Friday, February 4th, 3:00pm – 4:15pm EST

Climate change presents a major threat to archaeological heritage in the small islands of the Eastern Caribbean. The effects of tourism-based economic development in island economies also poses a significant threat to cultural heritage. We will reflect on our experience documenting heritage resources in this perfect storm and discuss major issues and initiatives in the region including capacity building and community engagement.

John G. Crock is an Associate Professor and Director of Consulting Archaeology Program in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Vermont. He is an archaeologist specializing in pre-Contact northeastern North America and the pre-Columbian Caribbean with research interests including human-environment interaction, maritime adaptation, trade and exchange, the development of inequality, and heritage management. Dr. Crock received his B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1989 where his experience as an Anthropology major inspired him to become a professional archaeologist. After conducting cultural resource management archaeology in New England and the Caribbean, he went on to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2000. That same year, John returned to UVM, joined the faculty and also became the Director of UVM’s Consulting Archaeology Program (CAP).

Jay Haviser, Director of the St. Maarten Archaeological Center (SIMARC), is an archaeologist and anthropologist who has conducted archaeological fieldwork in St. Martin and Curacao. Dr. Haviser received his BA and MS from Florida State University, and his Ph.D. in 1987 from the Royal University of Leiden. He was formerly was a researcher at Leiden University and has served as vice president of the International Association of Caribbean Archaeology.

This webinar is part of the series New Directions in Caribbean Archaeology.

Register in advance.

Tuesday, February 1st, 1:00pm – 2:00pm EST

This is a fully funded opportunity for up to six students. It involves participation in the team project: The Koutroulou Magoula Archaeology and Archaeological Ethnography Project: https://blogs.brown.edu/koutrouloumagoula/.

Koutroulou Magoula is a multi-period archaeological site in central Greece, which is becoming increasingly known internationally due to its astonishing preservation and its diverse and unusual material record, as well as the pioneering archaeological and ethnographic methodologies adopted in its exploration. The main period of habitation of the site is the Middle Neolithic (c. 6000-5800 BCE).

The project relies on the participation of a large number of scholars and other specialists, including anthropologists, geoarchaeologists, archaeobotanists, archaeozoologists, organic residue specialists, ceramic petrographers, bioarchaeologists and physical anthropologists, soil micro-morphologists, computing application specialists, even performance artists and theatre specialists. Through this detailed interdisciplinary work, we have unearthed a very elaborate settlement with extremely well preserved, stone and mud brick buildings, occupied by a community which was engaged in large scale communal projects, including terracing and the construction of large, perimeter ditches around the settlement. In 2018-2019, the Brown team unearthed a pottery kiln complex, a rare find for the Middle Neolithic. We also located and excavated a highly unusual inhumation burial, associated with the kiln complex. These important contexts will be explored further by our team, in 2022. This community also produced and used impressive material culture, including clay figurines, around 500 of each have already being unearthed and studied, one of the largest such collections from the Neolithic of Southeastern Europe.

In this project, we will be excavating this amazing site but we will be also studying the material, and carrying out ethnographic work in the community. Finally, as happens in every excavation season, we will design and stage a theatrical performance on the excavation site, with the participation of local communities. Participating students will take part in all these activities. No archaeological experience is required.

Read more about the project.

From the Archaeological Centers Coalition:

The Archaeological Centers Coalition presents: How to Build a Career and a Life in Archaeology: Tips from the Hired and Hirers for BIPOC Archaeologists. A panel of three persons who hire and three persons who were recently hired discuss their experiences and offer advice in break-out rooms.

Feb 17, 2022 3:00-5:00 PM EST

Register here.

From the Brown Arts Institute and the Department of Modern Culture and Media:

Please join the Brown Arts Institute and the Department of Modern Culture and Media for a lecture by Professor Alexander Weheliye, Professor of African American Studies, Northwestern University.

“SchwarzSein: Black Life Beyond the Human “

Monday, January 31 @ 5:00 PM   

Via Zoom https://brown.zoom.us/j/99941013270

Professor Alexander Weheliye’s talk focuses on some of the different ways Blackness operates as the ontological mattering of ungendering. Conceptualizing Blackness as integral to being as such, the talk imagines how its multiple manifestations matter and operate both through and beyond the category of the human. Drawing on examples from the history of science, popular culture, and Edward Said’s thinking, He highlights how Blackness offers openings for different formings and matterings beyond  modern, western Man. 

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Organized by the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Brown Arts Institute and Department of Modern Culture and Media