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On April 21, 2022, archaeologist Lynn Meskell (University of Pennsylvania) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Ece Erlat, Jaimie Luria, and Emily Sharp) and faculty host and CIAMS director Adam Smith to discuss the UNESCO, heritage politics, and the role of archaeology in the construction of heritage. The conversation centered on two works by Professor Meskell: a selection from her 2018 monograph “A future in ruins: UNESCO, world heritage, and the dream of peace,” from Oxford University Press, and a 2021 article coauthored with Christina Luke in the journal “Contemporary Levant” titled “Developing Petra: UNESCO, the World Bank, and America in the desert.” Photo by Eric Sucar.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In the final episode of our series, we look back on both the SAPIENS series and the conversations we have had here on SAPIENS Talk Back in order to look ahead to the future of archaeology. Our guests this episode represent new professional organizations that are pushing the discipline of archaeology in consequential new directions: Dr. Ayana Omilade Flewellen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Riverside and co-founder and current president of the Society of Black Archaeologists (SBA); Dr. Sara Gonzalez, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington and Curator of Archaeology at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and a co-founder of the Indigenous Archaeology Collective (IAC); and Dr. Lewis Borck, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice at New Mexico Highlands University and a founding member of the Black Trowel Collective. You can support the Black Trowel Collective microgrants program at blacktrowelcollective.wordpress.com and follow them on Twitter @BlackTrowel. To join the SBA, go to societyofblackarchaeologists.com and follow their work on Twitter @SbaArch. You can follow the Indigenous Archaeology Collective on FaceBook and Twitter @indigarchs. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Denver. Hosts Sophia Taborski and Alice Wolff from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join graduate student members from the SBA, IAC, and Black Trowel Collective: Ashleigh Thompson (University of Arizona), Elliot Helmer (Washington State University), and Yoli Ngandali (University of Washington) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Liam McDonald as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we continue the discussion that began in episode 7 of season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast, a conversation that examines “repatriation” and what it means for archaeology. Our guests this episode are Dr. Rachel Watkins, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at American University and a specialist in African American biohistory, and Dr. Dorothy Lippert, an expert in repatriation and a tribal liaison for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA with additional support from the University of Arizona’s School of Anthropology. Hosts Ruth Portes and Claire Challancin from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join Dr. Wendy Teeter (UCLA), Mina Nikolovieni (Brown University), and Amanda Althoff (Columbia University) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Rafael Cruz Gil as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

On March 25, 2022, bioarchaeologist Pamela Geller (University of Miami) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Amanda Domingues, Sophia Taborski, Grace Hermes, Anna Whittemore, and Emily Sharp) and faculty host Matthew Velasco to discuss the politics of human remains, the objectification of bodies in anatomical collections, and the importance of studying the historical contexts that shaped these collections. The conversation centered on two works by Dr. Geller: a 2020 article in the journal "Historical Archaeology” titled “Building Nation, Becoming Object: The Biopolitics of the Samuel G. Morton Crania Collection,” and a chapter from her 2021 book “Theorizing Bioarchaeology,” titled, “What is Necropolitics?” published by Springer Press. This RadioCIAMS podcast was recorded in-person. Please note that this episode contains isolated references to genocide and the Holocaust.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we continue the discussion that began in episode 6 of season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast, a conversation that examines “Slavery, Sustenance, and Resistance,” or what we might think of as “Setting the Table for an Archaeology of Resistance.” Our guests for this episode are Dr. Peggy Brunache, Lecturer of the History of Atlantic Slavery at the University of Glasgow and the first director of the Beniba Centre for Slavery Studies; and Dr. Kelly Fanto Deetz, Director of Collections and Visitor Engagement at Stratford Hall Plantation, and visiting Scholar in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from the Archaeological Research Facility at the University of California at Berkeley. Hosts Rebecca Gerdes and Sam Disotell from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join Sara Ann Knutson (University of California, Berkeley), Jess Johnson (University of California, Berkeley), José Julián Garay Vázquez (University College London), and Helen Wong (University of Pennsylvania) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Ruth Portes as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we continue the discussion that began in episode 5 of season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast, a conversation that examines how archaeologists study sacred sites, and when they don’t. Our guests for this episode are Dr. Ora Marek-Martinez, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University and Director of the Office of Native American Initiatives, and co-host of the SAPIENS podcast this season, and Dr. Nicholas Laluk, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from The Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Hosts Anna Whittemore and Alex Symons from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join Gabby Hartemann (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil), Eric Mazariegos (Columbia University), and Maryan Ragheb (UCLA) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Olivia Graves as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we welcome the featured guests of Episode 4 of SAPIENS Season 4: Dr. Tiffany Fryer, Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow in the Princeton University Society of Fellows and a lecturer in Princeton’s Department of Anthropology, and Dr. Sven Haakanson, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington, Curator of Native American Anthropology at the Burke Museum, and a former MacArthur Fellow. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology at Brown University and Columbia University’s Center for Archaeology. Hosts Olivia Graves and Henry Ziegler from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join Erynn Bentley and Ana González San Martín from Brown University for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Sam Disotell as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we welcome the featured guests of Episode 3 of SAPIENS Season 4: Dr. Kisha Supernant, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alberta and Director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, and Lenora McQueen, an activist who has worked tirelessly to preserve the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground in Richmond. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology. Hosts Rafael Cruz Gil and Carol Anne Barsody from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join Elspeth Geiger (University of Michigan), Mariela Declet Pérez (University of California, San Diego), and Dan Plekhov (Brown University) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Alex Symons as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we welcome the featured guests of Episode 2 of SAPIENS Season 4: two co-founders of the Society of Black Archaeologists, Dr. Justin Dunnavant, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UCLA, and Dr. Ayana Flewellen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside; and Gabrielle Miller, a PhD student studying African Diaspora Archaeology at the University of Tulsa. “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology at the University of California, San Diego. Hosts Maia Dedrick and Ayesha Matthan from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join panelists Jordan Griffin and Loren Clark from the University of California, San Diego for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Anna Whittemore as engineer and Rebecca Gerdes as production assistant.

The Archaeology Centers Coalition and RadioCIAMS present “SAPIENS Talk Back”: eight conversations with students and scholars that expand upon the insights of Season 4 of the SAPIENS podcast entitled “Our Past is the Future.” In this episode, we welcome Yoli Ngandali, one of the hosts of the SAPIENS series and a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Washington, for a conversation on how we can achieve real and lasting change in the stories archaeology tells and, just as importantly, who gets to tell them.   “SAPIENS Talk Back” was developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Archaeology Collective and the Society of Black Archaeologists, with special help from Drs. Sara Gonzalez, Justin Dunnavant, and Ayana Flewellen. Special thanks also to Chip Colwell and the production team at SAPIENS, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and House of Pod.   This episode was made possible by financial support from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Hosts Alma Cortez Alvarez and Liam McDonald from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies join panelists Jarre Hamilton (University of California, Berkeley), Iman Nagy (University of California, Los Angeles), and Javier García Colón (University of California, San Diego) for a conversation on how to reshape the discipline. SAPIENS Talk Back is a production of the Archaeological Centers Coalition. You can find more information about their work at archaeologycoalition.org.  RadioCIAMS is a member of the American Anthropological Association’s podcast library. Our theme music was composed by Charlee Mandy and performed by Maia Dedrick and Russell Dedrick. This episode was produced at Cornell University by Adam Smith, with Rebecca Gerdes as the engineer and production assistant.

On November 12th, 2021, archaeologist Sara Gonzalez (University of Washington) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Rafael Cruz Gil, Ece Erlat, and Veronica Kilanowski-Doroh) and faculty (Maia Dedrick, John Henderson) to discuss community archaeology, capacity building in Indigenous archaeology, and how these inform the running of archaeological field schools. The conversation centered on two works coauthored by Dr. Gonzalez: a 2020 article coauthored with Briece Edwards in the Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage, titled, “The Intersection of Indigenous thought and archaeological practice: The field methods in Indigenous archaeology field school,” and a 2021 chapter coauthored with Ian Kretzler titled, “Unsettling the archaeology of reservations: A view from Grand Ronde, Oregon,” in The Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interactions in the Americas, a volume that Dr. Gonzalez also co-edited with Lee M. Panich. This podcast was hosted over Zoom.

On October 8th, 2021, bioarchaeologist Carlina de la Cova (University of South Carolina at Columbia) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Carol Anne Barsody, Claire Challancin, Ayesha Matthan, Emily Sharp, Alex Symons, and Anna Whittemore) and faculty member Matthew Velasco to discuss the history of anatomical collections in the United States and how to ethically engage with the marginalized individuals who make up these collections. The conversation centered on two recent book chapters by Dr. de la Cova: a 2019 chapter in Bioarchaeology of Marginalized People, titled, “Marginalized bodies and the construction of the Robert J. Terry anatomical skeletal collection: A promised land lost;” and a 2020 chapter in Theoretical Perspectives in Bioarchaeology, titled, “Making silenced voices speak: Restoring neglected and ignored identities in anatomical collections.” This podcast was hosted over Zoom with all parties participating remotely.

RadioCIAMS is pleased to present the third episode of "Unsettled Monuments, Unsettling Heritage", a podcast of CIVIC, the Cornell task force for the humanities and the arts. In this episode, a panel of Cornell faculty, all CIVIC fellows, speak with Prof. Jorge Otero-Pailos, Director and Professor of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. The discussion centers on Prof. Otero-Pailos’s contributions to the groundbreaking book that he co-edited, Experimental Preservation, exploring how an ethic of care can radically alter our ingrained notions of preservation. This podcast was hosted virtually and everyone participated remotely.

On February 19, 2021, archaeologist Stephen Acabado (UCLA) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Canan Cem, Rebecca Gerdes, Jane Millar, Alice Wolff) and faculty (Maia Dedrick) to discuss three of his recent publications. The first was a 2017 article in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology, titled “The Archaeology of Pericolonialism: Responses of the "Unconquered" to Spanish Conquest and Colonialism in Ifugao, Philippines.” The second was, “Zones of refuge: Resisting conquest in the northern Philippine highlands through environmental practice”, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology in 2018. The third was a 2019 article in the Journal of Field Archaeology, “The Short History of the Ifugao Rice Terraces: A Local Response to the Spanish Conquest”. This podcast was hosted over Zoom, everyone participated remotely.

RadioCIAMS is pleased to present the second episode of "Unsettled Monuments, Unsettling Heritage", a podcast of CIVIC, the Cornell task force for the humanities and the arts. In this episode, a panel of Cornell faculty, all CIVIC fellows, speak with Dr. Trinidad Rico, a professor in the Department of Art History at Rutgers University and Director of Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies. The discussion centers on three of Dr. Rico’s recent publications, exploring the tensions between cultural heritage preservation and religious practices in the Muslim world. This podcast was hosted virtually and everyone participated remotely.

On November 20th, 2020, archaeologist Uzma Rizvi (Pratt Institute) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Rafeal Cruz Gil, Rebecca Gerdes, Jaimie Luria, Ayesha Matthan) and faculty (Maia Dedrick, Adam Smith) to discuss decolonizing archaeology, equitable practices, epistemic critique, and the speculative. The conversation centered on two of Dr. Rizvi’s recent publications. The first was a 2015 piece in E-Flux, titled “Theorizing Deposition: Transitional Stratigraphy, Disruptive Layers and the Future,” and the second was a 2019 article in the Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, “Archaeological Encounters: The Role of the Speculative in Decolonial Archaeology.” This podcast was hosted over Zoom, everyone participated remotely.

On October 30, 2020, biocultural anthropologist Rachel Watkins (American University) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Amanda Domingues, Anna Whittemore) and faculty (Maia Dedrick, Matthew Velasco) to discuss her recent article in Historical Archaeology, “An Alter(ed)native Perspective on Historical Bioarchaeology” and an upcoming publication in Washington History, “Science and Freedom.”

On October 2, 2020, archaeologist Peggy Brunache (University of Glasgow) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Dusti Bridges, Ethan Dickerman, Rebecca Gerdes, Alex Symons and Alice Wolff) and faculty (Maia Dedrick) to discuss two articles from the Fall 2019 special issue of "Transforming Anthropology", a publication of the Association of Black Anthropologists. The special issue was entitled, "The Marathon Continues: New Directions in African Diaspora Archaeology," and was guest edited by Nedra K. Lee and Jannie Nicole Scott. The two articles discussed in this podcast episode include the introduction to the special issue, written by the editors, and Dr. Brunache’s article, “Mainstreaming African Diasporic Foodways When Academia is not Enough.”

In the third of three backlog podcasts, RadioCIAMS presents, Dr. Catherine Cameron (CU Boulder), who on November 2nd, 2018 met a panel of CIAMS faculty (Dana Bardolph) and students (Salpi Bocchieriyan, Dusti Bridges, Sam Disotell, Cristina Juarez) to discuss prehistoric migration and captive labor in small scale societies. We apologize to our listeners for the editing delay.

In the second of our backlogged episodes, RadioCIAMS presents Dr. Stephen Mrozowski (UMass Boston, who on October 12th, 2018, met a panel of CIAMS faculty (Kurt Jordan) and students (Dusti Bridges, Liam Murphy, Samantha Sanft, Alexandra Walton) to discuss political economy and colonialism.