WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ALLISON MICKEL

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ALLISON MICKEL

Photo by Scott Haddow.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

My most memorable moment was probably my first day of excavation, kneeling on Neolithic plaster that I had only read about, struggling to identify the outline of something called a ‘ladder scar.’ Even though I’d been on archaeological projects before, I was being handed tools that I had never heard of and being asked to look for minute differences in color unlike anything I’d ever needed to do previously. It was the feeling of a challenge even within my comfort zone, of being around experts, and of the uncertainty and hope that I’d become one of them.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

Keep a journal! Not only does it give you an outlet for when times are hard and a means of working out your complex thoughts, but if you plan to go on in archaeology, it will always remind you where you started from.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

The annual meeting overlaps with that of the American Anthropological Association, which has been more important for me to attend recently.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

I am currently a PhD candidate in the anthropology department at Stanford University, conducting dissertation research at Catalhoyuk and at Petra. My research aims to recover the oral histories of archaeological excavation retained by the past workers and their families at these two sites.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The Platt Fellowship provided me with resources that would have been impossible for me to get any other way, since I had graduated from undergraduate but had not yet entered my doctoral program. I had no institutional support, and the Platt Fellowship allowed me to meet my graduate advisor, acquire an understanding of the site where I would later conduct my dissertation research, learn how to recognize Neolithic mudbrick, and build friendships that would lead to collaborations.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? PAUL MICHAEL KURTZ

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

PAUL MICHAEL KURTZ

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

Beyond the personal memories I recall with the greatest fondness, I will never forget the thrill of uncovering “Abram’s Altar,” a small mud-brick shrine unearthed in my particular square.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

I would recommend any recipient try to work with Elizabeth Bloch-Smith. Otherwise, I would say digging—in the heat of summer especially—is a love–hate relationship, depending on the day. As the post-dig months pass by, however, the love quickly outshines the hate.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

I am an ASOR member and plan on remaining so indefinitely.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

A research assistant at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, I am currently writing on Wilhelmine historiography of ancient Israelite religion.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

Thanks to the generous Heritage Fellowship, I was able to participate in the excavations at Tel Dor. This opportunity brought to life not only the ancient world but also the very enterprise of archaeology, providing me with far greater perspective as I continue to read of the tremendous finds yielded through controlled excavation.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? EMILY WILSON

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

EMILY WILSON

Emily on the acropolis of Philippi in Greece.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

My most memorable moment was when we finally were able to identify the building we had been digging – a temple! This identification suddenly made all of the finds make sense and a week or so afterwards, we came upon the temple’s ovens.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

My advice to a fellow recipient is to enjoy the dig as much as possible!

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

I am affiliated with ASOR by being a student at University of Chicago, an ASOR – affiliated school.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

I am a PhD student at Chicago. I am living in Athens for the year, as a regular member at the American School.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The Heritage Fellowship allowed me to participate in the excavations at Zincirli, which was invaluable because I am an archaeologist, and therefore must dig every year. Zincirli is well suited to my interests in interactions between the Classical Greek world and the Near Eastern/Anatolian world as well, so digging there helps focus my interests into one physical site and set of material culture.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? HEATHER PILLETTE

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

HEATHER PILLETTE

Heather aiding in the measurement of a small jar.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

There were innumerable “memorable moment”, so choosing only one is quite the difficult task. If I had to choose just one, it would have to be between uncovering a large hippo jar in my square or closing the dig down the last day. The hippo jar was exciting because I had spent a semester reading about them and other types of pottery vessels, and so the discovery of one was quite exciting. Likewise, there were a few students who came to close the dig down with Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen; it was a very special moment to witness the last-ever day Tel Rehov was open for excavation.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

It is also difficult to give one standard word of advice for the plethora of recipients represented who have different background, career goals, and emphases. My best advice would be to encourage humility, teachability, and joy. In my experience, my gratitude and joy in receiving such an honor and financial gift made the experience that much more enjoyable. In addition to this, no matter your past experience in archaeology (if any) and no matter your specific interests, you can learn something significant on every dig if you are willing to be open and teachable. So, enjoy the time you have and ask many questions! Give everything you have to your experience; you won’t regret it!

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

Yes, I am still affiliated with ASOR through my graduate program at Asbury Theological Seminary. I am currently finishing my Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation. I am looking at a variety of schools and PhD programs in Old Testament (Theology/Biblical Studies) for future work.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

As previously mentioned, I am in my final year(s) of completing my Master’s degrees. My hope and desire is to continue my education in the form of an Old Testament PhD. At this time I intend to work in Hebrew Poetry, specifically Lamentations. I am currently working with the book of Lamentations on a syntactical level but also in regards to how it fits in Christian theology and worship.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The fellowship was a great honor and a help in supporting my first archaeological endeavor. It is my hope to return to excavations as early as next summer. Archaeology is a field which gives answers but more often than not leads to many more questions. I have found the same to be true as I dig deeper into the Biblical text, especially when done in its original language. This is the beauty of scholarship. The dig I went on moved me beyond the technical and academic and into the passionate reality of what we were excavating and holding: items left behind from real people who lived and breathed just as we do today. There is something inexplicably beautiful the moment one has such a realization. Although my emphasis is not in archaeology, this trip served as a critical and foundational turning point in my scholarship, one which will have lasting effects.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ROBERT STARK

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ROBERT STARK

Robert working on a project in Egypt.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

The most memorable moment of my excavation experience was working in the crypts. I was involved with the excavation of the Robebus chapel East crypt directed by Dr. Margaret Judd at Mt. Nebo, Jordan. The crypt is subterranean, being ~2 meters below the surface, and is comprised of two low ceilinged (~1 m in height) chambers from which commingled skeletal remains were excavated. The experience of lowering myself down into and excavating in the crypt is the most memorable moment of my time at Mt. Nebo. The odd feeling of being so close to the surface yet contained in an area completely silent, due to the enclosing rock, was both eerie and mesmerizing, a very exhilarating site.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

The advice I would give a fellow recipient is to use every opportunity the excavation provides you. There are countless opportunities to learn new skills and to improve skills you already have. Take these opportunities as they come and make the best of your time in the field.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

My ASOR membership appears to have lapsed recently. This is not for any particular reason but rather from an uncertainty of if I had renewed or not.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

I am currently a doctoral candidate in biological anthropology at McMaster University.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

I am presently a doctoral candidate in biological anthropology at McMaster University looking at human migration in antiquity using oxygen (d18O) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopic analyses and nonmetric skeletal traits. I have also recently become involved with an ongoing excavation in Egypt examining human skeletal and mummified remains as part of a project in the Theban necropolis.

The Platt Fellowship helped direct me towards the path I am currently on by giving me the opportunity to excavate and analyze human skeletal remains. By being involved in the Robebus Chapel excavation at Mt. Nebo, Jordan my interest in pursuing bioarchaeology as a career path was re-affirmed, providing me with guidance to continue on to pursue a doctoral degree, which I am presently undertaking.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? PATRICK CLARK

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

PATRICK CLARK

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

The most memorable moment for me has been getting to know the Bedouin.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

I would tell a fellow recipient that though archaeology and discovering interesting finds are exciting and important in their own right, getting to know the people and land of Jordan is one of the most rewarding and enduring experiences. In this way, archaeologists can serve as ambassadors of their country in Jordan and as ambassadors of Jordan and its people back home.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

I have never been a member only because of negligence on my part. [Patrick was able to apply for a fellowship because his university is an institutional ASOR member.]

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

By the end of this semester I hope to be a PhD candidate at the University of California Berkeley, writing a social history of Roman taxation.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The generous support of the Platt Excavation Fellowship enabled me to work with the Bir Madhkur Project and Andrew Smith, whose work and ideas about state and civilian interactions has contributed in no small degree to my current dissertation project. Smith and, now, I are asking what sort of interactions did Roman frontier policy create.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? MONIQUE VINCENT

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

MONIQUE VINCENT

Monique at Khirbet al-Balu’a in 2012.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

I had taken some Arabic courses before the 2011 season, so one of the more memorable experiences during that season was having discussions with some of our workers at ‘Umayri. Having a chance to share our different perspectives on the archaeological work as well as discuss history and everyday life was a great experience.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

Take time to enjoy getting to know the culture and people of the region where you work. Especially the food!

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

Yes. I presented at the last Annual Meeting in Baltimore on my dissertation research.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

I am a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, and am currently living in San Diego while working on my dissertation. I work as an Associate Curator for the Center for Near Eastern Archaeology at La Sierra University, and currently am a Visiting Assistant Professor there as well for the Winter and Spring 2014 quarters. I am still a staff member of the Madaba Plains Project – Tall al-‘Umayri excavations, and am part of the directing staff of the Balu’a Regional Archaeology Project, centered on Khirbat al-Balu’a (where the photo was taken). Both of these projects are in Jordan.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The Heritage Fellowship allowed to me to excavate and collect data essential for my dissertation research at Tall al-‘Umayri. It gave me the opportunity to continue studying domestic buildings and everyday life, which I am researching in order to answer questions about social identity during the Early Iron Age.

Learn more about ASOR Excavation Fellowships[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1490571214409{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_wp_posts title=”BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE” number=”5″ show_date=”1″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1490225688999{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text]Tweets by ASOResearch [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ZELJKO REZEK

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ZELJKO REZEK

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

The whole season was pretty memorable, since the fieldwork took place in the Petra area in Jordan. Maybe what stands out the most was the exploration and visits to the sites of other time periods and cultures in the area. The site I have been working on is an Epipaleolithic site, dating into the terminal Pleistocene. It was a very nice experience to find and see contexts of other periods and influences–Neolithic, Bronze-Age, Nabatean, Graeco-Roman, Byzantine–in the same area, offering an insight into the deep-time changes in the culture, behavior and adaptation to the environment of human societies during the last 15,000 years.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

If possible, try to grasp the wider social and natural context of the past you are working on, by exploring the wider area of your field site and by putting it into a current social landscape. This gives the past another dimension.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

Yes, through my university.

What is the current status of your career or education?

The fellowship was a considerable financial aid in going abroad for that field season. During the same trip though, I have managed to develop contacts with some of the government offices and to obtain a prospect of starting my own research. Today, I am directing my own research and fieldwork in that country, which is about adaptations of human groups to Pleistocene environments of the Levant, put in the wider context of such adaptations in the neighboring regions like North Africa and Arabia.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ADAM BEAN

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ADAM BEAN

Adam photographing artifacts at the Karak Resources Project lab at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tennessee.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

The most memorable part of the 2011 season in Jordan for me was taking part in the discovery of two new Iron Age volute capital fragments, both within the same week. I have since been working on a study of these capitals along with others from Jordan, which I hope to publish in the near future.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

To other fellowship recipients I would simply say, take every possible advantage of the learning opportunities that working on an archaeological project in the Middle East offers, even if, like me, your primary areas of study are text-focused. There is no substitute for being “on the ground,” amidst the material remains of the ancient cultures we try to understand.

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

I receive ASOR benefits as a student at an ASOR member institution, attend annual and regional ASOR meetings regularly, and have presented papers at ASOR meetings.

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

After working in Jordan in the summer of 2011, I began a PhD in Northwest Semitics in the department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. I remain involved with the Karak Resources Project, and in 2013 I returned to Jordan to work on a research project of my own, using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (with equipment and training from the West Semitic Research Project) to document and study several ancient inscriptions.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

By helping with the costs of participating in the 2011 season of the Karak Resources Project in Jordan, the ASOR Heritage Fellowship supported my first “on the ground” experience of archaeology in the Middle East, and also helped launch me into several areas of research interest as I have moved forward in my education. Three years later, I am still pursuing interests that were first cultivated during that experience.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? CAROLINE CARTER

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ASOR FELLOWSHIP RECIPIENTS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

CAROLINE CARTER

Caroline with the cult statue of Apollo Patroos found in the Agora in Athens. She received a Platt Fellowship in 2012.

What was your most memorable moment during the excavation season you participated in?

The most memorable moment during the 2012 season at Huqoq, Israel was the discovery of the mosaic floor in the synagogue! We gathered around as a student brushed away dirt to reveal two faces left mostly intact and a Hebrew/Aramaic. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience.

What advice would you give a fellow recipient?

I would advise a fellow recipient to thank the ASOR donors by participating by showing continued gratitude on the dig. Make the fellowship worthwhile- have fun and discover!

Are you still affiliated with ASOR as a member?

Last year I was not a member of ASOR. I decided to attend a new dig at Azoria, Crete in Greece. [Caroline was able to apply for a fellowship because her university has an institutional ASOR membership.]

What is the current status of your career or education (or other project)?

Currently, I am a senior majoring in Classical Archaeology and Ancient Mediterranean religions. I plan to take a year off then apply to graduate programs in Classics or Religious Studies for 2015. I am interested in the Greek and Roman influence in Judea.

How did the scholarship/grant help you with your career?

The Platt Fellowship that I received helped me to be able to attend my second season in Huqoq. Experience is essential for everyone pursuing to continue on in the field of archaeology. Sometimes we need a little help to get there.