Public History PhD student, Wendy Vencel Attends the 2025 Joint Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America and the Society for Classical Studies

Public History PhD student, Wendy Vencel, shares her story about attending the 2025 Joint Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

From January 2nd to the 5th, I attended the 2025 Joint Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was my third time attending AIA-SCS, and this year was my first year being a workshop organizer for the Student Affairs Interest Group (SAIG) of the AIA.

Our workshop, “Go Fund Yourself: the Ins and Outs of Funding in the Archaeological World” brought together graduate students, early and mid career scholars, and external funding directors, to discuss every stage of the funding process. Our panelists were Amanda Ball, PhD Candidate at UNC Chapel Hill; Dr. Lynne Kvapil, Butler University; Dr. Kim Shelton, UC Berkeley; and Dr. John Yellen, the National Science Foundation. SAIG also ran the AIA’s Lightning Session, during which participants, which included seasoned scholars as well as undergraduate students, presented their current research in 5 minutes or less.

I was able to attend several panels and roundtables that centered on outreach, pedagogy, and public archaeology. It was great to see what other scholars are doing, including the collection of oral histories within the communities archaeologists work with – something I plan to do at my own site this summer! I also got to talk with other archaeologists and educators about K-12 and museum outreach initiatives as well as how to begin mentoring the next generation of archaeologists. Additionally, I met up with Dr. Jordan Rogers, an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at NC State, who was presenting on his recent excavations at Pompeii.

A UNC Chapel Hill colleague, Allie Davis, and myself will be taking on the roles of Co-Chairs of SAIG for the coming year, so students (undergraduate and graduate!) who might be interested in the archaeology or the AIA should definitely reach out to us! You can find more information about SAIG on our website https://studentaffairsaia.wordpress.com/