This is a request from Rachel Hallote and Eric Cline:
Because of our shared interest in the history of archaeology and related disciplines, we are initiating this “Academic Genealogies of Near Eastern Scholars” (AGNES) project. Our goal is to find connections between scholars and mentors stretching back as far as we can, to reveal the interwoven web of our disciplines. For instance, some of us can trace ourselves back as academic great-great-grand-students of William F. Albright. Others of us are academic descendants of W.M.F. Petrie, Kathleen Kenyon, Frank Moore Cross, Emily Vermeule, Trude Dothan, Yigael Yadin, and so on. Still others (such as Eric) have a different lineage altogether. We are also interested in whether specific field projects have had more of an impact or influence than others, in terms of training the next generation(s) of archaeologists and/or passing along tried and true or new/innovative field techniques.
The survey questions won’t take you long and are concerned primarily with whether you are able to remember the name of your primary thesis advisor and their advisor (i.e., when you talk about your “Doktorvater” or “Doktormutter,” whose name do you give?) and where you have excavated or surveyed (if anywhere). We stress that we have no ulterior motive other than curiosity as to the extent of the influence of the founding generation of scholars in our field(s) and the possible influence of specific field projects. If there any interesting findings or results that come out of this, we hope to present the preliminary results in an ASOR session in Boston this coming November. But to make this project a reality, we need to hear from YOU as soon as possible!
