ASOR WELCOMES RACHEL BERNSTEIN AS COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Rachel Bernstein joined ASOR on October 1 as Communications Manager. She has a Ph.D. in Desert Studies and Archaeology from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, as well as an M.A. in Desert Studies from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a B.A. in English from Goucher College.

Rachel has been acquainted with ASOR for a number of years. She previously was an Educational and Cultural Affairs Junior Research Fellow at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in 2022.

Rachel participated in her first survey of a Middle to Late Epipalaeolithic period site exposed during a salvage project conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the site of Ashalim in the Negev highlands in 2014. Since then, she participated in seasons at Horvat Tsalit and Nessana in the Negev Desert with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Haifa University. She received the Society for Classical Studies Ludwig Koenen Fellowship for papyrology training at Leiden University in 2017. Her doctoral research developed the socioeconomic profile of early Christian monasteries in the Negev Desert.

Rachel also has several years of experience in journalism and communications. She started her career as a reporter for news outlets in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and coordinated communications and social media efforts for an international master’s in public health program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She also served as an editor and contributing writer for The Jerusalem Post while concluding her Ph.D.

She most recently was the Editorial Assistant for Studies in Late Antiquity: A Journal, published by University of California Press.

Rachel is delighted to join ASOR as Communications Manager, where she’ll oversee outreach efforts in social media and communications with ASOR members and the public. She looks forward to supporting the ASOR community!