The Archaeological Institute of America’s Outreach and Education Committee invites nominations for the inaugural Archaeological Institute of America Public Engagement Award. This award recognizes the broad and important range of outreach conducted by AIA members.

All current professional, K-12 educator, and Student AIA members are encouraged to self-nominate for this recognition for public engagement conducted during the period from September 2024 to August 2025.

To qualify for this award, self-nominees must have dedicated a minimum of 12 hours to their public engagement work and/or must have participated in three separate public engagements. For an engagement to qualify toward this recognition, it must not be a required part of the AIA member’s professional duties (e.g. if you work professionally as a K-12 educator, your regular class sessions would not count toward this recognition; if you work regularly as a museum educator, the work you do as part of your everyday job would not count toward this recognition).

For the purposes of this recognition, public engagement is defined as outreach and partnerships (virtual and in person) that benefit a range of non-specialist audiences including K-12 classrooms, senior centers, community organizations, museum visitors, library patrons, and other diverse groups of learners.

The deadline for nominations is October 1, 2025. Click here to submit!

Rhode Island Historical Cemetery Awareness & Preservation Weeks (aka Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks) offer dozens of free programs from April 1 through May 31. Programming includes tours, clean-ups, hikes, exhibits, and talks exploring the history, art, ecology, and conservation of the Rhode Island’s historic cemeteries. Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks is organized annually by the Rhode Island Advisory Commission on Historical Cemeteries (RIACHC) and Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC) in collaboration with many volunteers and community partners.

Programs range from nature walks to hands-on gravestone preservation, with ample opportunities for attendees to get dirty and make a tangible difference. Talks and tours throughout April and May give the state’s graveyards additional cultural context, highlighting the role of faith communities, the family dynasties, and stone carving traditions in Rhode Island. Several events honor the memory of those who served their country in wartime.

Each year hundreds of Rhode Islanders participate in Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks, producing and attending programs across the state. From the smallest graveyards to the largest landscaped garden-cemeteries, the ground is fully covered over eight weeks of events.

The full event calendar and program descriptions are available on the RIACHC website, and new listings are added weekly as more citizen-led events are finalized. The online calendar has the most up-to-date information about times, locations, tour size limits, registration (if required), and other key details.

EVENT CALENDAR

Rhode Island Cemetery Weeks ’25 Press Release

2025 RICW Flyer FINAL

SCALE journal is a new student publication at Brown and RISD devoted to the built environment partnered with RISD Research. SCALE is a place to translate understandings of the built environment between students of different cultural and educational experiences. They are seeking high-quality essays and artworks concerning the built environment between students of different cultural and educational experiences. Please direct all submissions to scale-journal.com.

The deadline to submit is February 16, 2025, at 11:59pm EST. Please do not submit previously published work. Please refer to the web page FAQ and google form for any preliminary questions.

A Special Visit: The United States House Appropriations Committee Visit Luxor, Praising ARCE Projects

At the end of October, Dr. Louise Bertini, ARCE’s Executive Director, led a tour for members of the United States House Appropriations Committee. Chairman Tom Cole alongside Congressmen Mark Alford, John Rutherford, Ed Case, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and their respective delegation, all explored the magnificent Karnak and Khonsu Temples in Luxor, gaining insights into ARCE’s impactful work supported by USAID.

More about ARCE’s Projects

AEF: Excavating and conserving the temple of Ramesess II in Abydos

Support ARCE in preserving Egyptian cultural heritage and history for the future through donations that fund efforts in cultural heritage protection and restoration, as well as education, research, and training.

Your contribution is not just a donation; it’s your way to make an impact, your way to join us in protecting and saving Egyptian cultural history and being part of the legacy of preserving our most important history.

Donate

Interested in Conducting Research in Egypt? Apply to our Fellowship Opportunities

Let the countdown begin! ARCE has opened its US fellowship applications!

ARCE-funded fellowships support intellectuals interested in conducting academic research in Egypt on various topics. We invite heritage enthusiasts to carry out research in diverse fields such as anthropology, archaeology, architecture, fire art, art history, Coptic studies, economics, Egyptology, history, humanistic social sciences, Islamic studies, literature, political science, religious studies and even music.

Deadline to apply: January 5, 2025.

Apply Today

Presenting Kiosk: An Archaeological Field Recording and Management Platform

Do you have a field project? Are you looking for a more efficient way to gather your data and analyze it for publication?

Kiosk is a free and open-source integrated iPad recording platform and browser-based data manager for field archaeology, developed and maintained at Brown University, an ARCE Research Supporting Member. It is currently used in the recording of excavation data in projects from Egypt to Sardinia and Cyprus, in surveys in Sudan and Peru, and to facilitate tomb documentation in Egypt. It allows for the recording and integration of data while in the field, from field journals and photographs, to unit and context information and the automatic rendering of Harris Matrices, to object registration. Kiosk also enables the analysis of data for publication by allowing users to easily query, as well as easily search through, their data online post-season.

Kiosk is available to anyone who wishes to use it, including tech support for customization and while in the field. It is suitable for everything from a one-summer survey project run by a graduate student, to a field school, to an ongoing legacy excavation with decades of old data to digitize.

Find out more about Kiosk and its capabilities here, and get in touch with kiosk-team@brown.edu

Our Research Supporting Members

November Chapter Events 

With more than a dozen individual chapters across the United States and Canada, ARCE’s mission of fostering a broader knowledge and appreciation of Egypt’s cultural heritage among the general public is constantly advanced by active local communities.

Collectively, ARCE Chapters host over 100 lectures per year by experts in topics spanning the full timeline of Egyptian history. These lectures, as well as affiliation with a chapter, are complimentary to all ARCE members. Here are some of their upcoming lectures:

• ARCE NT: From Amarna’s Maru-Aten to Dallas, TX: Tracing the Travels of a Cartouche Fragment in Bridwell Library Special Collections by Dr. Shelby Justl – November 09
• ARCE PA: No Ordinary Dogs: Canine Behavior in Theban Tombs by Dr. Chelsea Kaufman – November 09
• ARCE Georgia – Hatshepsut and the Temple of Mut by Dr. Betsy Bryan – November 09
• ARCE NC: Archives in the Crocodile: The Tebtunis Crocodile Papyri As the Missing Link between Ptolemaic and Roman Notarial Practices by Leah Packard-Grams – November 17

Explore Chapters

There are more displaced people around the world today than at any time in recorded history. Why are such large numbers of people leaving their homes? What are their experiences? What have been the responses to their situations?

The Choices Program has just released an update to our popular Teaching with the News lesson “Refugee Stories: Mapping a Crisis.” The free lesson explores personal stories and experiences of refugees. Students examine maps, data, and broader trends in the global refugee crisis. They consider the human geography of the refugee crisis and the challenges facing both refugees and the international community. Students also weigh responses to the crisis.

The updated lesson includes revised maps and new data, refugee stories, videos, and news articles. “[This] lesson gives students a real life story behind a refugee situation and includes the map annotation needed for geography,” says Kelly, a history and geography teacher in Georgia. Check out this free lesson for use in your geography and current issues classes!

EXPLORE REFUGEE STORIES

CELBRATING 35 YEARS OF CHOICES

If you’re the same age as Choices (35!) or younger OR you’ve been teaching for 5 or fewer years, remember to enter our October giveaway as part of our anniversary celebration! We’ll randomly select 35 individuals to receive a free curriculum unit. We’d love to celebrate with you! Giveaway ends October 31.

ENTER TO WIN

AHA REPORT ON TEACHING U.S. HISTORY

The American Historical Association recently released American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools, a report on a “two-year exploration of secondary US history education” (p. 8). The report provides a detailed look at what students in U.S. history classrooms are learning, based on surveys, interviews, and reviews of instructional materials from across the country.

Choices appears several times in the American Lesson Plan, which describes the Choices Program’s “distinguished role-playing” activities and notes that “the ‘options’ moment—when a student is tasked with making a decision as a historical actor—is preceded by substantial historical and historiographical context” (p. 106). The variety of positions that Choices provides for role-plays and perspectives activities exposes students to wide-ranging viewpoints and opinions as they develop their own positions on a topic.

The report observes that Choices Program materials often cover events and information “less commonly cited in standards or broad timelines” (p. 142) and provide “in-depth histories of specific places” (p. 160), such as in the Choices Program’s Westward Expansion curriculum unit.

READ THE FULL REPORT

TITLE 1 SCHOOLS

Choices offers discounted access to our Digital Editions platform to support schools that serve low-income student populations around the country. If your school receives Title I funding and at least 50 percent of your students receive free or reduced lunch, email us at choices_digital@brown.edu for a discounted Site License quote. Site Licenses are for multiple teachers at a school, compared to Individual Teacher Licenses.

To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Joukowsky Institute has created a poster featuring the national flowers of Hispanic countries. Learn more about some of the featured flowers below!

Mexico – the dahlia 

The dahlia was named Mexico’s national flower in 1963 and has cultural significance dating back to the Aztecs. They used the tubers as a food source and for medicinal purposes, including treating epilepsy. The dahlia represents pride, beauty, elegance, inner strength, and creativity. The tuberous roots can be eaten and used to make honey, jam, flour, or cookies and can help regulate blood glucose levels and lower cholesterol and triglycerides.

Colombia – the cattleya orchid

Spain – the carnation

The carnation is a symbol of Spanish folklore and has been associated with the country for centuries. It’s a common sight at Spanish celebrations, including weddings, births, and funerals, and is also part of bullfights, flamenco dancing, and parades. A rich red carnation symbolizes deep love and affection, while a pale red carnation represents admiration. Carnations were traditionally used as a herb to treat pain, anxiety, and infection.

Argentina – erythrina crista-galli

The erythrina crista-galli, also known as ceibo or cockspur coral tree, was declared Argentina’s national flower in 1942. Legend has it that the ceibo originated when Anahí, a young Native American girl, was sentenced to die at the stake by invaders. As the fire grew, she transformed into a majestic tree covered with fiery red flowers. The ceibo is a symbol of bravery in Argentina and is celebrated in poetry, songs, and folklore. Additionally, the tree’s wood is used to craft the body of Argentina’s traditional drums, known as bombo leguero.

Peru – the cantutas

The cantutas, also known as Cantua buxifolia, is the sacred flower of the Incas and is also referred to as the Peruvian magic tree. In ancient Peru, the petals were used to decorate the roads that the Incas would pass through. In Peru, the. flower is threaded on strings to welcome people’s incorporated into hat designs. It is consecrated to the sun god, featured in traditional Andean festivities and funerals, and used in religious decorations.

The remaining countries and their respective flowers shown in the graphic are: Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Honduras, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, and Equatorial Guinea.