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Souls for Sale: Slavery’s Role in the Growth and Expansion of the Catholic Church and Other American Institutions

Friday, May 9 • 4–5:30pm • Friedman Hall, Room 102 • 90 George Street • Providence, RI

Rachel Swarns, a contributing writer for the New York Times and a journalism professor at New York University, will discuss her recent book, The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold to Build the American Catholic Church, and explore how slavery fueled the growth of many contemporary American institutions, including universities, religious institutions and financial institutions.

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Complete Disorder: Resistance and Refusal to Colonial Legacy in the Arts and Humanities

Thursday, May 8 • 10am–6pm • Online Only

This conference asks: is it possible to transform cultural and academic institutions from sites of colonial harm into spaces of justice, care, and community? Bringing together museum professionals, scholars, artists, and community leaders, we explore how museums, archives, and institutions alike are confronting their colonial legacies towards reparative futures and will examine challenges and possibilities for repatriation, community-driven exhibitions, archival intervention, and reimagining history telling.

Check out the conference schedule, session descriptions, and learn about the speakers and moderators on the event webpage.

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Call for Applications | Princeton University Postdoctoral Fellowships

Printer-Friendly Call for Applications (PDF)

In Funding & Fellowships

The Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, an interdisciplinary group of scholars in the humanities and social sciences, invites applications for the 2026-2029 fellowship competition. Applications are welcome for the following fellowships:

Two or three Open Fellowships in any discipline represented in the Society
One Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
One Fellowship in East Asian Studies

Applicants may be considered for more than one fellowship category pertinent to their research and teaching. The Society’s website provides additional details on the fellowships, eligibility, disciplines, and application dossier, and we recommend that applicants review this information before submitting an application.

Appointed as Associate Research Scholars in the Council of the Humanities for three years, fellows pursue their research, attend weekly seminars and teach in academic departments. In each of the first two years, fellows teach one undergraduate course per semester, pending approval by the Office of the Dean of the Faculty; in their third year, they teach only one course in either semester. When teaching, fellows will carry the secondary rank of Lecturer.

Applicants holding the Ph.D. at the time of application must have received the degree after January 1, 2024. Applicants not yet holding the Ph.D. are expected to have completed a substantial portion of the dissertation – at least half – at the time of application. Successful candidates must fulfill all requirements for the Ph.D., including filing of the dissertation, by June 15, 2026. Candidates for/recipients of doctoral degrees in Education, Jurisprudence, and from Princeton University are not eligible. Applicants may apply only once to the Princeton Society of Fellows.

Selection is based on exceptional scholarly achievement and evidence of unusual promise, range and quality of teaching experience, and potential contributions to an interdisciplinary community. The Society of Fellows seeks a diverse and international pool of applicants.

Applicants are asked to submit an application by August 5, 2025 (11:59 p.m. ET) to the online portal.

The number of fellowships offered each year is contingent on funding. The work location for these positions is in-person on campus at Princeton University, and the positions are subject to the University’s background check policy.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Now Online: Luxor Temple Block Fragments Collection

In Exhibits

The American Research Center in Egypt(ARCE) has published the entire Luxor Temple Block Fragments Collection on its website.

During the New Kingdom reigns of Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, and Seti I, sandstone relief blocks were carved for the Opet Festival—an ancient celebration affirming the pharaoh’s possession of the royal Ka. Many of these fragments originally formed the Colonnade Hall and Sun Court of Luxor Temple before being repurposed over centuries, from late antiquity through the medieval period and even in the 19th century, when excavators likely reused them in constructing the Corniche Boulevard!

What began as an epigraphic survey evolved into a seven-season conservation project between 1995 and 2001, led by Hiroko Kariya and John Stewart. The team undertook extensive efforts to conserve, document, piece together, and reinstate the block fragments. The team evaluated and treated the blocks, addressing damage caused by salt efflorescence, weather, and poor storage.

ACCESS IT HERE

Society of Black Archaeologists: Publications

In In the News

SBA PUBLICATIONS

Dr. Alicia Odewale (SBA President-Elect, University of Houston) published an article titled, “My Mother’s Remedy: An Archaeological Journey Home Through Darkness and Light” for Adventuress Archaeology Special Issue Volume 4

Craig Stevens (SBA Treasurer, Northwestern University) and Chrislyn Laurore (UPenn) published an essay titled, “How Virtual Reality Is Restoring Liberia’s Culture” for SAPIENS Magazine

IAS Founders Day Public Lecture

“Bending Time & Space in the Sistine Chapel”
Founders Day Public Lecture by Maria Loh
Friday, May 16, 2025
5:00 p.m. | Wolfensohn Hall

What is there left to say about the Sistine Chapel, and why should we still be talking about it in 2025? While more than a generation of scholars and students have set sail for the Global Renaissance or recalibrated their analytic tools towards eco-criticism, Maria Loh, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, will conduct an état de lieux of the Sistine Chapel and consider why and, more importantly, how it should still matter to us today.

Please register below to attend this free event.

REGISTER HERE

ARIT Lectures: Ottoman Fashion Stories & Islamic and Turkish Art

On April 30, 2025

To join online please register

The Elusive Fashion Stories of Enslaved Women in Late Ottoman Istanbul

Join the American Research Institute in Turkey for a hybrid lecture by Dr. Nancy Micklewright, US Fulbright research scholar

ARIT Istanbul – ANAMED and online
Monday 5 May 2025, 6 pm Turkey – 11 am DST

Collecting Islamic and Turkish Art at the Harvard Art Museums (Fogg and Sackler Museums)

Join the American Research Institute in Turkey for an online lecture by Dr. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art

Friday, 16 May 2025, 6 pm Istanbul, 11 am DST

To join online please register

SBA Writing Group Kick-Off Meeting

Register for the Virtual Zoom Meeting

SBA Writing Group Kick-Off Meeting

Hosted by Dr. Alicia Odewale, SBA President-Elect

APRIL 25, 2025 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM CST

Find a region near you to connect, collaborate and write in community with other SBA members gathering around the world this summer from May 1- August 30th. Join in as the SBA collectively write and publish the next generation of African and African Diaspora Archaeology scholarship.

As they head into 2026 and celebrate the 15 year anniversary of the Society of Black Archaeologists, SBA will be sharing a new hashtag #WritingBlackArchaeology to invite everyone to join in this Black archaeology writing movement. SBA will be thinking about all that’s happened the last 15 years since their founding and charting the course for the next 15 years ahead.

Job Posting: Head of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library (Information Science, Classics), University of Cincinnati–Deadline: Rolling

In Position Announcements

Position Title: Head of the John Miller Burnam
Institution Name: University of Cincinnati
Position Rank: Other
Area of Specialty: library or information science; Classics or relevant field
Application Deadline: Rolling

The University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) seek a dynamic, strategic-thinking, and collaborative leader to fill the position of Head of the John Miller Burnam Classics Library. The Head of the Classics Library provides leadership for the delivery of responsive, innovative, and high-quality services to the internationally recognized Classics Department, researchers, faculty, and students. The leader will continue to enhance the library’s reputation as a world-class, top-ranking research library for Classics scholars at UC and globally.

This 12-month tenure track position directs the work of the Classics Library and staff; cultivates and maintains strong working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and library administration, as well as outside partners; works collaboratively with Classics faculty, librarians, and others to develop and coordinate both print and digital collections and services; serves as an advocate for library users; assists with the development of policies and procedures; actively participates in and supports UCL digital humanities and digital scholarship initiatives, and participates in the successful development of other University of Cincinnati Libraries’ strategic initiatives; and, serves as a member of the Management Council of the UC Libraries.

Please see the full job announcement to learn more and apply: https://jobs.uc.edu/job/Cincinnati-Head-of-the-John-Miller-Burnam%2C-UCL-Classics-Librarian-OH-45201/1281640300/

Visualizing Egypt: A Virtual Book Talk

Facebook Live-streaming Link

Join AUC Press on April 29th at 12 pm EST for a virtual book talk about Visualizing Egypt: European Travel, Book Publishing, and the Commercialization of the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century with author Paulina Banas who explores how market forces shaped illustrated publications on Egypt at a time of peak European colonial interest. The book features over 70 stunning illustrations and reveals the complex interplay between art, commerce, and imperialism. The event includes a live Q&A.

There will be a Q&A session at the end of the discussion, you can send us your questions ahead of time via email: auc.press@aucegypt.edu.

Zoom Registration Link

ARAM Conference on Orientalism and the Levant