books, travel costs, supplies, and equipment.

BIPOC Scholarships for Fieldwork Participation | This grant is sponsored by the American Society for Overseas Research. They award six scholarships of $2,000 to African American or Indigenous students of color that are participating in an ASOR-affiliated archaeological summer project.

The Sportula Micro-grants for Classics Students | The Sportula is a mutual aid group dedicated to providing funding for working class and underrepresented scholars in the field of Classics. They provide $5-$300 micro grants as well as non-monetary support for those in need, no questions asked. Supplies and funds are limited, so please be mindful.

Black Trowel Collective Micro-grants | The Black Trowel Collective provies micro-grants for African American/Black students of archaeology. Similar to Sportula, they are a mutual aid group made up of underrepresented professionals in the field of archaeology. They provide up to $300 in funding; they are not currently accepting funding requests, but will in the future. Supplies and funds are limited, so please be mindful.

Agnes Jones Johnson Scholarship | Sponsored by the NAACP, this scholarship awards $2,000 to any Black or African American student under the age of 25 currently pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited institution. Financial need requirements and GPA requirements apply. Applicants must be members of the NAACP.

Frank M. Snowden Jr. Undergraduate Scholarship | This scholarship is sponsored by the Committee on Diversity in the Profession of the Society for Classical Studies. It provides up to $4,500 in funding for undergraduate students who are participating in in a classical summer program or field school within the Mediterranean. It is aimed at students of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups.

The resources highlighted in this list are not exhaustive, and we encourage you to seek out more opportunities that support African American and Black students in their academic pursuits. Please stay tuned for next week’s post: Field School Opportunities.

*Compiled and written by Christina Miles (`25)

2024 Black History Month at the Institute | Associations and Archives

On February 7, 2024

Black History Month is a time to honor the contributions African Americans have made to the United States and the world at large, both in the past and present. This February at the Joukowsky Institute, we are highlighting resources created by and for African American scholars of archaeology and anthropology. This will be a three part series with each blog post focusing on different aspects of contemporary African American archaeology: Associations and Archives, Resources and Funding for Black Students, and Field School Opportunities. This week’s post will focus on the intellectual spaces Black and African American scholars have made for themselves within the field, as well as the archives of invaluable knowledge they have maintained and preserved.

Associations and Archives

African Diaspora Archaeology Network (ADAN) | ADAN is an online platform that hosts current news on archaeological studies of the African diaspora. They have archived hundreds of texts relating to the material culture and heritage of the African Diaspora, as well as publish a quarterly online Newsletter. ADAN’s goal is to build an intellectual community for researchers of the African Diaspora, including interdisciplinary studies of African-diasporic material culture.

Journal of African Diaspora Archaeology and Heritage | This journal publishes peer-reviewed articles on the archaeology, history, material culture, and heritage of African descendant populations. Work published in this article spans across the globe, and features topics ranging from the foodways of the African Diaspora to urban archaeology, and more. They publish a compiled volume of work three times a year, including special issues. Their archive of all past issues may be found here.

The World Wide Web of African Archaeology | This site is an archive of archaeological studies and projects pertaining to the heritage of Africans. The website includes a bibliography of work done in Central Africa, a list of institutions and universities pioneering studies of African archaeology, and a list of ancient maps/documents important to studying African archaeology.

Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA) | The SBA was founded in 2011 with the goal to uplift Black and African communities related to the field of archaeology, as well as build a network for Black and African scholars. They host webinar series related to racial equity, community archaeology, and socially-responsible archaeology, and send out a monthly newsletter highlighting opportunities for Black and African archaeologists.

The Association for Black Anthropologists (ABA) | The ABA is a flagship society founded in the 1970s with the intention of making space for Black/African American scholars to enter the field of anthropology. Their members include sociocultural anthropologists, medical anthropologists, biological/physical anthropologists, and archaeologists of various disciplines. They publish work that critically engages with how the discipline of anthropology can better serve Black communities around the world. This year, they are hosting a conference in Senegal entitled “Anthropology and the Black Experience.”

We encourage you to explore more of the amazing work Black and African American archaeologists pioneering today. Please stay tuned for next week’s post: Resources and Funding for Black Students.

*Compiled and written by Christina Miles (`25)

List Visiting Artist Talk: Summer Wheat

On February 6, 2024

The Department of Visual Art at Brown University is presenting a Marjorie Cutler sponsored lecture by Summer Wheat.

Summer Wheat (b. 1977, Oklahoma City, OK) is known for her vibrant paintings, multifaceted sculptures, and immersive installations that weave together the history of materiality, figuration, and abstraction in both fine art and craft milieus. Each series engages individual and collective human experiences drawn from historical and contemporary sources, mediated through a variety of references ranging from ancient art and medieval tapestries, to etchings from the Renaissance, to modernist abstractions. Wheat’s work examines various manifestations of labor, leisure, commerce, and class through the depiction of numerous figures and archetypes such as farmers, hunters, beekeepers, gardeners, weavers, bankers, and movie stars. The artist’s densely populated “scapes” envision worlds where time seems to have collapsed and every person, regardless of social status, occupies a shared/equal space, in which both labor and leisure are paths to healing humanity. Using a tongue-in- cheek type of humor inspired by comic strips, Wheat subverts conventional hierarchical structures and stereotypes to create more expansive depictions of daily life throughout history.

Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Time: 6:00pm

Location: List Art Building, room 120 at 64 College Street, Providence, RI

ARIT Summer Program in Advanced Turkish Language Studies

On February 6, 2024