Category Archives: News and Events

John Carter Brown Library Open Hours

The JCB Library will be hosting open hours on Friday, May 19, 2023 to celebrate their newly accessible physical and digital spaces. The order of events are as below:

Speaker and Award Presentation

3 p.m. | College Green

University and JCB Library leadership will provide remarks and present the JCB Award for Outstanding Service and Scholarship to

Dr. María Isabel Grañén Porrúa, scholar, philanthropist and a leader in libraries and archives of the Americas.

Library Tours

3-5 p.m. | JCB Library, 94 George St.

Tour the renovation of the historic building’s west entrance, explore the new exhibit, “1846: Inventing Americana at the John Carter Brown Library,” and learn more about the library’s new digital platform.

Reception

5-6:30 p.m. | Hope Club, 71 Waterman Street

Enjoy light refreshments with University and library leadership and other invited guests.

Register here!

Met Fellows’ 2023 Spring Presentation

Presenting cross-cultural and trans-historical connections rooted in a deep engagement with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection, the fellows’ research this year evades easy classification by circumventing traditional disciplinary boundaries and exploring exciting new avenues of inquiry across the humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage preservation.

Taking place virtually on Zoom from May 4 through May 19, 10 AM and 1 PM on Thursdays and Fridays, this year’s events will feature 47 fellows presenting 20-minute talks. All sessions will be followed by rich panel discussions benefitting from the insights and expertise of staff from across curatorial and conservation. Registration is required for the virtual presentations.

Fellows will also activate their research onsite and in-person on Fridays, May 5, 12 (The Cloisters), and 19 through talks, musical performances, and other exciting activations of the galleries. This event is included with museum admission and registration is not required.

Register for the Zoom presentations here.

Lecture: Archaeology of Settler Capitalism

Dear Friends and Colleagues of Archaeology,

During the Spring of 2023, Boston University’s Archaeology Program will be hosting a series of lectures. The next lecture is An Archaeology of Settler Capitalism and will take place Wednesday, April 12th from 12:20 pm–1:10 pm*, STO 253, 675 Commonwealth Ave., Boston. Dr. Eric Johnson from Brown University will be sharing their work.

Abstract

From at least 1750 until 1900, Euro-American settlers of New York and New Jersey appropriated the production of Indigenous North American shell beads, namely wampum. The cottage industry was initially driven primarily by Euro-American women, but by the mid-19th century, bead-making in New Jersey went through a process of partial industrialization, culminating in the Campbell Wampum Factory. As American imperialism shifted from the Old Northwest to the Plains, new bead styles emerged from the factory’s drilling machines and water-powered grinding wheels, including hair pipes, a style iconic of Native Plains identity. Analysis of museum collections, new excavations, and merchant ledger manuscripts reveal details of settler beadmaking from 1770 to 1900, including temporalities of production, waste, and racial and gendered labor dynamics in transition to factory production. Conclusions warrant greater archaeological attention to the relationship between capitalist industrialization, settler-colonial dispossession, and Indigenous resistance.
 

Dr. Johnson’s Bio

Eric Johnson is Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Native American and Indigenous Art and Architecture in the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative and the Cogut Institute for the Humanities. He earned his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University in 2021. His research combines archaeological and historical methods to examine intersecting effects of colonialism and capitalism in North America, specifically northern New Jersey. His current book project, “An Archaeology of Settler Capitalism: Appropriating and Industrializing Wampum Manufacture in New Jersey (1770–1900),” exposes the entwined nature of capitalist and settler ideologies through the untold story of Euro-American settlers who produced Indigenous shell beads for export to the fur trade.

*Dr. Eric Johnson has offered to stay until around 2 pm to talk with interested members of the BU Archaeology community. Following the talk, you are welcome to stay and continue the conversation with him.

Deadline Extended: Italy Conservation Summer Field School

San Gemini Preservation Studies is still accepting applications for their summer 2023 field school in Italy. The deadline for applications is extended to April 15, 2023. There are still spaces in their Archaeological Ceramics and Paper Restoration Programs. Other programs have short waitlists (please contact them or visit our website for details).  

Now in its 23rd year, with alumni from over 170 colleges and universities worldwide, SGPS is dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage. They offer students the opportunity to study and travel in Italy where they acquire hands-on experience in restoration and conservation.   

Session One (June 5 – June 30)

Building Restoration – Touching the Stones waitlist

Restoration of Traditional Masonry Buildings and Sketching and Analyzing Historic Buildings 

(Program includes lectures and restoration field projects*) 

Archaeological Ceramics Restoration

Analysis and Restoration of Archaeological Ceramics in Italy 

(Program includes lectures and restoration workshop*) 

Book Bindings Restoration 

Introduction to the History and Craft of Bookbindings

Introduction to the Preservation and Preventive Conservation of Books 

(Program includes lectures and practical workshop*) 

Session Two (July 17 – August 11)

Paper Restoration

Introduction to the Restoration and Conservation of Paper in Artwork and Archival Documents 

(Program includes lectures and restoration workshop*) 

Traditional Painting Techniqueswaitlist

Traditional Materials, Methods of Painting and Art Restoration Issues 

(Program includes lectures and painting workshop) 

Preservation Theory and Practice in Italy 

Restoration Theory, Ethics and Issues 

(Program includes lectures and discussion) 

*Field Projects:

  • Restoration of Porta Tuderte (also known as the San Giovanni City Gate) (13th century) 
  • Analysis of medieval buildings in San Gemini as part of an urban study of the city 
  • Restoration and conservation of artifacts from the Parco del Colosseo and Museo delle Storie di Bergamo 
  • Restoration of the Historic Archives of the Commune di San Gemini
  • Archaeological research of the Roman Baths in the Ancient City of Carsulae 

Short Intersession Program (July 3 – 12)waitlist

Preservation Tour – Italy

A ten-day trip visiting Siena, Florence and Rome: places of cultural interest, with emphasis on the urban and historical development of each town, including specialized visits to places of interest to restorers. 

Postponement Notice: World Neolithic Congress

Message from the World Neolithic Congress:

Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,

Since the initial steps in organizing the World Neolithic Congress, positive input from colleagues all over the World waiting impatiently for the Congress to take place has been a continuous source of enchanting inspiration. The earthquake on the 6th of February devastating most of south-eastern Turkey and parts of Syria causing the loss of countless lives, of families and friends, leaving many homeless and almost entirely destroying some of the towns, deeply saddened us all, and inevitably necessitated a revision of priorities. Even in the early aftermath, postponing the World Neolithic Congress seemed the only solution; however, we had to obtain the consent of all partners before making an announcement.

Under the prevailing conditions, contacting our partners, Istanbul University, Harran University, the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism, local collaborators, sponsors and the Scientific Committee as well, needed time. Fortunately, we now have the full consent of all parties to postpone the congress until 2024. Despite the eventuality of the postponement, we have been gratified to receive messages from participants expressing their continued enthusiasm about the congress coming to fruition.  When the physical environment in Türkiye begins to recover and conditions become clearer, information about a definite date will be given. We hope that we shall all meet once health and happiness have been restored in the region.

Respectfully,

The World Neolithic Congress