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Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) is pleased to announce that the Fall 2022 period of our Internship Program is open for application s. These unpaid internships are a fantastic way of getting involved with a vibrant educational community and outreach-oriented non-profit in the Ancient Studies sector. SASA is looking for people from all kinds of backgrounds, who are interested in growing, developing their skills, and making a difference. The aim of these internships is to be mutually beneficial for interns and for SASA, to help raise awareness of the Downward Trend, and work to counteract it. Salary: unpaid Duration: September 1st to December 20th 2022 Hours: 10-15 hours per week (or up to 25 hours per week for college credits) Location: Remote. Must be available for weekly team meetings online Requirements: must be at least 18 years old, studying at undergraduate or higher education levels. Application Deadline: July 31st 2022 Applicants are interviewed on a rolling basis with a final deadline of July 31st. We seek interns with experience in any of the following areas: Communication skills (i.e social media, mass email, website, copywriting) Excellent writing skills Event coordination Research Journalism Graphic design Video editing Data mining and management Fundraising Grant writing Nonprofit administration Project management Recruitment procedures Education or classroom experience Ancient Studies knowledge General work experience, especially in remote settings As part of our Internship Program, we provide the following opportunities: Monthly Professional Development Events Career Guidance/Mentoring by Appointment Opportunity to cycle between multiple teams for academic-year-long internships Greater familiarity with non-profit management, as well as workplace experience Orientation, Fun Events, and Goodbye Party Please see our Internship Program brochure for more information about SASA Teams and Projects. To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to internships@saveancientstudies.org or upload them in the webform on our applications page. Please specify in your cover letter which skills you have. We look forward to your application. SASA is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity organization. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for internships without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We also welcome applicants from diverse educational backgrounds, aside from Ancient Studies, and those on any career trajectory.

SASA would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest SASA Ambassador, Dr. Aren Maeir. SASA ambassadors, influential Ancient Studies advocates, are an exceptionally important part of our team. They help us spread our mission far and wide and assist in SASA’s fundraising. Dr. Maeir is the latest addition to our Ambassadorial team and his appointment reflects the importance of his research and the wide-reach of his delivery, using a SASA-favorite medium - blog posts! Leading digs for 25+ years, with thousands of students learning under his guidance, Dr. Maeir has been at the forefront of connecting enthusiastic potential Ancient Studies scholars directly to the material reality of ancient peoples. Dr. Maeir is an expert in the archaeology of the Ancient Levant, having written and edited close to 20 volumes on the subject while publishing c. 300 papers. A prolific writer and archaeological director, Dr. Maeir brings three decades of teaching and research experience to his role with SASA and will be an integral asset in expanding our outreach to new frontiers. We are incredibly excited to welcome Dr. Maeir to the team in a formal capacity and we are very much looking forward to his work with us. His work will support our growth into our third year of development as SASA continues onward and upward in our mission to promote Ancient Studies, by helping us reach our fundraising goals and expanding our network of public advocates.

SASA is delighted to welcome Julie Levy to the team as our new Programming Coordinator! This role helps connect all of our teams and support their work to ensure continued progress on all fronts. As we’ve been looking to fill this role for so long, we are so happy to have such a competent, engaged new Programming Coordinator! Julie was first introduced to SASA via our Archaeogaming projects. Julie had been interested in Archaeogaming and ancient world reception in gaming for quite some time, and having met several SASA members through that interest at panels, events, and online in the realm of academic Twitter, she felt like she should reach out. After speaking to our former Fundraising Team Leader, Tine Rassalle, Julie contacted the director, and less than a week later she was onboarded. More than just an educator, Julie has a range of working experience. In addition to her many years teaching and researching as a graduate student, she also worked as an editor, project manager, and video essayist. As the new Programming Coordinator, her project management skills are particularly apt. SASA has many diverse and exciting projects happening all the time, and it's a tough job to make sure everyone is supported the way they need to be - but one that she is more than up to the challenge on. Julie has extensive experience in Ancient Studies. With three degrees in Ancient Greek and Roman studies, focusing primarily on Ancient Greek poetry and comparative linguistics and history, her expertise is significant. Whether giving talks on comparative mythology, ancient Greek wedding rituals, Roman tragedy, the reception of Greekness into Roman literature, or the reception of Greek and Roman antiquity in modern gaming, Julie is an expert in the Classical World and its reception. Right now, she runs a YouTube channel where she gives scholarly commentary while livestreaming video games and makes video essays on ancient world topics. As well as an inspirational educator and team player, Julie is a glowing example of what a modern independent scholar can do. Having left her PhD program ABD (all but dissertation) in protest over graduate student working conditions, Julie maintained connections through the internet. This ensured that she could still be invited into academic spaces for talks and projects that would once have been barred to her. This is a perfect example of SASA’s aims - to continue to support the growth of academic spaces for those outside of the traditional academic requirements. SASA is founded on our collective passion for Ancient Studies, and Julie has characterized that as supporting her mission statement here at SASA. In her words, “we're all working together out of love for our subject, so I'm here to support everyone in that goal”. Julie hopes that her work with SASA will give me experience working in a larger non-profit environment than she has ever had the chance to serve in before. Career-wise, she “couldn't ask for a better fit”: working with a large non-profit where she can exercise her scholarly and logistics skills fits her resume to the ground, whether she continues into nonprofit work or returns to academia. For herself, she says that she is looking forward to making forays into areas of ancient world studies that I haven't had the chance to explore. SASA's aims of portraying the ancient world as a whole, human place and of making that place accessible to the average person are some of her dream goals. All told, Julie is an excellent fit here at SASA and we are incredibly excited to have her aboard.

SASA is delighted to announce that our founder and director, David Danzig, has successfully defended his Doctoral Thesis and will be receiving his PhD. Dr. Danzig studied for his MA in Assyriology at Yale University, with his thesis focusing on the production of literary works through a cycle of exegesis, as seen in the interplay between the Mesoptamian mythological text Enuma Elish and its final section, the explication of Marduk’s 50 Names. For more information on David's research, follow the link here to see his academia.edu page. Following this, David studied at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), at New York University, in New York City. ISAW has a focus on interdisciplinary scholarship that spans Gibraltar to Japan, from the Neolithic to Late Antiquity. ISAW was a great opportunity for David, as it provided the perfect academic environment to support his expansive view of the ancient world. His research approach, wherein he incorporated strands of evidence from a broad purview and any possible sources, was welcomed and encouraged with their support. ISAW was a fantastic opportunity, as it housed both a doctoral program and research institute, allowing for a mix of scholars at all levels, creating countless possibilities for research across disciplines. His studies have focused on Ancient Near Eastern Literature and History, which attracted him to his doctoral topic - the exploration of immigration history and identity development in the 6th and 5th century BCE Babylonia. People from numerous areas migrated or were forced to migrate to Babylonia at this time. These events have a prescient mirror to the modern day, in the migration events that are ongoing in Ukraine, and over the last decade in Central America and the Middle East. He worked on this topic out of his interest in understanding how cultures, communities, and individuals interact and change in situations of close contact, a theme that is just as poignant today as it was in ancient times. David is aiming to publish his first book, stemming from his dissertation research, that builds to two new theories of interpretation of social phenomena in the Ancient Near East. The first is a reappraisal of the mass transplantation of populations by the 1st millennium BCE ancient Near Eastern empires, and the outcome of their resettlement on a network of large estates of high imperial officials. It also develops an understanding of Babylonian society at this time as consisting of three key strata - an agrarian peasantry, a rural local elite, and the urbanite elite. In addition, he traces a number of long term identity developments of four immigrant groups and connects these identities to their immigration histories into the region. David also runs and oversees the Shanati Project. This project aims to recreate the ancient Babylonian chronology from the 1st millennium BCE with day-level granularity, from ancient cuneiform sources, in an accessible format for the modern day. Running in collaboration with a range of excellent scholars in the field of the History of Science in Ancient Babylonia, this project is supported by a Digital Humanities Advancement Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that he wrote. This project also works toward David’s goals of bringing Ancient Studies to the general public, as it will tightly connect the ancient Babylonian calendar with our modern western calendar and will create a free embeddable date conversion widget for chronology nerds everywhere. From the outset, David aspired to incorporate three key facets of development into his professional academic role - research, teaching, and outreach. He firmly believes that this approach is a necessary change and forms the foundations of the future of Ancient Studies - a field ripe for a course-correction. Dr. Danzig has research interests in ancient immigration, ethnic identity, and social history in the past - a broad range of passions that stem from his life experience. His view is that studying these ancient phenomena offer a way of “contributing to a better world in which people learn how to understand and accept differences without fear”. These interests brought David to Ancient Studies, as he finds that the nature of Ancient Studies as a subject within the Humanities is a fantastic vehicle for education regarding social cultural differences. Moreover, he is dedicated to ensuring that that is the focus of Ancient Studies education moving forward, and continuing what he believes is its current path. Taking a positive attitude to making change in the world has helped David to bring people together from all walks of life and in many guises, such as Save Ancient Studies Alliance. This organization is the distillation of David’s motivation to take proactive steps in supporting and empowering himself and others to make the change necessary to bring people together. David has found this empowerment he seeks to give to others in teaching, in a process he describes as “multi-dimensional”. The nature of guiding students to learn, offering them insight into career development, and exploring aspects of personal growth can be a rich and rewarding experience for an educator such as David, and create a two-way street of development for the involved groups. To this end, David has also cited his experience with SASA and leading the interns and volunteers there as simultaneously mentor-based and collaborative, further supporting his ability to teach, lead, and educate. David’s vision for SASA began to come to life in March 2020, and he has led its project development and day-to-day operations ever since. David’s work with SASA has emphasized his vision for Ancient Studies as a rising star within the Humanities, reversing the Downward Trend of engagement to encourage continual new developments within the field from fresh perspectives. To this end, David has guided SASA to work to reduce barriers to entry and widen accessibility to the subject through a range of initiatives that have made Ancient Studies accessible to those with a non-traditional background or approach to scholarship. David founded SASA with the recognition that there is no one-size fits all approach to studying the past and the inclusion of scholarship and ideas from across the spectrum is the best way to encourage greater engagement and a connection to the past that ensures it maintains relevance today. Founding SASA drew on David’s experience in nonprofit organizations and the attitude and organizational ability to bring people together toward a common goal that he attributes to his mother. David has also endeavored to give SASA the direction to connect students across all ages and backgrounds and equip them with the necessary tools to develop their skills and support their prospects for future entry to higher education in the context of Ancient Studies. His work has also helped provide opportunities for individuals of all ages who traditionally do not have access to institutional resources to participate in their academic development and gain exposure for their own research. The removal of barriers to access and widening engagement has been a part of David’s mission for creating a community for Ancient Studies scholarship as a calling that transcends occupation. David has described his time developing SASA and working with our teams with tremendous positivity. He has described the organization “as a group of incredible volunteers” who he sees as good friends, and referred to the journey of SASA as “an amazing ride, one that I never could have seen for myself”. With his help, he is hopeful that SASA can continue to work together toward a “thriving, healthy future of Ancient Studies” - a goal that he calls “tremendously fulfilling”. We at SASA would like to be the first to congratulate David for his achievement and wish him all the best for the future as he makes his next steps into academia.

SASA is delighted to announce that we will be continuing our Summer Reading Groups into the Summer of 2022. Our Reading Groups are free to anyone interested in the topic and provide a forum to engage with ancient texts in English (and Spanish) translation in the context of a discussion group with like-minded individuals from around the world. Thanks to the generous grant from the Delmas Foundation, SASA presents a wide range of excellent groups this summer. This Summer, we are joined by a team of fantastic leaders who will facilitate 15 reading groups across a breadth of fascinating subjects in the Ancient World, offering students of all levels, backgrounds, and support networks an opportunity to dive into the study of the past with a subject expert. This year’s reading groups cover topics from many locales in the ancient world, from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Through discussion of texts and ancient history, topical issues of antiquity and today, participants will engage with the past in rich and vibrant ways that apply to modern contexts. Reading Groups are of either 8 weeks or 3 weeks in duration. Groups run weekly, falling between June 2 and August 4, . RSVP NOW! Our reading groups: Ancient Egyptian Gods in Ancient Texts and Modern Media. Led by Brianna Jackson and Kate Minniti, running 14th - August 2nd, 8 Weeks, Tuesdays @ 12pm EST Affairs, Scandals, Treason: Misdeeds in Ancient Egypt. Led by Charlotte Dietrich, running June 12th - July 11th, 3 Weeks, Monday @ 12pm EST From Soapy Slaughter to Soap Opera. Led by Georgina Longley, running June 14th - August 2nd, 8 Weeks, Tuesday @ 11am EST World History through the Environment: How Ancient Cultures Viewed and Observed their Natural Surroundings. Led by Gregory Allen Viessmann Jr, running June 14th - August 2nd, Tuesday @ 2pm EST. Hidden in plain sight: uncovering the life of a Roman slave. Led by Jamie Young, running June 13th - 27th, Mondays @ 1pm EST. Communicating Power in the Ancient Maya World: A Study of Glyphic Text, Monumental Art, and Architecture. Led by Catherine Nuckols-Wilde, running June 2nd - July 21st, Thursdays @ 2pm EST. What was the Ancient Indian Religion?. Led by Pratishta Mukherjee, running June 3rd - 17th, Fridays @ 11am EST. Literatura y Filosofía en la antigua Grecia: de los Presocráticos a Platón (administered in Spanish). Led by Javier Maldonado Fernandez, running June 9th - July 28th, Thursdays @ 11am EST. Life and Times in Ancient Persia. Led by John Haberstroh and Babette Margolies, running June 10th - July 29th, Fridays @ 2pm EST. Understanding the Vikings through their Texts. Led by Dr Lillian Céspedes González, running July 13th-27th, Wednesdays at 11am EST. Ancient Egypt in Africa. Led by Talawa Adodo, running June 2nd - July 21st, Thursdays @ 12pm EST.

We at SASA are delighted to announce that our Fundraising Team Leader, Dr. Tine Rassalle, has been awarded a post as the Curator at the Museum of Southern Jewish Experience, in New Orleans. This is a fantastic post and we are very pleased to see her enter a new role after her recent PhD defense and graduation. Tine has a range of excellent experience in the studies of the past, having been engaged with ancient cultures prior to her PhD studies. Having worked previously in Providing Financial Services Level 6public facing roles including at museums, Tine’s devotion to sharing knowledge with anyone and everyone with a willingness to learn made her a perfect fit for SASA, and in turn will allow her to excel as a public educator. Tine’s unique doctoral thesis at University of North Carolina focused on expressions of Ancient Judaism through the nature of Coin Deposits in Ancient Synagogues in Late Antique Palestine. Tine’s passion for her subject and commitment to continually sharing her knowledge has made her Twitter feed a constant and transparent view into the life of an academic, complete with highs and lows - and historical insights thrown in for good measure. Tine has been an essential part of the team here at SASA, having led our fundraising efforts throughout SASA’s past, stepping up to form and lead the team at a critical time in our organization's history. She has been absolutely instrumental in helping SASA grow, providing the expertise and guidance to acquire a number of significant grants, including $7,150 from the New Jersey council for humanities, $10,000 from the Delmas Foundation, and $21,000 from the University of North Carolina. Her work has been a cornerstone in keeping SASA moving forward, for which we thank her immensely. We wish Tine all the best with her new role moving forward and hope she continues to exemplify the passion she has always shown to us in her new place of work.

SASA would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Executive Assistant, Dr. Lillian Céspedes González, whose position is supported by our CORE Fund. The executive team is a core team at SASA that works directly with our director, Dr. David Danzig, to implement key administrative changes, support workflow procedures, and support our teams as we grow and attract new team members! For more information on SASA’s CORE fund, please click here. Dr. Céspedes González is a long-time supporter of SASA, having collaborated with us prior through her work with the historical tour company, Travelusion, on virtual tours of archaeological sites in the UK. Through Travelusion, Dr. Céspedes González brings people from all over the world right into historical sites with her expert knowledge and quick wit. Thanks to the burgeoning market for tours that have been limited by travel restrictions, Travelusion has been a perfect way for many prospective fans of the past to explore ancient settings, city-scapes, and points of interest with a personalized tour and all the breadth and depth of knowledge of Dr. Céspedes González’s expert understanding! Dr. Céspedes González’s work offered an incisive and fresh perspective on the medieval viking subjects. More specifically, her research has focused on the representations of medieval Norse women and the way they are depicted in visual media - such as comic books, and films - and how this translates into wider forms of representation of the medieval viking population in modern popular culture and memory. As well as this, Dr. Céspedes González also hosts a podcast and runs blogs online regarding various topics in popular culture. We are incredibly excited to welcome Dr. Céspedes González to the team in a formal capacity and we are very much looking forward to her work with us. She will be an integral part of the team within SASA and will help us continue our work into our third year of development and growth as SASA continues onward and upward in our mission to reverse the Downward Trend in Ancient Studies.

We are delighted to announce that SASA Team Leader Jon Haberstroh has been appointed to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as an Assistant Professor-in Residence in Ancient World History! John has been an integral team member here at SASA and we wish him every success going forward! John studied a B.A. in History with honors and a Classics minor at CSU Long Beach, before going right into an M.A. in History at CSU Long Beach. He then completed the UCLA Post-Baccalaureate Certificate program in Classics before going on to a Ph.D. in History at UC Riverside. He also spent a year in Greece as a Regular Member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In addition, he has completed his PhD, defending his dissertation successfully. The topic of his dissertation was "Local Panhellenism at the Ancient Greek Sanctuaries of the Northeast Peloponnese". His research interests for the last decade have been on Panhellenism and ancient Greek identities. John’s dissertation focused on the sanctuaries of the northeast Peloponnese from a local perspective as a case study in problematizing the Panhellenic narrative that is so often used to describe these sites. John is an avid researcher with much to take pride in - in particular, there are a few sections from various chapters of his dissertation that he hopes turn into journal articles at some point. One idea in particular from his introductory chapter on the history of the idea of Panhellenism aims to demonstrate the modern origins of Panhellenism and its connection to romanticized notions of modern nationalism. John is dedicated to reminding his audience that all modern scholarship is influenced by our times and biases, and thus reinforcing the need to be critical of the terms which we use to describe the ancient past to check our own biases. As a professional, John is strongly geared toward teaching and increasing accessibility to ancient history. Since the early days of SASA, he has been the Access Team leader; this team creates various databases and materials to help the public engage in ancient studies. All these materials will be freely available when completed. John also led the very first SASA reading group in 2020, and has been a key fixture in them ever since. John has described the experience as “so rewarding” and enjoys the ability to “interact with so many great people from around the world in these groups”. Going forward, John’s mission is to have his students learn about the ancient world and mature as critically-thinking individuals who care about the diverse world in which they live. The educational and outreach mission of SASA goes hand-in-hand with my professional objectives of making ancient history accessible and meaningful to everyone. When asked how SASA had positively impacted his career, John noted that his “involvement with SASA has grown my personal and professional networks in ways that have sparked collaborations and encouraged me to keep going forward. With my new position at UNLV, I hope to bring SASA to the Las Vegas Valley and inspire new generations of historians and lovers of Ancient Studies.” Congratulations again to John and all the positive wishes for the future. We thank John for his continued aid in propelling SASA to new heights!

SASA is thrilled to announce our newest cohort of interns and volunteers joining us for our 2022 Summer season! As a non-profit organization, SASA benefits immensely from the support provided to us by our team, and the fresh perspectives from our interns and volunteers continue to contribute to our mission of an accessible and diverse community for Ancient Studies. Please join me in welcoming our new 2022 summer interns and volunteers. Emma Barbacinia - Archaeogaming Team Geena Hollis - Archaeogaming Team Yaying Bai - Research Team Cassandra May - Volunteer with the Live Events Team Leon Cowell - Research Team Miguel M. Vergas - Volunteer on the Outreach Team, Dallas Coordinator Louise Chase - Archaeogaming & Live Events Team Jacob Asher Lindbert - Executive Team Quill Kukuj - Executive Team Stephanie Harris - Communications and Inter-Org Team Dustin Chen - Research Team Charlotte Davies - Communication Team Ariane Da Silva Palmas - Access Team Lovira Putri - Outreach Team

Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) have been trialling our Let’s Get Published workshop since the start of this year, wherein we have invited specific partners from previous academic outreach events to speak about their academic research ideas and any progress they want to make on it. Due to their runaway success, we are now widening our intake - so please share this email with your network! The forums have been fantastic. Creation of peer-led spaces has allowed the participants to present in an informal environment that they can use to get comfortable with presenting their research, and, more importantly, receive feedback from their peers. As not everyone has equal access to peer feedback due to the wide variety of backgrounds that they may have approached research from, these workshops have been an essential way to engage non-traditional academics and encourage them to share their ideas with the wider community. Initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Participants have highlighted the benefit of having the opportunity to speak publicly on their research and the support of a peer community. SASA remains committed to reducing barriers to participation across the breadth of Ancient Studies - and to this end, we are now inviting any and all interested parties to join our Let’s Get Published workshop schedule throughout the year. At present, places are somewhat limited, so we encourage early registration to avoid disappointment. To apply to present at a “Let’s Get Published” meeting, please fill out the form (linked here) with this information: Name Email Field of Study of Your Work Subject/Title of what you’re working on Specific piece of recent research you will present Link to draft abstract or section (if you are ready to share) Select upcoming meeting to present at

Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) is pleased to announce that we have a number of Volunteer Positions with immediate start dates, running throughout the Summer. These volunteerships are a fantastic way for experienced scholars to get involved with a vibrant educational community, gain exposure to an outreach-oriented non-profit, and make a lasting impact on Ancient Studies. SASA is looking for people from all kinds of backgrounds, who are interested in growing, developing their skills, and making a difference. We enjoy working together with like-minded individuals from around the world, who believe in SASA’s mission: to raise awareness of the Downward Trend in Ancient Studies and work to counteract it. SASA aims to inspire a broad, inclusive community of learners and students by building a grassroots movement through outreach, collaboration, accessibility, and public scholarship. These positions are diverse and incorporate a range of different skill sets. For more information, please click on the specific position linked here: Fundraising & Grant Writing Team Leader Coalition of Ancient Studies Organizations Coordinator Recruiting Coordinator Assistant Manager for Communications/Live Events Applications are on a rolling basis. To apply, please send your resume and cover letter to daviddanzig@saveancientstudies.org.

SASA would like to extend a warm thank you to all of our interns who have joined us for the spring season this year. Every year we are overjoyed to be joined by such a diverse, engaged, intelligent, and creative team of interns who help us to continue to develop into the future. Without further ado, we would like to thank the following interns for all their hard work! Maximilliano Angeletti-Cots - Access Team Yixuan Zhang - Research Team David Hilder - Research Team, Coding Kaitlynn McGann - Outreach Team Tamila Sushkova - Communications Team Takami Harano - Archaeogaming Team Agnieszka Arcisz - Executive Team, Recruiting Elisavet Karafyllidi - Research Team Maddie Hoaglund - Fundraising Team