Report from the Chair of the Archaeology Program

reports fRom the ChAiRs

Report from the Chair of the Archaeology Program

Stephen B. Acabado1

As we find ourselves at the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic and begin to return to some semblance of normality, we aim to continue to work collaboratively and engage with one another in a safe and productive environment. This is my first official report as chair of the Archaeology Program. This statement therefore provides details on the achievement of our students under the guidance of Gregson Schachner, who stepped down as chair after three years of service. However, Greg is still very much actively engaged in my transition, responding to my many questions. Thank you, Greg!

Since Greg’s last report, seven students fully completed their degrees. Because of the pandemic, we invited both 2020 and 2021 graduates to participate in the spring 2022 celebrations. Faculty, students, and staff of the Cotsen Institute celebrated our graduates on the terrace of the Fowler Museum, together with families and friends. KAtelyn Jo Bishop graduated with a thesis entitled “Ritual Practice, Ceremonial Organization, and the Value and Use of Birds in Pre-Hispanic Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, 800–1150 CE.” Gregson Schachner and Richard Lesure, both at the Department of Anthropology, chaired her dissertation committee. Katelyn has joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign as an assistant professor of anthropology.

BrAndon BrAun graduated with a thesis entitled “Commemorating Classical Battles: A Landscape Biography Approach to Marathon, Leuktra, and Chaironeia.” Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee.

1. Associate professor of anthropology and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA.

Figure 1. Our graduation party on the roof terrace of the Fowler Museum, May 11, 2022. Left to right: Gazmend Elezi (and his son), Katelyn Bishop, Willeke Wendrich, and Karime Castillo Cardenas.

R e P o R t s f R om the C h A i R s

KArime CAstillo CArdenAs graduated with a thesis entitled “Glass Production in Colonial Mexico: Technology Transfer, Adoption, and Adaptation.” Ioanna Kakoulli of the Samueli School of Engineering chaired her dissertation committee. Karime has joined the faculty of Bowdoin College in Maine as an assistant professor of anthropology.

AdAm diBAttistA graduated with a thesis entitled “Animal Transformations of Animal Materials in Early Greece.” Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee. Adam now is a visiting research scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.

GAzmend elezi graduated with a thesis entitled “Sociocultural Dimensions of Production, Use, and Circulation of Late Neolithic Pottery for the Southern Balkans.” Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee. Gazmend now is a postdoctoral researcher in the Pasarow Mass Spectrometer Laboratory at UCLA.

VerA rondAno graduated with a thesis entitled “The Economy of Human Resilience: Exploring Economic Growth during Periods of Political Fragmentation in Ancient Egypt.” Kathlyn Cooney, at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, chaired her dissertation committee.

Amr shAhAt graduated with a thesis entitled “Climate Change and the Social History of Food in Ancient Egypt: Between Humanities and Life Sciences.” Willeke Wendrich, at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, chaired his dissertation committee. Amr now is a postdoctoral researcher at the Cotsen Institute.

Our continuing students received numerous awards over the course of the academic year. They succeeded in internal UCLA competitions, receiving a Graduate Research Mentorship (Lucha Martinez de Luna; Dominque Spark-Stokes), a FLAS Fellowship (Dominique Spark-Stokes), a CMRS-CEGS Fellowship (Earl John Cedo Hernandez), and an Edward A. Dickson Fellowship in the History of Art (Eden Franz). Carly Pope received a Fulbright Fellowship and a Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Short-Term Fellowship to support her dissertation work in Panama.

Six students joined our program beginning in fall 2022; their backgrounds and research interests are highlighted elsewhere in this volume. Alex Casteel joins UCLA after completing an MA/MPhil and will focus his PhD research on Norse archaeology, mythology, and Old Norse sagas. Earl John Cedo Hernandez recently completed his MA in anthropology and will look at the archaeology of Spanish colonialism in his graduate work at UCLA. Ariadin Jones majored in Asian area studies and minored in archaeology, with an additional concentration in bioarchaeology. She is looking at combining these interests at UCLA. Luis Rodriguez-Perez will pursue research on urbanism and landscape in the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman periods using applied photogrammetry and three-dimensional modeling. The graduate research of Gabriel Silva Collins will focus on the pre-Hispanic Andes and will examine interregional exchange along the borders of the Inca Empire. He is especially interested in the relationship between political and environmental borders at the domestic and non-elite scale. Zichao Wang has proposed research covering the history and civilization of early China, especially political and cultural transformations in the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. His academic interests include historical geography, early Chinese epigraphy, studies of Confucian classics, Chinese intellectual history, ancient Chinese architectures, Chinese ritual history, and cultural theories.

Again, I thank Greg Schachner for steering the Archaeology Program to great heights, even amid the pandemic. Through Greg’s leadership, the program maintained its high National Research Council ranking. I look forward to working with our dedicated staff, faculty, students, volunteers, donors, and the larger UCLA community. I welcome questions, concerns, and input to further strengthen the Archaeology Program.

I eagerly anticipate a successful year ahead!