Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University

The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World (JIAAW) is dedicated to the academic study and public promotion of archaeology and the ancient world. Archaeology pertains to the material study of the human past. The ancient world, as used here, refers to a wide temporal expanse of human history that encompasses the globe prior to the intensification of European colonialism in the sixteenth century. The nexus of archaeology and the ancient world is at the core of the JIAAW’s mission, particularly these areas pertain to the study of the ancient Mediterranean, Egypt, and southwest Asia (i.e., the Near East). Nevertheless, the JIAAW embraces all scholarship that advances archaeology in any time and place. Moreover, the JIAAW supports all methods that are engaged with advancing our understanding of the ancient world. The goal of the Institute is to foster an interdisciplinary community of interest in archaeology and the ancient world. At Brown University this includes, but is not limited to, scholars from the Departments of Anthropology, Classics, Egyptology and Assyriology, History, History of Art and Architecture, and Religious Studies. The mandate of the JIAAW is to promote research, fieldwork, teaching, and public outreach, with the Institute’s associated faculty, students, and facilities serving as a hub for this activity. While much of the research focus is oriented towards understanding the past, faculty and students associated with the JIAAW are also engaged with understanding how the past is (re)produced in the present and the broader social implications of the work that is performed by scholars of archaeology and the ancient world. In order to promote archaeology and the ancient world, the primary activities of the JIAAW are: education, research, postdoctoral training, conferences and lectures, public outreach, and initiatives that collaboratively advance these activities in new directions.