Insights

Welcome to Insights! Formerly our long-running quarterly e-update, since 2020, Insights has been our blog, hosting essays by fellows, interns, staff, and others.

Sarah Islam, CAORC Fellow at ACOR, Fall 2016

Oct 13, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Profile Tagged with Archival research, History, Islamic Law

Sarah Islam is a Ph.D. candidate in the History department at Princeton University and a CAORC Fellow at ACOR in the fall of 2016. Her research project, “The Evolution of Blasphemy as Legal Category in Medieval Islamic History,” examines how interpretations of blasphemy—known as sabb— in Islam have varied based on time period, geography and…

Michael Vincente Perez, CAORC Senior Fellow at ACOR, Fall 2016

Oct 11, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Profile Tagged with anthropology, CAORC Fellow

Dr. Michael Vincente Perez is a professor of anthropology at the University of Washington in Seattle and in the fall of 2016 he is an ACOR-CAORC Senior Fellow. His research project, titled “Surviving Statelessness: Gaza Refugees and the Politics of Living in Jordan,” is focused on the community of Gaza refugees and their descendants in…

Brittany Barrineau, CAORC Fellow at ACOR, Fall 2016

Oct 11, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Profile Tagged with agriculture, olive oil

Brittany Barrineau is a Ph.D. candidate in Geography at the University of Kentucky and an ACOR-CAORC Fellow in the fall of 2016. Her research project, “Exporting Heritage and Highlighting Politics: Extra Virgin Olive Oil Production in Jordan,” examines how state power, international geopolitics and place based identities converge in the complex relationship between farmers, their…

Rana B. Khoury, CAORC Fellow at ACOR Fall 2016-17

Oct 5, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Profile Tagged with CAORC Fellowship, Syrian crisis

How do regular people respond and adapt to “major structural changes that upend normal social processes?” This question is at the heart of Rana B. Khoury’s work, which explores the new “normal” that civilians in Syria have created in response to the Syrian civil war. Inspired to “tell the stories of individuals and communities experiencing…

“An Anthropological Gaze at Art,” an ACOR public lecture Wednesday 26 October 2016

Oct 4, 2016 Posted in Lecture

An Anthropological Gaze at Art: Women, Art Markets, and Urban Space in Amman Dr. Aseel Sawalha National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow & Professor of Anthropology at Fordham University Wednesday 26 October 2016 at 6:00 p.m. Reception to Follow About the Lecture: This talk demonstrates how bringing a cultural anthropology lens to contemporary visual…

The Voice of Experience — Jordanian Archaeologist Jehad Haron Joins USAID SCHEP

Sep 25, 2016 Posted in SCHEP Tagged with Archaeology, department of antiquities, Jordanian scholars

Jehad Haron is no stranger to breaking new ground in Jordan’s archaeology. As a longtime member of the Department of Antiquities (DOA), he worked on 22 international projects, including 12 salvage excavations at threatened sites in Jordan and abroad, and served a three-year term as the DOA’s Director of Excavations and Survey. As Chief of…

“The Levantine Early Bronze Age,” an ACOR public lecture on Wednesday 28 September 2016

Sep 17, 2016 Posted in Lecture Tagged with Bronze Age, Khirbat Iskandar, Levant

ACOR public lecture announcement The Levantine Early Bronze Age: Re-evaluation and New Vistas Dr. Suzanne Richard ACOR-CAORC Senior Fellow & Distinguished Professor of History and Archaeology at Gannon University Wednesday 28 September 2016 at 6:00 p.m. Reception to Follow About the Lecture: The Early Bronze Age is undergoing a considerable “sea change” in the…

Life After Collapse: Water and Environment in the Late Neolithic of Southern Jordan

Sep 17, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Research Tagged with Archaeology, CAORC, neolithic, UCSD, wadi fidan

Recent ACOR-CAORC fellow and archaeologist Kathleen Bennallack writes below about her current research in southern Jordan. During the 2015–16 academic year, I spent more than six months at ACOR conducting dissertation research—learning stone tool types and how they change through time; learning how to read climate data; finding publications that are nearly impossible to find…

Framing Jordan: The Country Inside and Outside the Camera

Aug 24, 2016 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Research Tagged with arab films, jordanian films

Recent ACOR-CAORC fellow George Potter writes about his current research into Jordanian films and the social geography of locations in Jordan and Palestine included in those films. As I finish my research in Jordan, much of the world has turned its attention to the Summer Olympics. I spend most of my nights watching film, theater,…

NEH Fellow Dr. Aseel Sawalha researches “Amman’s Art Scene”

Aug 21, 2016 Posted in Fellows, NEH, Profile Tagged with art, NEH 2016-17

Reality shifts under an artist’s brush. Are urban communities also transformed by the presence of artists? This is one of the research questions pursued by Dr. Aseel Sawalha, a professor of anthropology at Fordham University in New York City. She is ACOR’s 2016-2017 NEH Fellow, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), pursuing…

The Aftermath of ‘Ain Ghazal: What Happened after 7000 BC?

Aug 18, 2016 Posted in NEH, Research

Long-time ACOR scholar, frequent ACOR fellow, and leading prehistorian Dr. Gary Rollefson writes below about his current research in the eastern desert of Jordan. An ACOR Video Lecture by Dr. Rollefson expanding on this topic is also available here. Publication of the results of the ‘Ain Ghazal excavations is still a continuing process, but after…

Why We Need Drones – An ACOR Video Lecture by Dr. Austin “Chad” Hill

Jul 31, 2016 Posted in CAORC, VideoLectures Tagged with austin hill, chad hill, drones, hill, lecture, may, video lecture

The ACOR Video Lecture Series provides accessible discussions of new research into the past and present of Jordan and the broader Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean worlds. This sixth video in the series, adapted from the May 2016 ACOR public lecture delivered by Dr. Austin “Chad” Hill, opens with a general discussion of drone technology…

USAID SCHEP Brings New Voices to Jordan’s ICHAJ

Jun 28, 2016 Posted in SCHEP Tagged with About Us, Amman, Archaeology, conference, Cultural Heritage, Feature, ICHAJ, Jordan, SCHEP

It was nearly a week after the end of the 13th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ), and the students who attended were still buzzing. Four Jordanian university students, selected to attend the conference through the USAID Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP), gathered at ACOR to…

Heritage in Stone—Assessing the Geologic Stability of Jordan’s Rock Art

Jun 13, 2016 Posted in Research Tagged with Cultural Heritage Management, Epigraphy, Inscriptions, Jordan, research

Driving north from Azraq on Jordan’s Highway 5 and turning off onto a dirt track that gradually approaches the region’s looming volcanic mountains, one eventually comes to Wadi Hassan, a picturesque desert watercourse dotted with small seasonal pools. There, surrounded by towering columnar basalt cliffs, the visitor is greeted by an overwhelming sight. I’m…

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