African Collections Project with Stanford University Archaeology Collections

Note: The Stanford Archaeology Center plans to offer this research opportunity in Spring and Summer 2021, either in person or remotely. The work location for Spring quarter will be communicated with acceptances to this project, and the work location for Summer quarter will be determined by mid-Spring quarter. 

The focus of these two research assistant positions will be to support research and community outreach related to African ethnographic and archaeological materials held by the Stanford University Archaeology Collections (SUAC), which is part of the Stanford Archaeology Center. The goal of the project is to improve data quality, interpretive understanding, and community engagement surrounding SUAC’s African collections. These positions offer hands-on experience working with museum artifacts and archives and in stakeholder engagement. These positions will work under the Africa Project postdoctoral researcher and SUAC's collections manager.

SUAC is a museum collection of over 100,000 artifacts, ethnographic objects, and art from California and around the world. These materials originate with Stanford family collecting, the original University Museum, faculty and alumni donations, and ongoing campus archaeology. A new project focuses on improving understanding of our African holdings, which include over 300 objects from 10 countries and unknown locations across Africa, mostly dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries; plus over 800 artifacts from ancient Egypt and Nubia.