Professor of Classical Archaeology

The Department of Archaeology at Boston University seeks a distinguished Classical Archaeologist to fill the James R. Wiseman Chair of Archaeology. The ideal candidate, who will be appointed with tenure effective 1 September 2010, will be a leader in the discipline with substantial experience in field research and a commitment to excellence in teaching. Preference will be given to candidates with active research in the historical periods of Greece, Italy, and the Western Mediterranean. Application letter, curriculum vitae, and the names of three referees should be sent by 15 December 2009 to Professor Ricardo J. Elia, Boston University, Department of Archaeology, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Boston University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Assistant Professor of Archaeology

Boston University’s Department of Archaeology announces a tenure-track opening for an Assistant Professor in Mesoamerican Archaeology effective 1 September 2010; regional and period specializations open. Ph.D. is required, together with an ongoing research program. Candidates should be prepared to teach general archaeology courses in addition to courses in their special field at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Application letter, curriculum vitae, published paper or sample of writing, and the names of three referees should be sent by December 15, 2009 to: Professor Mary C. Beaudry, Boston University, Archaeology Department, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215-1406. Boston University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Archaeological Institute of America has announced that Professor Paul Goldberg will receive the 2010 Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology. The Science Award is one of the two greatest honors that the AIA confers. The Science Medal will be awarded at the awards ceremony during the AIA annual meeting in Anaheim, CA (January 6-9, 2010).

Professor Paul Goldberg and Francesco Berna are co-PIs on a $331,738 NSF lab improvement grant awarded July, 2009.

The following courses were offered during the summer of 2009 in the Archaeology Department and may also be offered in the future:

CAS AR 100 Great Discoveries in Archaeology
Illustrated lectures focus on the important discoveries of the discipline of archaeology. Course covers the whole of human prehistory around the world. Archaeological methods are described, along with the great ancient sites: Olduvai, Lascaux, Stonehenge, Egyptian Pyramids, Machu Picchu. (4.0/Lecture)

CAS AR 372/GRS AR 772 Archaeology of Boston
Boston’s buried history revealed through excavated artifacts and features. Tours of archaeological laboratories, Boston’s neighborhoods, burying grounds, waterfront, and Harbor Islands. “Big Dig” finds in Charlestown, Mill Pond, North End; Fanueil Hall, Blackstone Block, Boston Common, and Paul Revere House. (4.0/Lecture)

Find out more information here.

Menorca

The Archaelogical Summer Field School in Menorca, Spain is an idyllic site also offering a program this summer. Find out more information here.

Syria

More information coming soon…

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $600,000 grant to Boston University’s International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History (ICEAACH) to support the development of ARC/Base, an online, multilingual bibliographic database of East Asian archaeology.

Under the direction of ARC/Base Project Manager David Cohen, adjunct assistant professor of archaeology, and ICEAACH Database Manager Jeffrey Kao, ARC/Base will provide comprehensive publication records for the archaeology of East and Southeast Asia. Regional collaborators at leading research institutes in these regions play a key role in providing guidance and publication data from Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and many other countries.

In addition to archaeological publications, ARC/Base includes related publications in anthropology, history, art history, paleography, geography, environmental sciences, religion, geology, history of science, and numerous other disciplines. Coverage includes individual journal articles (including papers from smaller-circulation, local-level journals), individual papers in edited volumes, books and monographs, excavation reports, dissertations and theses, selected newspaper articles, and “gray literature” field reports (non-commercial published reports of government-mandated survey and excavation projects).

The Henry Luce Foundation awarded the Department of Archaeology a grant of $450,000 to develop a new academic program in East Asian Archaeology. The grant enables the Department to build on work started in 1999 when, with a major grant from the Luce Foundation, the University established the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History (ICEAACH), now a leading center for research, teaching, publication, and international outreach in the field. This new grant supports a plan to integrate ICEAACH into the Department through the appointment of ICEAACH founder and director Robert Murrowchick to a new, full-time, tenure-track academic position, the creation of a comprehensive sequence of undergraduate and graduate courses in East Asian Archaeology, and through support for graduate students and young professonals from Asia or elsewhere who wish to come to Boston University for specialized training.

Kevin Cooney and Nicholas Wolff were both awarded the GRAF (Long-term Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship) for $10,000 for the year of 2009. Congratulations!

The following students successfully defended their PhD’s in 2009:

Shoshaunna Parks, “Archaeological Ethics and the Struggle for Community Legitimacy in the Maya Archaeoscape”

China Shelton, “A Paleoethnobotanical Approach to Central Apennine Economy and Identity in the Sangro River Valley, Abruzzo, Italy, 650 B.C.-A.D. 150”

Astrid Runggaldier, “Memory and Materiality in Monumental Architecture: Construction and Reuse of a Late Preclassic Maya Palace at San Bartolo, Guatemala”