The 2019 Archaeology Division Student Awards

Every year, the Archaeology Division (AD) supports students with the Student Diversity Travel Grant and the Student Membership Award. Applications this year are due by September 15, 2019.

The Student Diversity Gravel Grant is intended to increase participation in the AAA and archaeology sessions by students from historically under-represented populations. Up to four grants, of up to $600 each, are awarded each year. Applications are due via e-mail to the AD Secretary by September 15, 2019. The Student Membership Award seeks to support up to 20 students with next year’s student membership in the AAA and in the AD, who present archaeological papers or posters at the annual meeting. Send your application to the Student Member at Large by September 15, 2019. Visit our website to learn more about our submission process.

Beyond their distinguishing value, these awards gives undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to publish their on-going research. In the July and August Section News, we will publish contributions by our awardees, Anne Sheffield and Laura Heath-Stout. Their research is personal, innovative and creative. It is at the forefront of science. Anne Sherfield, 2018 Student Membership Award, demonstrates the value of archaeology to present-day society. She brings us closer to on going health news about women around the world unable to attend school during their menstrual period because they cannot afford tampons or pads, even in countries like the United States or the United Kingdom. After reading an excerpt of her research journey on the archaeology of menstruation, I was reminded of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa and how the experience of adolescence vanished from my assigned and advanced anthropology literature. Laura Heath-Stout (2018 Student Membership Award) tells her story about how she became an archaeologist, reminding us through her story, how influential films, fantasy novels, or drama series at a young age can be in choosing our profession. Publishing her story comes at a time in which we see a decline of trust in science and scholarship, in which we need to acknowledge our shared responsibility to society and analyze the ways we communicate our research to the public.