Rewriting World Archaeology:

Dialogues on the Archaeology of the Global South

This call for participants has now closed

We believe that world archaeology must be rewritten more equitably, with a greater contribution from the Global South, whose archaeology is some of the richest in the world, yet whose archaeologists are often underrepresented in international publishing, research agendas, funding and networks.

To achieve this, we have formed a diverse and expansive global coalition of partners, including a gender-balanced team of academic and professional experts working across the Global South, staff from Durham University’s Department of Archaeology, and Antiquity―a world-leading archaeology journal.

We have secured funding through the British Academy’s Writing Workshops 2021, which shares our ambition to tackle entrenched regional inequalities in publishing that have created significant gaps in international voice for Global South scholars and their research.

In practice, Rewriting World Archaeology is a mentoring programme for early career researchers (ECRs) from developing countries in South Asia, the Middle East and Africa, designed to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to access and publish in academic journals, develop and lead bold research agendas, prepare grant applications, and share their results with the public. The programme will result in significantly advancing the careers of these ECRs, and strengthen their ability to rewrite the archaeology and heritage of the Global South to have a major and lasting impact on world archaeology. It will also result in a sustainable, mutually supportive and expansive fellowship of researchers in our three regions.

The programme consists of a structured 12-month programme using online resources and workshops, and one-to-one mentoring sessions. Three regional work groups are bringing together established researchers, heritage professionals and journal editors from the Global South and Durham University with 24 ECRs from a variety of countries and institutions. Each regional group is sharing their international networks, editorial expertise, and experience of professional training and mentoring. The programme will culminate with a global summit bringing together the participants of all three regional groups, with subsequent opportunities to publish in Antiquity and the Journal of the British Academy.

To apply for a place on the programme, ECR applicants should first read the Call for Applications and About the Programme documents, then complete the online application form and send a copy of their 2-page CV via email to robin.skeates@durham.ac.uk. 

Rewriting World Archaeology - Call for Applications

Rewriting World Archaeology - Application Form Guidance

Rewriting World Archaeology - About the programme

Research and Impact Group

Heritage Partnerships Research Group

Funder

British Academy Writing Workshops 2021 sponsored by the UK Government's Global Challenges Research Fund

Team

• Mr. Adnan Al Mohamad
• Dr Jwana Chahoud, Lebanese University, Lebanon
• Prof. Robin Coningham, Durham University, UK
• Dr. Kristen Hopper, Durham University, UK
• Prof. Shahnaj Husne Jahan, University of the Liberal Arts, Bangladesh
• Dr. Abigail Moffett
• Prof. Shanti Pappu, Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India
• Prof. Graham Philip, Durham University, UK
• Prof. Innocent Pikirayi, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Prof. Sarah Semple, Durham University, UK
• Prof. Robin Skeates, Durham University, UK
• Dr Robert Witcher, Durham University, UK

References

• Pikirayi, I. 2015. The future of archaeology in Africa. Antiquity 89: 531–41.
• Witcher, R.E. 2018. Editorial. Antiquity 92: 1–6. 

Links

• The British Academy
• Antiquity
• World Archaeological Congress

Image Above: Global inequalities in publishing: cartogram representing territory size proportional to the number of scientific and technical journal articles published in 2016. Source: World Mapper. License.