AIA-NYS SCHOLARS RECIPIENTS - COHORT VI (2024-2025)
SIENA COHEN-PARIKH, NYU
Siena Cohen-Parikh is a junior studying Global Public Health, Anthropology, and Ancient Studies at New York University. She has excavated at and worked as a research assistant for the Lyktos Archaeological Project (LAP). She is particularly interested in cultural heritage and bioarchaeology, and aims to pursue a graduate or law degree with a focus on protecting sites and artifacts as well as promoting the rights of local indigenous and stakeholder populations.
ASLI EREM, Hunter College
Aslı Erem is a MA student studying at Hunter College CUNY, majoring in Anthropology. Her interests consist of lithics, zoo-archaeology, and osteology. Her goal is to incorporate cultural heritage, preservation and digital archaeology ethically within her work. For the summer of 2021 and 2022, she had the opportunity to participate in excavations at Nixtun Chi’ch’, a Middle Pre-Classic Maya site located in Petén, Guatemala. In the summer of 2025, she will participate in two field projects: one in Northern Mongolia and the other at an ancient site called Phoenix in Marmaris, Turkey. She is also currently working on her graduate thesis paper, which involves a thorough analysis of various lithic artifacts excavated over the years at Nixtun-Chi’ch’.
BRENNA GOMEZ, Bard Graduate Center
Hello, my name is Brenna Gomez and I am currently a first-year MA student at Bard Graduate Center. My research focuses on ancient jewelry and its production center in the Roman world, and investigate how they contributed to identity formation in the ancient Mediterranean. I previously attended the University of Virginia where I received my BA in Art History and Archaeology. I have excavated with the Caesarea Coastal Archaeological Project as a field school student and then again as a lab supervisor. I am currently planning to gain more hands-on experiences with archaeological materials by joining other excavations and participating in research-based internships.
MELVIN MOFUS - City College of New York
Hello, my name is Melvin Mofus, I am 22 years old, and I am a recent graduate of the City College of New York. My passion for anthropology began after having a discussion with an anthropology professor who introduced me to the idea of social change through anthropology. My research passions are in the archaeology of sub-Saharan Africa, specifically West Africa, as I am Nigerian American. For me, connecting with the archaeology of Africa was a way to connect with my heritage but also to utilize it as a means of decolonization and restorative justice. I recently completed a two month internship at the New York City Archeological Repository and, in the future, I would like to get more involved with archaeological research and advocacy in Nigeria and broader West Africa!
TALIA SANKARI, NYU-ISAW
Talia Sankari is a first-year PhD student at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. She is interested in the bioarchaeology and paleopathology of the ancient Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, and hopes to study human skeletal remains within their burial contexts to answer questions about life, death, ancestry, religion, and burial practices in the ancient world.
ROXANNE ZAROFF, Columbia University
Roxanne Zaroff is a senior studying Ancient History & Archaeology and Classical Studies through Columbia University's Dual BA Program with Trinity College Dublin. Her research interests lie in the archaeology and history of Hellenistic Anatolia and the Aegean, particularly the iconographies of religious syncretism and the historical significance of its appearances on coinage. She has excavated with the Antiochia ad Cragum Archaeological Research Project in Gazipaşa in Antalya, where she also served as a numismatic assistant, Columbia University's excavations at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, and most recently, the Sector B of the Lyktos Archaeological Project in Crete, where she served as a trench supervisor. After graduation, Roxanne hopes to pursue a PhD in Classical Archaeology. She engages with archaeology in New York City by volunteering with the Columbia Department of Archaeology's weekly labs and is currently taking a class at the American Numismatic Society.
AIA-NYS SCHOLARS RECIPIENTS - COHORT V (2023-2024)
ALLYSON BLANCK
My name is Allyson Blanck, and I am currently a first year PhD student at ISAW. My research focuses on topics in medical history such as wound care and surgery. The goal of my graduate work is to develop a theoretical bridge between literary analysis of medicine and paleopathological analysis of skeletal remains. I have recently worked at the Athenian Agora, and I hope to continue working with human and animal bone in field and lab contexts. I look forward to participating in the AIA-NYS scholars’ program this year and representing a disabled perspective from the upcoming generation of archeologists.
RILEY DOMINIANNI
Riley Dominianni is a senior at Fordham University double majoring in history and anthropology. Passionate about historical preservation and museum work, she is a seasonal research assistant at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation’s American Family Immigration History Center. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and pursue a career in historical archaeology.
MANOLIS MAVROMATIS
My name is Manolis Mavromatis, I am 31 years old, and I was born and raised in Athens. Understanding cultures in antiquity has always been my passion which is why I applied to the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU, where I am currently in my first year of my PhD. In my studies, I am planning on focusing on the Bronze Age period in the Mediterranean and specifically in Crete and in the broader Aegean. My areas of interest include the Minoan Civilization, and digital humanities and their applications to the examination of language development and urbanization. I have previously participated in excavations at the Athenian Agora, and at Lyktos in Greece. My academic plans for the future are mainly completing my studies and pursuing my goal of further research on the areas I am interested in, as well as teaching at University level.
MICHAEL McCORRY
Michael McCorry is a first year MA student at Bard Graduate Center, he earned his two-subject moderatorship in Ancient History & Archaeology and Italian at the Honors College of Trinity College Dublin. After graduating he earned post-baccalaureate certificates in Ancient Greek and Latin from Rutgers University while working as a field and lab technician at Hunter Research. His dig experience ranges from Etruscan to 19th century America. His internship as a registrar for the New Jersey State Museum’s Archaeology and Ethnography Department shaped his current focus on museology. Through his studies at BGC he hopes to educate the public using the variety and inclusivity of the material culture on display at the cultural centers of New York’s museums.
ELANA NEHER
My name is Elana Neher and I am a first-year MA student at Bard Graduate Center. My research interests include archaeological museum practice and the material culture of the Indigenous Americas. Through coursework at BGC, I have become interested in the archaeology of New York City. I most recently worked at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA as a Museum Technician and at Ellis Island as a Visitor Services Coordinator. Previously, I completed my BA at Johns Hopkins University in Archaeology and East Asian Studies. I excavated with Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in Colorado and at Legio in the Jezreel Valley.
ALEX PREZEAU
Alex Prezeau is a senior studying Anthropology and Psychology at Barnard College, with a focus on experimental and queer archaeologies. She has excavated with the Picuris Pueblo Project, working to document the Ancestral Picuris’ field system, and is a recipient of the Nan Rothschild Award for Excellence in Archaeology. When not carrying out her duties as president of Barnard’s Gotham League of Archaeology Majors (lovingly known as GLAM), Alex enjoys recreating historical recipes, performing in Shakespearean plays, and bothering her friends about her latest archaeological fun fact. She hopes to pursue fieldwork in Latin America, and a PhD in Archaeology.
