Kara Cooney and Willeke Wendrich Support Program to Increase Inclusivity within the Field of Egyptology

kara Cooney, a professor of Egyptian art and architecture, chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and a core faculty member of the Cotsen Institute, has been instrumental in the creation of an eight-week course to increase inclusivity within the field of Egyptology, in collaboration with Mario Beatty of Howard University.

The course, called Summer Research Internship and Pathway to PhDs in Ancient Egyptian, North African, and Western Asian Studies, started in the summer of 2022. Four students from historically Black colleges and universities were at UCLA to learn about the field while receiving mentorship and support from faculty beyond the program. Besides the course, other benefits included air transportation to Los Angeles, a stipend, room and board in UCLA student housing, and free trips around Los Angeles, with admission to the Getty Villa, the Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art, and others museums.

Together with Jonathan Winnerman, academic administrator for ancient studies, Cooney looked critically at the field of Egyptology before submitting an application for this initiative in 2020. “A small investment of time and money can make a huge change in a small field,” she said. “If we can get that pipeline rolling, we can help students make a dent in American Egyptology and its representation.”

Cooney and Winnerman served as the primary course instructors. Together with Beatty, an associate professor of Afro-American studies at Howard University, and Solange Ashby, a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLA, they continue to mentor students. Willeke Wendrich, director of the Cotsen Institute, was a guest lecturer for the course, which was designed to offer a pipeline program for Black students. Other notable faculty included Talawa Adodo (University of Houston), Salim Faraji (CSU Dominguez Hills), Jessica Johnson (UC Berkeley), Gina Konstantopoulos (UCLA), and Rita Lucarelli (UC Berkeley). They volunteered to give guest lectures on their areas of expertise and to answer questions about graduate programs in Near Eastern studies. Several UCLA graduate students volunteered to meet with students in the program and to accompany them on outings throughout Los Angeles.

Following the end of the program, Beatty continues to support students at both Howard University and other historically Black colleges and universities and to promote such initiatives. Winnerman concludes, “This is not just a summer-long program but an ongoing mentorship that will continue for years. We work with these students, one on one—even after the program—to help them with their research projects and even with applications to graduate school.”

Figure 1. Students of the Summer Research Internship investigate Ethiopian manuscripts in the Library Special Collections at ULCA.

Figure 2. Students and instructors of the Summer Research Internship visit the Getty Villa.