Archaeological Institute of America

Deadline: March 6, 2011

Established in honor of AIA Past President Jane Waldbaum, this scholarship is intended to help students who are planning to participate in archaeological field work for the first time. Students majoring in archaeology or related disciplines are especially encouraged to apply. The Scholarship Fund provides $1000 each for up to seven successful applicants to help pay expenses associated with participation in an archaeological field work project (minimum stay one month). The scholarship is open to students who have begun their junior year of undergraduate studies at the time of application and have not yet completed their first year of graduate school at a college or university in the United States or Canada. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and must not have previously participated in archaeological field work. The committee will consider both academic achievement and financial need in its deliberations. Undergraduate minority students in Classics or Classical Archaeology are also encouraged apply for the APA-AIA Minority Scholarship Program

For more information, please contact Laurel Sparks, Fellowship Coordinator.

The Waldbaum Scholarship will be awarded to junior and senior undergraduates and first-year graduate students only.

Application Process

The 2010 deadline for this scholarship has passed. The next deadline for applications is March 6, 2011; click here for the application form. Applications can be submitted starting December 13, 2010.

All applications must be made online. Submissions made via postal mail, fax or any other means will not be accepted. Please review the following Guidelines and Required Information prior to completing the application form.

All applicants must complete the following:

• Completed online application form
• Names and emails of two references
• Transcripts: Transcripts must include at least two years of completed college-level work. If you are a transfer student and have attended your current school for less than two years, please submit transcripts that will account for at least two years of college-level work. Post-Baccalaureate and first year graduate students must submit both undergraduate and post-graduate transcripts.

Your references will receive an email with login information and instructions on submitting their recommendations. You are responsible for ensuring that both referees have submitted their letters of recommendation online by the application deadline.

Transcripts must be mailed to: Laurel Sparks, AIA Fellowships Coordinator, 656 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02215. ALL transcripts must be received by the March 6 deadline. All other application materials must be completed online, and received by the March 6 deadline.

Guidelines and Required Information

Applicants must complete the online application form that asks for the following:

1. A brief essay (300 words or less) in the applicant’s own words explaining why you want to participate in this specific project and how the experience will contribute to your current course of study and eventual career goals.
2. An outline of anticipated expenses associated with participation in the project and a statement from the applicant indicating any other financial resources available or applied for, if any, to help cover these expenses.
3. One or more official transcripts from the applicant’s college(s) or university(ies) that account for at least two-years of completed college-level work. Post-baccalaureate and first year graduate students should also include undergraduate transcripts.
4. The names and emails of two professors or academic advisors at the applicant’s college or university who know the applicant’s work and who are willing to provide letters of recommendation

All application materials including transcripts and letters of recommendation must be received by the March 6 deadline. Incomplete or late applications will NOT be considered by the review committee. Applicants will be notified of the committee's decision no later than April 20, 2011.

In addition to the application, letters of recommendation and transcripts, winners of the scholarship must provide a letter from the director of the project or coordinator of the field school program indicating that the applicant has been accepted for participation. Deadline for receipt of this letter is May 10, 2011. This letter must be on letterhead and signed by the director or administrator of the field project. It must be mailed, faxed, or scanned and emailed to Laurel Sparks, AIA Fellowships Coordinator, 656 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02215. Fax: 617-353-6550, email: lsparks@aia.bu.edu. Final determination of the scholarship winners cannot be made until this letter is received. [NOTE: if one of your letters of recommendation is from the director of the field project and he or she certifies that you have been accepted for participation, this requirement will be considered complete.]

Winners of the Scholarship must agree to submit a final report on their use of the funds and what the experience meant to them no later than 60 days after completion of the field project and to join the AIA at the student membership rate if they are not already members. Final reports will be posted on the AIA's scholarship web page and may be featured in other AIA publications.

Recipients

2010 Field School Scholarship Winners Announced
The AIA offers congratulations to the following 2010 Scholarship recipients, who were chosen out of the field of nearly 100 applicants.

	Amanda Flannery is a senior at Ripon College majoring in Anthropology and History. This summer she will be participating in Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s excavations at Kincaid Mounds in Brookport, Illinois, directed by Dr. Paul D. Welch. Ms. Flannery is very excited about this opportunity, as it is a Mississippian site and the upcoming excavations will be focusing on the domestic sphere of the village. This parallels her hopes to specialize in Native American archaeology with an emphasis on gender roles, and the extensive instruction of archaeological field processes will give her a boost in her application for graduate school.
	Jessica Galea is a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago majoring in Anthropology and History. This summer she will be participating on the Amarna Project in Amarna, Egypt, co-sponsored by Cambridge University and University of Arkansas Fayetteville and directed by Barry Kemp and Jerome Rose. Ms. Galea is very excited to be studying Ancient Egypt and its human remains in this bioarchaeology field school, where she will have the opportunity to carry out a self-organized research project. Upon her return to UIC, Ms Galea will turn her field experience and data into an Honors College Capstone Project.
	Katie Murtough is a senior at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a major in Animal Science and minors in Anthropology and Physiology. This summer she will be attending the Slavia Field School in mortuary archaeology in Drawsko, Poland, sponsored by Adam Mickiewicz University and directed by Dr. Marek Polcyn. As Ms. Murtough is most interested in forensics and the identification of skeletal taphonomic markers, this site matches her interests perfectly, for upon arrival she will be excavating prehistoric and post-medieval gravesites. Her experience on this field school will also provide her with the necessary experience to begin an honors thesis on forensic archaeology and the archaeological field methods pertinent to the recovery of human remains.
	Colleen O’Shea is a post-Baccalaureate student from the University of Michigan, where she majored in Russian and Eastern European Studies, and the History of Art. Ms. O’Shea will be participating in the Khovd Project in Khovd-Altai, Mongolia, co-sponsored by the Silk Road Foundation and the National Museum of Mongolia and directed by Bryan Miller. She excitedly anticipates her experience on this project, where she will split her time between the field and museum, working on the conservation of excavated artifacts and later integrating them into the collection of the National Museum of Mongolia. Her experience on this project will provide her with the experience that will help move her toward her goal of obtaining a graduate degree in Conservation.
	Sarah Newman is a 1st-year graduate student with Brown University pursuing a degree in Anthropology/Archaeology. She is taking part in The Landscape Succession Project (Proyecto Arqueológico de El Zotz) at El Zotz, Petén, Guatemala, sponsored by Brown University and the National Science Foundation, and directed by Dr. Stephen D. Houston and Dr. Thomas G. Garrison. She will be examining a well-preserved ritual termination deposit at the site dated to the Terminal Classic Period (c. 750-1050 AD) associated with the Maya “collapse”. Ms. Newman was able to visit the PAEZ lab in Antigua last summer, to work on cataloguing the ceramic assemblage found in the deposit. The Waldbaum Scholarship assists her in participating in the further excavation of the site itself, gaining a fuller understanding of the context.
	Jess Senjem is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in Physical Anthropology and Spanish. This summer she will be attending the Troy Project in Troy, Turkey, co-sponsored by the University of Cincinnati and the University of Tubingen and directed by Dr. Ernst Pernicka. Ms. Senjem greatly anticipates going beyond her textbooks and applying her knowledge to the actual human remains she will be uncovering in the field. She will be able to see where some of the samples from her fall 2009 independent research project came from, as well as study remains from a newly excavated Bronze Age cemetery. This opportunity will be invaluable to her personal experience and future application to graduate school, where she hopes to pursue a PhD in Physical Anthropology.
	Robin Watson is a junior at Florida State University, where she majors in Classical Archaeology and Philosophy. This summer she will be attending Florida State University’s excavations in Cetamura in Tuscany, Italy, directed by Dr. Nancy de Grummond. Thanks to her participation in the undergraduate research group known as the International Etruscan Sigla Project (IESP), Ms. Watson is very excited to apply her knowledge of Etruscan culture to a field experience. At Cetamura she will focus on the sigla of the sanctuary located at that site and attempt to identify any that are characteristic to sanctuaries. Her research of these “Sacred Sigla” will later serve as the topic for her Honors Thesis.

2009 Recipients

	Eric Mentges is a senior with Ohio State University, pursuing a double major in Ancient History and Psychology. He will be participating in Ohio State University's excavations at Isthmia in Greece, directed by Dr. Timothy E. Gregory since 1987. Mr. Mentges's interests focus on Roman society during the Julio-Claudian period, especially the emperor Nero and his fascination with the Greek east. Isthmia is a site that Nero himself visited, and Mr. Mentges greatly anticipates working there this summer and furthering his research. He intends to complete an honors thesis next year, and going on to graduate work in ancient studies. Click here to read about Eric's field school experience.
	Kaitlin Moleen is a senior with Rutgers University, majoring in Ancient Civilizations and Art History. She will be participating in the Gabii Project in Rome, sponsored by the University of Michigan and directed by Dr. Nicola Terrenato. The Gabii Project, begun in 2007, is excavating the ancient Latin city on that site. Ms. Moleen has a particular interest in Classical Roman art, and intends to pursue a graduate program in Classics. She is looking forward to the work at Gabii this summer, as it will help her determine whether to focus her future studies on Classical archaeology; she also plans to take advantage of the Project's proximity to Rome, to view Classical art first-hand, to further the writing of her thesis. Click here to read about Kaitlin's field school experience.
	Max Price is a senior at the University of Chicago, majoring in Anthropology. He will be attending UCLA's Misti Archaeological Project in Peru, directed by Ran Boytner and Maria Cecilia Lozada. Mr. Price's interests are especially in zooarchaeology, which was the topic of his senior honors thesis, and in which he intends to pursue a Ph.D. He has done previous work at Professor Gil Stein's lab at the Oriental Institute, on Near Eastern fauna. The Misti Project, while giving Mr. Price his first archaeological field experience, will also allow him to study mammalian remains from the Andean pre-historic period. Click here to read about Max's field school experience.
	Margaret Stack is a first-year graduate student with the University of South Florida, Tampa, where she is earning an MA in Applied Anthropology. She will participate in Project Roatan on Roatan Island, Honduras, sponsored by the University of South Florida and directed by Dr. Christian Wells and Dr. Karla Davis-Salazar. Ms. Stack is concentrating her degree research on Heritage Studies and Cultural Resource Management, and plans to pursue a career as a Mesoamerican public archaeologist. She is eager to take part in the Project Roatan work, excavating the Mayan and Pech village of El Antigual, as a first step in combining studies with fieldwork. Click here to read about Margaret's field school experience.
	Alexander Zarley is a junior at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, majoring in Classics and Classical Humanities, with a certificate in Archaeology. He will be taking part in the University of British Columbia's excavations at Petra, Jordan, directed by Dr. Leigh-Ann Bedal. Mr. Zarley intends to pursue graduate work in Classical Archaeology and Ancient Mediterranean History, and to that end has been studying abroad in Athens. His work at the Pool and Garden Complex at Petra will greatly enhance his efforts to immerse himself in Mediterranean culture and history, and he expects to use his experiences there in the completion of his honors thesis. Click here to read about Alexander's field school experience.

Past Field School Scholarship Recipients

2008: Jacqueline DiBiasie (Washington and Lee University; San Felice in Puglia, Italy), Jacob Morton (University of Colorado at Boulder; Villa of Maxentius in Rome), Renee Pascouau (Central Michigan University; Copacabana, Bolivia), Emily Stevens (Bryn Mawr College; Cycladic Islands, Greece), Sarah Trabert (Kansas State University; Stranger Creek Valley, Kansas)

2007: Sean Burrus (UNC Chapel Hill; Yotvata, Israel), Emily Button (Williams College; Mitrou, Greece), Susan Kooiman (University of Wisconsin-Madison; San Ignacio, Belize), Hillary Pietricola (Bowdoin College; Torano di Borgorose, Italy), and Allen Rutherford (Northern Illinois University; Huaricanga, Peru)