RadioCIAMS

Dr. Seth Estrin from Harvard University joins a panel of Cornell students, to discuss his most recent book; Grief Made Marble.

A special episode featuring AD White Professor at Large Dr. Lynn Meskell, along with a panel of Cornell Faculty.

On April 22, 2025, Dr. Lauren McCormick (Postdoctoral Researcher at Princeton's Center for Culture, Society, and Religion) met with a panel of CIAMS-affiliated students (Haley Stuckey, Alice Wolff (Ph.D.), and Ruth Portes) and Lauren Monroe (Associate Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies) to discuss her work on Judean Pillar Figurines (JPFs). The articles discussed in this episode are: Ben-Shlomo, David, and Lauren K. McCormick. "Judean Pillar Figurines and “Bed Models” from Tell en-Naṣbeh: Typology and Petrographic Analysis." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 386, no. 1 (2021): 23-46. McCormick, Lauren K. "Paint: A Fourth Dimension of Sculpture." Expedition Magazine, vol. 64 no. 3 (2023): 92-93. Let there be Light web exhibit: https://laurmcco.github.io/judeanpillarfigurineexhibit/ Dr. Lauren McCormick's podcast: https://laurmcco.github.io/judeanpillarfigurineexhibit/podcast.html

On October 10, 2024, Nathan Acebo (Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Rafael Cruz Gil, Daniel Osborne, and Julio RuizDiaz) and Kurt Jordan (Professor, Department of Anthropology, Cornell University) to discuss his research on Survivance Storytelling in Archaeology. Podcast Engineer: Ruth Portes (CIAMS Assistant Director) Articles discussed in this conversation: Acebo, Nathan P. "Survivance storytelling in archaeology." In Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Indigenous-Colonial Interaction in the Americas, pp. 468-485. Routledge, 2021. Montgomery LM, Fryer TC. "The future of archaeology is (still) community collaboration." Antiquity. 2023;97(394):795-809. doi:10.15184/aqy.2023.98

On March 21, 2025, Ellen Morris (Professor of Ancient Studies, Barnard College, Columbia University) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Rafael Cruz Gil, Quinn Stickley, David Dishman, Li Hayes) and Caitlín Barrett (Professor, Department of Classics, Cornell University) to discuss her work on telling the stories of female captives and prisoners of war in the ancient world. Podcast Engineer: Ruth Portes The article discussed in this episode is titled: "How to tell "moving" stories of female captivity in the ancient world," published in "Migration and Mobility in the Ancient Near East and Egypt -- The Crossroads IV." Proceedings of an International Conference Held in Prague. edited by Mynářová, Jana, Ludovica Bertolini, and Federico Zangani. 2022.

On November 15, 2024, Sarah Beckmann (Assistant Professor, Department of Classics, UCLA) met with a panel of CIAMS-affiliated students (Priscilla Dantas de Moraes, Li Hayes, and Carson Riggs), and Verity Platt (Professor, Department of Classics) to discuss her work on representations of enslaved children in the Roman world. Podcast Engineer: Ruth Portes (CIAMS Assistant Director) CONTENT WARNING: Listeners are advised that this episode discusses evidence for the sexualization and sexual exploitation of minors, especially enslaved minors. The articles discussed in this episode are: Beckmann, Sarah E. "The Naked Reader: Child Enslavement in the Villa of the Mysteries Fresco." American Journal of Archaeology 127, no. 1 (2023): 55-83. and her forthcoming chapter: "Alterity, Enslavement, and Empire in a Roman Genre Sculpture: The Oplontis-Borghese Boy with a Duck" in U. Roth (ed.), Enslaved Childhoods in the Roman Imperial World. Alienation, Accommodation, Approbation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2025

On April 12, 2024, Prof. José Capriles from the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) met with a panel of CIAMS students (Marcela Goeller, Annapaola Passerini, Casey Snyder, and Arnav Tandon) and Jacob Damm (Hirsch Postdoctoral Fellow) to discuss his research on the Bolivian Radiocarbon Database. Podcast Engineer: Nikhil Arolkhar

On March 22, 2024, Prof. Marine Frouin from Stony Brook University met with a panel of CIAMS students (Kate Bajorek, Rebecca Gerdes, Marcela Goeller, and Alex Symons) to discuss her research on Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating.

On March 8, 2024, Prof. Lindsay Montgomery from the University of Toronto met with a panel of CIAMS students (Amanda Domingues, Arnav Tandon, Marcela Goeller, and Emma Zilke) and faculty (Adam Smith) to discuss her research on the archaeology of collective trauma and colonial violence.

On February 19, 2016, Dr. Barbara Mills (University of Arizona) met with the graduate and undergraduate students taking the course Ceramic Analysis, which is taught by CIAMS professor Lori Khatchadourian. Their discussion of about 45 minutes–which considers how technological style and choice relate to the archaeological analysis of ceramic material–opens below.

As part of the 40th Northeast Conference on Andean and Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory, on November 3, 2023, Prof. Frank Salomon from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison met with a panel of students (Anna Whittemore) and faculty (Matthew Velasco and Vanessa Gubbins) to discuss his research in the Andes.

On November 2, 2023, Dr. Jacob Damm, from the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies (CIAMS), met with a panel of CIAMS students (Rebecca Gerdes, Liam McDonald, and Jamie Ellis) and faculty (Sturt Manning) to discuss his research on foodways and material identities focusing on case studies in the southern Levant.

On September 22, 2023, heritage consultant and author Robert Bevan met with a panel of CIAMS students (Faridah Laffan, Rafael Cruz Gil and Jaimie Luria, and Rafael Cruz Gil) and faculty (Adam Smith and Lori Khatchadourian) to discuss his book- Monumental Lies: Culture Wars and the Truth about the Past. The RadioCIAMS Special Series on Heritage Forensics is made possible by a New Frontiers Grant from the Cornell University College of Arts & Sciences. This episode was also made possible by support from the Cornell University Department of City and Regional Planning.

Archaeologists Darryl A. Wilkinson joins Radio CIAMS to discuss his work in the Andes. Dr. Wilkinson is joined in the podcast by CIAMS members Dr. Matt Velasco, PhD students Anna Whittemore, Rafael Cruz Gil, Marcos Ramos Valdés, and CIAMS M.A. Andrea Mauri.

RadioCIAMS is pleased to present a follow-up discussion from -Frontiers- in Archaeological Sciences 3: Rethinking the Paradigm conference hosted at Cornell University in the Fall of 2022. This discussion was hosted by CIAMS graduate students Rebecca Gerdes and Alice Wolff and included a panel of graduate students and early career researchers, including Rachel Kalisher, Chiamaka Anyanwu, Emily Milton, Hollis K. Miller.

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.