MARCH FELLOWSHIP MADNESS: SETTING OUR SIGHTS ON ASOR’S 120TH YEAR!
Since 2007, with the generous support of our members and donors, ASOR has awarded over 800 fellowships, grants, dig scholarships, and travel awards. These fellowships and grants total just over $850,000, and they have enabled students and scholars across the Near East and the Mediterranean to uncover the past and to broaden our knowledge of the ancient world. The list of fellowships we provide continues to grow. This year—ASOR’s 120th anniversary—our goal is provide $120,000 in dig scholarships, excavation grants, fellowships, and travel support. This $120,000 includes all of our programs: dig scholarships, excavation grants, fellowships for member research, and Annual Meeting travel awards and scholarships.
Last year we awarded $86,000—an amazing total in itself—so this $120,000 goal is ambitious. Yet, there is no better way to celebrate our anniversary than awarding a record amount in funds that will further our mission.
The good news is that we are almost there, and you can help us exceed the total during March Fellowship Madness 2020—ASOR’s 120th year.
Right now (March 3), thanks to the amazing and growing support from endowed funds and gifts already designated for student support in 2019–20, ASOR can fund 27 dig scholarships this summer (2020). With our March Fellowship Madness drive, we aspire to raise $6,000 more to send an additional three people into the field. Our goal is to raise at least an additional $4,000 from ASOR members, and $2,000 from our Friends of ASOR. With your partnership, we will award a record-breaking 30 dig scholarships in 2020.
In addition, every donation will help us exceed our already ambitious goal of awarding $120,000 in excavation grants, dig scholarship, travel support, and research fellowships in 2020!
If you donate to March Fellowship Madness, you support archaeology in a very direct way. Every gift is meaningful and matters. Small gifts of $10 or more not only add up, but they attract larger gifts. ASOR does not charge administrative or overhead fees for gifts made during March Fellowship Madness, so 100% of your contribution will support students and early career scholars.
Select “Student Support” for March Fellowship Madness.
Thank you to all our generous members and donors!
OTHER WAYS TO DONATE
| Donate By Phone | Donate By Mail | Make A Pledge (Donate Later) |
|---|---|---|
| Call ASOR: 703-789-9229 |
ASOR 209 Commerce St. Alexandria, VA 22314 |
E-mail ASOR |
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Hear what past fellowship recipients have to say about their experiences in the field:
“As a student of early Jewish and Christian literature, one of the lasting effects of my experience this summer will be a vastly improved mental image of the world behind the text, both in terms of the physical landscape and geographical features of Israel, as well as the elements of material culture that shaped daily life in the ancient Mediterranean world. If one wants to gain a better understanding of the setting in which these writings were produced, there is no substitute for the kind of firsthand experience that comes with participating in an excavation.
While excavation is hard work, it is exceedingly rewarding; from the beautiful sunrise over the Sea of Galilee and Mount Arbel and exciting discoveries throughout the day, to joking around with the other volunteers, there was never a dull moment digging at Khirbet el-‘Eika. My first archaeological excavation was an unforgettable experience, and I am enormously grateful to ASOR and its donors for making it possible.”
-Austin Richards, 2018 Platt Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“As a student of early Jewish and Christian literature, one of the lasting effects of my experience this summer will be a vastly improved mental image of the world behind the text, both in terms of the physical landscape and geographical features of Israel, as well as the elements of material culture that shaped daily life in the ancient Mediterranean world. If one wants to gain a better understanding of the setting in which these writings were produced, there is no substitute for the kind of firsthand experience that comes with participating in an excavation.“The opportunity to work on the Kerkenes Project was an unmatched experience. The relationship between the international team will remain one of my fondest memories. The feeling of support and camaraderie, the opportunity to use such incredibly cool technologies and techniques, the environment of learning and sharing, makes me excited to return to the field next season, and hopefully the season after that.”
– Jessica R. Robkin, 2019 Member-Supported Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“As a student studying both archaeology and social anthropology, I am most interested in the intersections and interactions of living and past societies in places like archaeological sites or museums. For my undergraduate honors thesis, I am researching the evolution of community-based research practices in the field of archaeology. Hisban is serving as a case study for me because, since 1996, the project has had an explicit community focus. People from the town had always been involved in the project as hired workers or foremen, and there had also been a substantial number of other Jordanian students, professors, administrators, and even royalty who have been involved in the project over time. But starting with the second phase of the project, there have been a series of community-based initiatives to increase interest in and involvement at the site as well as provide other economic and educational opportunities. The project has sponsored English classes, vocational trainings, school trips, field schools and helped to create the Hisban Cultural Association, a locally-run, non-profit organization.”
– Brittany Ellis, 2018 P. E. MacAllister Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“As a student studying both archaeology and social anthropology, I am most interested in the intersections and interactions of living and past societies in places like archaeological sites or museums. For my undergraduate honors thesis, I am researching the evolution of community-based research practices in the field of archaeology. Hisban is serving as a case study for me because, since 1996, the project has had an explicit community focus. People from the town had always been involved in the project as hired workers or foremen, and there had also been a substantial number of other Jordanian students, professors, administrators, and even royalty who have been involved in the project over time. But starting with the second phase of the project, there have been a series of community-based initiatives to increase interest in and involvement at the site as well as provide other economic and educational opportunities. The project has sponsored English classes, vocational trainings, school trips, field schools and helped to create the Hisban Cultural Association, a locally-run, non-profit organization.”“I think the most surprising part of this trip was the emotional impact the actual excavation had on me. There was something so powerful about holding a piece of art made four thousand years ago. Equally surprising was the fact that the art wasn’t even the most interesting finds for me, but rather the ground stone tools. Sometimes I would sit and think about what it would be like to live in that time and place.”
-Cara Hoey, 2019 Member-Supported Excavation Fellowship Recipient
-Gabrielle Mace, 2019 P. E. MacAllister Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“The experience and knowledge I gained through this academic adventure was invaluable. The opportunities to work in the field and in the lab on ongoing projects and my own research allowed me to learn more about archaeological techniques and research project processes. Not only did I grow as an intellectual, but as an individual as well. After being immersed in an unfamiliar place with a completely different way of life and culture, I learned a lot that wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of ASOR and the P.E. MacAllister Fellowship.”“Working at Huqoq has been integral to my growth as a student and archaeologist, and I am grateful to ASOR and the Strange and Midkiff families for their generous support of my time on the project this year. Thanks to this funding, I was afforded the opportunity to learn more than I thought possible about archaeological methodology and research, help to uncover stunning materials from the past, and work with an incredible and diverse team of staff and students. Additionally, my work at Huqoq has solidified my intent to continue in the field of archaeology, helping towards my pursuit of graduate studies which will start in the fall. I cannot thank ASOR enough for supporting my travels this summer, and I hope that I can, in some capacity, return the favor one day!”
-Emma Kerr, 2017 Strange and Midkiff Families Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“[Archaeology] provides an interesting reflection on the details of average life: how will the future humanity see us? Will someone from the future find one of my possessions and wonder what I was like, what I thought and did during the day?”
-Madeline Okkonen, 2019 Eric and Carol Meyers Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“[Archaeology] provides an interesting reflection on the details of average life: how will the future humanity see us? Will someone from the future find one of my possessions and wonder what I was like, what I thought and did during the day?”“Joining a dig felt like being welcomed into a family. I can’t express enough how lucky I feel to have received this fellowship, and can’t wait to use my newfound knowledge in my teaching and research.”
-Lisa Cleath, 2019 Dever Fellowship Recipient
– Vincent Cason, 2017 Platt Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“This summer working on the Hebrew University staff at Tel Lachish was a truly insightful experience. I have deepened my understanding of what an incredible amount of social organization and labor goes into the building of a city, building a nation. It has left me feeling assured that I have chosen a career path that I truly enjoy, one that has real impact on the world around me. As a prospective graduate student there are few feelings that alleviate the anxiety of taking the next step in my education the way that feeling does. To those that are kind enough to fund fellowships such as the one I was awarded, I cannot thank you enough as I would not have had a chance like this otherwise and there are many others that are in the same situation.”“The highlight of this season, however, was our end-of-campaign tour and picnic on the last Friday evening of excavation. Many of the men and women from the two local towns, Altunhisar and YeÅŸilyurt, who work with us (some since 2010 when the project started) came out with their families and friends to hear a site tour in Turkish, offer their own perspectives on their work, and to partake in a delicious feast of lentil soup, lamb, rice and sweets on the lower terrace. It was wonderful to meet everyone’s extended families and to see the site come alive in a different way (and at a much more comfortable temperature). It was a fitting end to a great season that opened up a lot of new possibilities for the site as both a place for the team’s own research but also as site of public education and interest.”
– Nancy Highcock, 2018 Platt Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“Along with the critical research skill set I learned over the summer, I am most appreciative of being a first-hand witness to the journey of an artifact being recovered from the site to the post-field analyses, and finishing with the official write-up of the important archaeological discoveries made during the summer.”
-Kara Larson, 2019 Harva L. Sheeler Excavation Fellowship Recipient
“Along with the critical research skill set I learned over the summer, I am most appreciative of being a first-hand witness to the journey of an artifact being recovered from the site to the post-field analyses, and finishing with the official write-up of the important archaeological discoveries made during the summer.”