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SAVE ANCIENT STUDIES ALLIANCE 2022 A N N UA L R EPORT

Table of Contents Welcome Mission Vision Impact Organizational Development Programs Projects Director Founder s Message 5 Outline 6 7 Mission Vision Statement 8 9 The SASA Arc 10 11 What Is Ancient Studies 12 13 The Value of Ancient Studies 14 15 SASA s Core Values 16 17 How We Operate 18 21 Introduction 22 23 Our Impact Quantified 24 Digital Outreach 25 Volunteerism 26 27 Outline 28 29 Organizational Structure 30 31 Teams Team Leaders 32 39 Internships 40 41 Remote Run Organization 42 43 Funding Model 44 47 Ambassador Program 48 51 Sharing SASA s Voice 52 53 Publicity 54 57 The SASA Arc Reintroduced 58 59 Knowing What You Know 60 61 Raising Awareness 62 63 Supporting Education 64 67 Increasing Accessibility 68 81 Forming An Alliance 82 87 Reenvisionng Post Education Scholarship 88 93 New Projects 94 95

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Welcome A Message from SASA s Founder Director Welcome to the third Annual Report of Save Ancient Studies Alliance In this pamphlet you will learn about our mission vision strategies staff and programs as of the end of our third year of operation March 2023 Over the past three years SASA has grown from an idea into an international organization This past year was filled with many successes for SASA Our Educational and Public Outreach programs have reached thousands of students scholars and enthusiasts David Danzig Founder Director Our Partnership Development has grown as we build stronger relationships with Ancient Studies related organizations of all kinds and sizes Our Community Building Scholarly Support and Research programs are steadily progressing Our Educational Support programs are building cutting edge content for Ancient Studies educators We are very excited about this coming year for SASA as we help promote grow and transform Ancient Studies As you are guided through the many areas of SASA s extensive vision community and programming in this report we hope that you are encouraged to support and become involved with our work and mission 5

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Mission Vision 1 Mission Vision Statement 2 The SASA Arc 3 What Is Ancient Studies 4 The Value of Ancient Studies 5 SASA s Core Values 6 How We Operate Mission Vision 7

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 1 Statement Mission Vision Save Ancient Studies Alliance seeks to reverse the current downward trend in the study of the Ancient World Building a grassroots movement through education accessible mentorship and public scholarship we work toward our goal of inspiring a wider inclusive community of learners and students Save Ancient Studies Alliance envisions a world in which connection with the richness of deep human history and culture is shared by all people Our vision for a new Ancient Studies will encompass Broadening understandings of our pasts to help nurture cross cultural awareness curiosity sensitivity and an affinity for each other 2 Engaging with our deep pasts in educational public and cultural spheres with widespread opportunities that emphasize openness and accessibility to all 3 Sharing Ancient Studies scholarship as a community endeavor of lifelong learners both inside and outside higher education institutions 4 Capturing the active public imagination and exemplifying proactive inclusivity interconnectedness and cooperation through humanistic scholarship models of Ancient Studies Mission Vision 9

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 The SASA Arc All of our projects and programming is aimed at achieving 1 one or more of the goals that form the SASA Arc 1 2 3 Knowing What You Know Educational Sociology and Marketing research about Ancient Studies Raising Awareness Generate and harness interest in the Ancient World while raising awareness for Ancient Studies as the source of our knowledge of the Ancient World Supporting Education Support formal and informal Ancient Studies learning at all educational levels 4 5 6 Increasing Accessibility Increase access to Ancient Studies for all Forming An Alliance Encourage Ancient Studies Fields to come together and make public outreach a part of what we do in addition to teaching and scholarship Reenvisionng Post Eduacation Scholarship Create a wider inclusive community of Ancient Studies scholars and students integrating people of all backgrounds and scholars employed in academia and in other fields 2 Raising Awareness 3 Suporting Education 4 Increasing Accessibility 5 Forming an Alliance 6 Mission Vision Knowing What You Know Reenvisioning Post Education Scholarship 11

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 What is Ancient Studies The concept of Ancient Studies encompasses a variety of academic disciplines and yet this larger framework is not widely accepted SASA includes the following disciplines within Ancient Studies Ancient American and Indigenous Studies South Asian Studies Central Asian Studies East Asian Studies Oceania Studies Ancient Europe Studies Ancient African and Egyptian Studies Ancient Near Eastern languages and Civilizations Biblical Studies Ancient Greek and Roman Studies Arabic and Islamic Studies Ancient Studies is a dynamic and constantly evolving field so SASA anticipates changing and growing this list in the future The concept of a deeper past exists in all disciplines of historical study This is how history is meant Late Antique and Medieval Studies to be encompassed with the Art History term Ancient The potential History of Schoenberg and Technology Preservation and Conservation gains in accepting this moniker and associating these fields with one another is appreciable Ancient Philosophy The collaboration of our fields Ancient Music will allow for the creation of a larger niche for them within the Ancient Religion Humanities helping to prevent General History their downsizing and creating a General Archaeology unified advocacy platform within Mission Vision the Humanities 13

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 The Value of Ancient Studies We believe the study of peoples histories and cultures distant from us in time is profoundly important and has significant contemporary relevance in the following ways I Learning about the socio political dynamics and cultural mentalities which transcend the human experience across time and space Studying the past as a mirror in which we are able to see ourselves with greater clarity Informing the many aspects of our contemporary culture today through the lens of Ancient Studies Influencing how we think about study and present Ancient Studies for vibrant interest in today s communities Fostering attitudes of cultural respect empathy and humility II As the history of the human journey Ancient Studies is the core of the Humanities It brings an inherent understanding and affinity for peoples and cultures that feel markedly different from ourselves Ancient Studies thereby serves as an inclusive environment to encourage cross interaction between people of different languages cultures socioeconomic backgrounds gender identities sexual orientations and skin colors The empathy and understanding gained from studying ancient people ameliorates contemporary prejudices and intergroup tensions Mission Vision 15

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 SASA s Core Values Education We believe that education empowers individuals communities and societies Liberal Arts and the Humanities including Ancient Studies is vital to fostering individuals and societies imbued with empathy compassion and altruism as well as creativity ingenuity and innovation Accessibility Everyone benefits from access to information so we strive to make all of our content as accessible as possible That is why SASA focuses on the digital We provide virtual programming that is available from anywhere in the world We are always looking for opportunities to reach outside of the stereotypical bounds of Ancient Studies whether in topic language or diversity Everyone has the right to learn and everyone should be supported in this journey Lifelong Learning Intellectual engagement is a lifelong pursuit and we support this ongoing quest for knowledge awareness and meaning through Ancient Studies Ancient Studies can be enjoyed and pursued by people of all ages and backgrounds and should be accepted as participants in excellent scholarly discussion regardless of background occupation or means The current model of restrictive membership must change to an open inclusive community Quality We aspire to the highest quality of content and education By recruiting experts and insisting that the research and information we disseminate is evidence based and of a high educational standard we ensure the most accurate possible representation and interpretation of past peoples and histories Mutual Aid We highly value volunteerism as a means of giving back to one another and a community at large We also believe that people who contribute to an organization in a regular and ongoing manner deserve financial support and recognition for their time and work Currently most of SASA s staff volunteers and interns are unpaid We are dedicated to providing all of our volunteering with the necessary tools to succeed and so we will continue to seek funding to pay our talented and dedicated volunteers Inspiration All of our volunteers have a deep seated passion for the Study of the Ancient World This passion permeates and drives all that we do We hope to impart this passion and inspire others with curiosity positivity and intrepid action in working toward positive change Only by working together can we achieve our goals and Save Ancient Studies Mission Vision 17

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 H ow We Operate In this current climate where the perceived societal value of Humanities is waning direct lobbying to institutional decision makers to increase funding for Ancient Studies has proven ineffective Therefore the first step in reversing this trend is to raise a groundswell of interest in Ancient Studies As we transform Ancient Studies into a shining beacon within the Humanities changing attitudes towards Ancient Studies will lead to the promotion of formal educational engagement in Ancient Studies at all levels SASA seeks to translate academic knowledge to a wider audience so that all generations will continue to learn about the ancient past At SASA we view all interest in Ancient Studies positively Our understanding of the past is shaped by the popular media we consume including comic books films novels or even video games Whatever sparks a desire to learn more about Ancient Studies is beneficial and valuable Through our various grassroots projects SASA successfully harnesses the public imagination and love for the ancient world creating a rising tide of engagement and bringing together scholars lifelong learners young students and enthusiasts from around the world Mission Vision 19

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Education Accessibility Public Scholarship Provide content tools and instructions online to make the study of the Ancient World more accessible Develop advocate and support scholarly life for graduates of subjects related to Ancient Studies who work in non academic fields We provide Archaeogaming modules for schools which helps teach students about the past through interactive activities We house a resource database with 1 400 websites from all Ancient Studies fields We aim to continue to open the world of Ancient Studies to students in high school college and beyond by offering monthly reading groups Each group is led by a SASA Educational Ambassador a dedicated PhD student specializing in that particular area of study Our ultimate goal is to create a wider inclusive community of scholars and students integrating people of all backgrounds We engage with the community through our Public Scholarship events where SASA Educational Ambassadors share findings and research from their specific fields of study Mentorship Inspire a passion for Ancient Studies among high school undergraduate and graduate students At SASA we recognize that many students interested in Ancient Studies might not have many opportunities to seek advice from experienced individuals within the field We set up our mentorship program to empower our high school aged mentees by assisting them in making conscious choices regarding their education and future careers Each year at SASA we provide multiple internship opportunities for students to learn about and support our work through research communications outreach fundraising and access Mission Vision 21

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Impact We are extremely proud of the wide appeal of our programming as seen in the 198 countries represented among our website visitors This reflects the truly global interest in Ancient Studies The following pages quantifiy and illustrate this phenomenon Impact 23

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 O ur Impact Digital Quantified Outreach Since its beginning in Spring 2020 SASA has experienced significant growth of our audience and outreach including 260 Interns Volunteers 60 000 Unique Website Visitors From 198 Countries 3 500 Mailing List Members Added Social Media Our social media impact alone has obtained over 7 000 subscribers with almost 70 000 regular engagements of liking sharing and commenting about ancient studies with social media across the globe 7 000 70 000 Subcribers obtainted from social media across all platforms Likes shares comments through social media All Things Video Videos are integral to SASA s mission as they open the ancient world in an exciting medium In addition to housing recordings of our live events our YouTube channel also features Inspire Campaign videos including Ancient Kitchen cooking videos of ancient recipes We also have a series of videos from volunteers on why they love Ancient Studies 4 75 million Social Media Reaches Impact 25

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 H ighly D edicated Volunteerism Volunteers and interns continue to play an instrumental role in SASA s reach and success SASA has had over 260 remote volunteers and interns in our summer fall and spring internship programs and volunteering cycles and that number continues to grow as students graduate students ABD s PhD s young adults and adults looking for volunteering opportunities seek innovative internship and volunteering programs alongside and outside the academic world Our interns are spread across over 200 countries states and provinces 260 Cumulative total of interns volunteers that have particapated in seasonal internship and volunteer cycles 200 Countries states and provinces represented by our interns and volunteers Impact 27

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Organizational Developement 1 Organizational Structure 2 Teams Team Leaders 3 Internships 4 Remote Run Organization 5 Funding Model 6 Ambassador Program 28 Organizational Development 29

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Organizational SASA has many teams running independent projects all managed by the Executive Team which is responsible to the Board of Directors In addition there are three advisory groups which help to guide and support the organization and individual teams These are the SASA Ambassadors who work in an advisory capacity with the Board of Directors the Research Advisory Board and the AEM Advisory Board Structure Board of Directors Archeogaming Education Advisory Board Executive Team Communications Fundraising Access AEMs Inter Org North Texas Live Events Grant Writing Archeogaming Live 30 Sociology of Ancient Studies Research Advisory Board SASA Ambassadors Virtual Conference Outreach Mentorship Research Organizational Development 31

Teams ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Archeogaming Education Modules AEM s We work with scholars to create complete lesson plans videos and materials using Team Leaders video games with ancient related content to explore themes and ideas of ancient history and society These educational materials are distributed to a network of teachers for use in their classrooms Our Paige Brevick members develop skills in understanding AEM Team Leader The Executive Team elementary and high school classrooms the development of script guidelines editing This Team is the engine that keeps of scripts video editing and distribution SASA running smoothly handling The Team Leader for AEMs is Paige Brevick SASA s administration recruiting finances legal matters productivity David Danzig Julie Levy Director Program Coordinator Jacob Asher Lindbert Tara Woodward Recruitment Coordinator Executive Assistant software internal processes and Access more Since SASA is a fast growing One of our primary methods for saving Ancient start up organization the Executive Studies is providing greater ease of access Team innovates new processes for students who want to begin studying the procedures and tools to support the ancient world and developing their skills We development of all the other Teams have published a database of free online Participating in the Executive Team is resources in all Ancient Studies fields in August an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in exploring non profit management and administration The John Haberstroh Access Team Leader 2021 and we are currently compiling a list of colleges and universities that offer programs Executive Team is headed by our Director David Danzig and staffed in Ancient Studies as well as a list of archaeological sites open to by Julie Levy the Program Coordinator Tara Woodward the Executive public participation Access Team members are also working on a list Assistant and Jacob Asher Lindbert the Recruitment Coordinator as well of technical terms across languages for easier access to archaeological as several volunteers and interns information in different parts of the world The Team Leader for Access Team is John Haberstroh 32 Organizational Development 33

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Fundraising Communications Lauren Kubosch Communications Team Leader The vanguard of SASA the Communications We are hard at work trying to raise Team works to create and schedule our funds with a multi pronged approach social media posts mass emails and including crowdfunding individual donor run our website The Communications solicitation and more Members of this Team plays an integral role in SASA s team plan fundraising events and make messaging look and feel The variety of exciting opportunities available to our social media content allows members of donors In addition we oversee the SASA the team to exercise creativity and build skills transferable to a number of other Marisa Morgan Fundraising Team Leader workplace environments Getting the word out about SASA is a great webshop Bazaar and its merchandise The Team Leader for Fundraising is Marisa Morgan opportunity for networking and for furthering our shared goal of bringing ancient studies into the mainstream The Team Leader for Communications is Lauren Kubosch Inter Organization Communications A subteam of Communications run by Team Leader Yuna Kim Grant Writing Inter Org Communications works hand Our director David Danzig runs our Grant in hand with the Communications Team Writing Team This team spends their time We are in charge of mass emails to our researching and applying for the grants that mailing lists SASA s public blog and keep our biggest operations like AEMs other large scale communications We running through the year are a team of writers and coordinators Yuna Kim Inter Org Team Leader 34 working to make sure that SASA s longer messages get out into the world David Danzig Grant Writing Team Leader Organizational Development 35

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Live Events Lauren Kubosch Live Events Co Leader Cassandra May Live Events Co Leader Mentorship We develop plan and run Mentoring is a new program at SASA SASA s live events including working to connect high school students Expert Q A s Archaeogaming and undergraduates with mentors in ancient and Monthly Book Club We studies Our goal is to foster connections also run annual events like between students with an interest in ancient the SASA Birthday Bash and studies and the world of opportunities they Halloween Event Members participate in the entire event creation and production cycle from Agnieszka Arcisz Mentorishp Team Leader might find in their future both inside and outside academia and also to help those soliciting new presenters to organizing events assisting in live students learn how to take advantage of event production to post event communications video editing mentoring more generally The Team Leader and posting The Live Events Team is co run by Team Leaders for Mentorship is Agnieszka Arcisz Lauren Kubosch and Cassandra May North Texas Branch Initiative Archaeogaming Live The North Texas Branch Initiative has two major goals Archaeogaming Live is a subteam within Live Events co run by Team 1 To generate interest in Ancient Studies among high school and college students in the area of North Texas through interactive programming and collaboration with local organizations and institutions and Leaders Kate Minitti and Alex Vandewalle Archaeogaming Live runs livestream events where we Kate Minitti Archaeogaming Live Co Leader Alex Vandewalle Archaeogaming Live Co Leader play video games with ancient studies content and have experts on to live chat with us about them We also host interviews with scholars who work on reception in Miguel Vargas North Texas Team Leader 2 To create a network of organizations and educators in the region that utilize Ancient Studies content to encourage higher education and intellectual growth The Team Leader for North Texas is Miguel Vargas video games 36 Organizational Development 37

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Outreach Virtual Conference This team forms and Every year SASA hosts a virtual conference organizations which is free and open to the public Our individuals and businesses to help further aim is to provide an accessible and public our mission and theirs Team members focus facing event where scholars come to share on making connections with those outside of their expertise in ancient studies with SASA and maintaining contact information everyone The Virtual Conference Team is but led by Anh Nguyen partnerships with Sarah Richardson Outreach Team Leader are also relationships other involved in preparing promotional materials about SASA and in gathering information on conferences and Anh Nguyen Virtual Conference Team Leader other events The Team Leader for Outreach Team is Sarah Richardson Reseach In our effort to ground our claims and proposed solutions in objective evidence this team conducts in depth sociological research and analysis on the downward trend in Ancient Studies throughout the US educational system We also work to produce and present proactive Valeria Zubieta Lupo Research Team Leader methods for solving problems in Ancient Studies Our goals are to complete a White Paper on this topic and a series of published articles and informational videos Interns on the team help in crunching the data on a variety of educational indicators analyzing that data composing results as well as researching solutions and producing videos about them Research Team is led by Team Leader Valeria Zubieta Lupo 38 Organizational Development 39

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Internships Our internships offer a fantastic opportunity to get involved with a vibrant educational community outreach oriented nonprofit in the Ancient Studies sector SASA welcomes interns from a broad range of backgrounds who are interested in growing and developing their skills and making a difference Although we are working on providing funds for internships in the future the program is currently unpaid SASA s internships are designed to be mutually beneficial Our interns participate in various SASA projects ranging from fundraising to social media and Archaeogaming production In addition to learning new skills related to nonprofit work we also encourage our interns to build connections within the ancient studies Internships also include Monthly professional development events Career day dance mentoring by appointment Our annual internship cycle consists of 3 recurring periods programs Autumn September 1 December 31 Spring January 15 April 30 Summer May 15 August 15 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 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 40 Organizational Development 41

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 The Power of a R emote Run Organization In our third year as a completely remote run organization we are continuing to grow adding over 260 skilled volunteers and interns from over 30 countries This has caused us to be nimble and creative as we continue to work together across different departments languages time zones and skill sets In order to accommodate our growing size and impact team leaders have worked closely with the executive team to streamline onboarding processes and ensure that valuable volunteer time is used efficiently to further our mission SASA uses a variety of modes of communication in order to accommodate individuals with differing comfort levels In addition we have continued to build on our Intranet Web Portal where all staff volunteers and interns have access to the tools and information they need This has been vital for our success with our remote workflow 42 Organizational Development 43

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 F unding Model Grants for Projects Donations For Operations This year we made great strides in our fundraising efforts and we hope to carry that momentum into 2023 With the support of two successful fundraising events we increased our total gifts from 2021 by 35 and we have a loyal group of 22 monthly supporters that will continue to give SASA greater financial stability as an organization Donor Support While we anticipate developing the relationships required to fund the majority of SASA s programming through Grants and Major Gifts smaller sustaining donations are still vital to SASA s day to day operations As such we have designed and begun to implement a new donor support and engagement system to increase transparency and engagement with our donors so they can see how their support helps move us toward our goals For example our new Quarterly Donor Newsletter keeps donors up to date on our spending and securement of grants Likewise our new Sustaining Donors Program provides tiered benefits to all monthly recurring donors helping our donors maintain their connections with SASA Fundraising Projects The SASA Bazaar has grown in its array of ancientbranded merchandise which provides another stream For individual donations we organized two major fundraising efforts which rallied of revenue toward SASA s operations This has been an both new and old donors to the cause of Ancient Studies In 2022 SASA was exciting avenue for our fundraising efforts and we plan supported by 63 individuals raising almost 7 000 Our major fundraising campaign to continually expand our offerings One way in which coinciding with SASA s beginning is the Birthday Bash During the 2021 2022 we are doing so is through our design competition first Birthday Bash we raised over 4 500 focusing on larger gifts with matching funds held last fall which invited applicants to submit new from partner organizations including a 1000 matching gift from the World History artistic designs to go on our items This competition Encyclopedia Our Fall Fundraiser a Halloween Bash emphasized small monthly was designed to promote creativity and engagement recurring gifts as more new recurring donors helped move us toward developing with Ancient Studies through art and graphic design another sustainable stream of revenue 44 Organizational Development 45

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 F unding M odel Banknote 1 guan Region Culture China Created 1375 CE CC BY NC SA 4 0 License Our Fundraising Efforts Benefactors Fundraising Summary Grants from Supporting Organizations 35 20 000 22 21 236 Summer 2024 Virtual Conference Increase in total gifts from 2021 Loyal monthy donors presently 6 773 2 800 Reading Group grants for 2021 2023 combined In donations during 2022 7 150 4 500 2021 Action Grant for Archeogaming Learning Module Pilot Program in New Jersey Raised at our 2021 2022 Birthday Bashes combined 71 186 ALL TIME TOTAL IN GRANTS RECIEVED 46 UNC s Humanities for the Public Good Critical Issues Project Archeogaming Education Module Creation 10 000 Summer Reading Groups for 2023 Organizational Development 47

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 SASA Ambassador Program This year we were excited to launch our new SASA Ambassador Program SASA Ambassadors are influential individuals tasked with raising awareness of the issues Ancient Studies faces and the ways SASA is combatting them as well as supporting our fundraising efforts Each of our ambassadors is incredibly accomplished and we are ecstatic that they share our passion for saving Ancient Studies as we do Together with our fundraising team they help us build connections with Ancient Studies institutions and organizations engage with potential donors who understand the value of Ancient Studies and strategize ways to create new and broader pathways between the many siloes of Ancient Studies scholarship Already this has allowed SASA to pursue new opportunities and work towards our goals through collaboration and access to funding 48 Organizational Development 49

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 About Our Ambassadors 50 Charles E Jones Barbara Porter Charles E Chuck Jones Tombros Librarian of Classics and Humanities at Penn State Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures former Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago Vice President of the American Society for Overseas Research and creator of the Ancient World Online Blog He has been at the forefront of Ancient Studies digital outreach for decades Barbara A Porter is the former director of the American Center of Oriental Research ACOR in Jordan has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and taught at New York University She has had an important role in protecting and supporting the cultural heritage of the Middle East for the last four decades She is currently an Independent Scholar and leads archaeological tours to the Middle East Aren Maier Frederick Winter Aren Maier Professor of Archaeology and Head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Martin Szusz Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar Ilan University Ramat Gan Israel He has directed the Tell es Safi Gath Archaeological Project gath wordpress com for the last 25 years codirects the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times RIAB aramisrael org is director of the Ingeborg Rennert Center for Jerusalem Studies at Bar Ilan University and co edits the Israel Exploration Journal Frederick Winter is ViceChair of the Board of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers He has taught and engaged in archaeology for many years He helped found the Archaeological Institute of America s Committee on Professional Responsibilities and worked with the Association of American Colleges and Universities He worked as a Senior Grant Officer for the National Endowment for the Humanities and as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Hood College Organizational Development 51

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 P ublicity Sharing SASA s V oice SASA has been increasing its presence at Ancient Studies conferences and in the public eye through numerous public presentations and conference exhibits The following pages detail our rising profile as such 52 Organizational Development 53

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 P ublicity Public Presentations University of North Carolina s Humanities for the Public Good 2022 Symposium featuring Paige Brevick and David Danzig TechSoup promo for GrantStation featuring SASA Director David Danzig 54 Organizational Development 55

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 P ublicity Confrence Exhibits March 2022 July 2022 April 2022 November 2022 56 Organizational Development 57

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Programs Projects One of SASA s core values is education and we achieve that goal in many different ways From live events to classroom modules to our virtual conference we use our resources and connections to bring Ancient Studies to students scholars and the interested public around the world SASA offers a wealth of programs and projects all of which fit into our various goals characterizing each of the six points that come together forming the SASA Arc By offering such a diverse range of opportunities SASA has continued to meet internal goals and provide accessible Ancient Studies education and outreach opportunities for people of all backgrounds 1 Knowing What You Know 2 Raising Awareness 3 Suporting Education 4 Increasing Accessbility 5 Forming an Alliance 6 Re Envisioning Post Education Scholarship Projects 59

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 K nowing What You Know Researching the Downward Trend and the Sociolgy of Ancient Studies SASA is committed to ensuring the quality of the information we put out Our ongoing research into the Downward Trend of available Ancient Studies degree programs and majors shows the clear need for our work The data we collect in this research also aids in ongoing demographic and sociological projects such as how gender impacts degree completions within Ancient Studies disciplines a project completed in 2022 Sociology of AS Research Program I Ongoing Research In addition to the ongoing research in the Downward Trend SASA fosters several Sociology of Ancient Studies projects each semester In the past year SASA researchers have examined various political uses and misuses of Ancient Studies in various ways including the distortion of Middle Eastern studies in Nazi Germany the political manipulations of history curricula by the current Indian government and the modern American Far Right s use of Ancient Studies We have also had a researcher work on what an ideal Ancient Studies website might be like using user interface data and one ongoing project looks at the impacts of artificial intelligence on Ancient Studies II Conference Presentations Our researchers projects will be published on SASA s upcoming Research Blog but many of them have already been presented at conferences around the globe Several presentations on the Downward Trend research specifically have happened in the last year and we look forward to increasing the posters and presentations about SASA and our Research Team s output Projects 61

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 R aising Awareness SASA s Expansive Outreach Programing In order to reach such a large public Annual Summer Inspire Campaign One great source of interest has been the Inspire campaign videos created in our opening year Those videos continue to reach new people even now and we hope to recreate the Inspire campaign in the summers to come audience SASA maintains a substantial outreach program including social media presence mailing lists and more Hybrid Conference Participation Social Media Footprint SASA also partners with and participates in various Ancient Studies conferences around the world In the past year we had members attend the Annual Society for Biblical Studies conference the International Society of Biblical Studies and the American Society of Overseas Research conference Here we advertised to graduate students and professional scholars alike with talks posters and tables with information about SASA We have been very successful this way in bringing in new experts to help create the wonderful content that SASA provides SASA s social media footprint is relatively large We run a Facebook page Instagram page Twitter account Twitch channel YouTube channel Discord server and TikTok account Social media posts go out regularly reaching audiences of over 4 75M across all those platforms Our Twitter Twitch and TikTok have been particularly successful in gaining attention and bringing people into our various events and courses Some internship and volunteer projects include improving social media use Ancient Studies organizations from the user s perspective Mailing Lists We also keep several mailing lists in order to reach students teachers and other interested parties at various levels When we send out our call for conference papers for instance we reach out to academic departments and ask them to pass it to their faculty and graduate students and when we have an upcoming master class we advertise it to the interested public who have signed up to be notified Projects 63

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Supporting Education Aiding Students Teachers at All Levels While all of the above programs are focused on public access we Online Access Access Platform The SASA website also contains many tools for use by students teachers and professionals Ancient Studies Websites high school college graduate doctorate post doctorate and Our database of Ancient Studies websites which is constantly being updated contains more than 1 400 links to pages across the internet Many of these sites contain their own dedicated educational material such as translations of ancient texts dictionaries of ancient languages or 3D reconstructions of archaeological sites retired One of our internship projects includes the hotly debated Ancient Studies How to Guides topic of AI as a tool for studying Ancient Studies For some of the more prominent Ancient Studies websites we are also working on partnering with the organizations behind them to create how to guide videos to pair with the links in our database These short video tutorials would demonstrate the best way to use the tools of a given website at SASA also reach out to students and teachers at various levels Our winter and summer reading groups reach a wide range from In The Classroom Archaeogaming Education Modules Our Archaeogaming Education Modules combine video game footage and scholarly expertise to create approachable teachable and fun educational content for middle and high school Each module is carefully designed to allow teachers to use our videos lesson plans and exercises to teach various ancient world subjects in an engaging way In 2022 our team created modules on historical Vikings and ancient medicine with a long term goal of having a large set of topics to choose from Anyone who wishes to use them can download them for free Ancient Studies Degree Granting Programs Another database under development is our Where to Study Ancient Studies page This tracks degree granting programs in all kinds of ancient studies around the world Students looking to pursue bachelors or higher degrees in any kind of ancient world studies will be able to use this to find out what exists in their geographical area or desired field of study Archaeological terms translations Meanwhile we have created our own tool for archaeologists working in the field in places where they may have to use a language other than their native one The Archaeological Terms Translations currently include English Spanish French Hebrew and Arabic versions and we are in an ongoing process of increasing accessibility to other widelyused languages Mentorship Program In High School Higher Education 2022 also saw the initial organization of our upcoming Mentorship Program for high school and undergraduate students interested in Ancient Studies Once it is fully developed this program will pair students with mentors both in their academic fields and in related non academic environments The program aims to give students the chance to develop positive relationships to mentoring and to make connections in their field as well as to give mentors the opportunity to reach students they might otherwise never see This program is slated to begin during the 2023 2024 school year Projects 65

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Supporting Education Archeogaming Education Modules for the Public Good initiative Each AEM we create is an all in one single lesson bundle for teachers It provides for a holistic integrated lesson revolving around a 10 minute videogame based multimedia lecture along with interactive class activities and other supporting materials that teachers adapt to their teaching styles Our AEMs explore historical concepts and practices such as Socio economic themes including religion politics warfare and daily life rchaeogaming is a new field that integrates the methods of A archaeological discovery with the environment of video games using interactive and collaborative play to learn and to teach about the past The unique and appealing nature of this program will provide an active learning experience for students and for teachers as well Introduction to archaeology and excavation practices Identifying and discussing material culture such as clothing pottery and architecture Exploring historical causation and personal agency by utilizing the games non linear narratives SASA has developed a program that utilizes the power of entertainmentoriented video games for humanities education in the classroom We work off of video games that students play for fun that are designed in lavishly detailed historical settings such as the Assassin s Creed series We take content from these games and re orient it in an educational fashion to produce classroom videos that teachers use in combination with our full suite of support materials These modules purposefully dovetail with curricula across the United States Already the educational impact of our modules has scored remarkably high in early implementation with teachers during the 2021 2022 school year As we continue to create more modules adapt them to different learning levels and grow our network of teachers implementing the modules the positive effects in history classrooms will exponentially increase Beyond that students are being indirectly trained to actually see the content in the video games they play recreationally We expect the impact on humanities engagement outside the classroom that this passive learning engenders will be truly staggering Program Description SASA has been innovating this new technological approach to Ancient Studies education since the beginning of 2021 These topics stress the place of contemporary societies within the greater human journey fostering inclusivity empathy and understanding of different cultures and communities Our first batch of 6 Archaeogaming Educational Modules AEMs has been supported by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the University of North Carolina s Humanities SASA s Archaeogaming Project is currently at the end of its initial development phase in producing initial AEMs and working toward achieving proof of concept in middle school classrooms Our first two modules have been used by over 50 educators Early feedback from teachers has been overwhelmingly positive and the full slate of 6 AEMs were complete for the Fall 2022 roll out Introductory webinars both synchronous and asynchronous were also currently in development Our goal for the second phase in the next two years 2023 2024 is to create a full series of 16 AEMs in line with the middle school Social Studies curriculum of the majority of US states This will support a complete quarter of study allowing teachers to employ this series as their major Ancient Studies teaching approach The following phase 2025 2026 will be spent extending and adapting the AEM curriculum to support a one semester high school class and one semester college course Projects 67

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility Live Virtual Events Book Clubs Partner Presentations Special Events Year Round We run dozens of virtual events annually Over the past year we have had four book club events where authors of popular and scholarly books dealing with Ancient Studies come on our livestreams to be interviewed by our team members including such writers as Dr Kara Cooney Jennifer Saint and Liv Albert The Port Ancient program has brought in many other types of creators and educators to show our audience all the various kinds of engagement they can do with Ancient Studies from The American Insitute for Roman Culture to Religion for Breakfast Moreover we have all kinds of special events particularly during our Birthday Bash and Halloween Bash These included a roundtable discussion on the Marvel Universe s mythology ancient cooking classes and even a mythological cocktail hour Bi Monthly Live Events Diversity Series In addition to continuing all of these programs in the coming year we hope to begin a public virtual lecture series focusing on diversity in the ancient world We re currently in the process of developing sources and considering speakers to host bimonthly sessions on topics like Black Africans in the Greco Roman world ancient female warriors and more Live Book Club The Book Club series is a monthly project and live streamed on SASA s social media platforms as well as those of our partner World History Online when appropriate Hosting both fiction and nonfiction books the book clubs consist of a one on one author interview followed by an interactive Q A with the audience In 2022 we hosted book clubs for The Good Kings by Dr Kara Cooney Elektra by Jennifer Saint Nectar of the Gods by Liv Albert Text in Translation Reading Groups In summer and winter SASA has run intimate virtual courses of ancient texts in translation taught by experts and scholars from around the globe This winter session we had 6 courses on The Search for the Golden Fleece Jason and the Argonauts and An Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Music Theory Understanding Musical Inscriptions We ran 15 courses over the summer including Ancient Egyptian Gods in Ancient Texts Modern Media Literatura y Filosof a en la antigua Grecia Ancient Egypt in Africa and Communicating Power in the Ancient Maya World These classes offer the public an opportunity to really engage with the writings of the ancient world ArchaeoTours Weekly Archeogaming Live One of our more occasional programs is the ArchaeoTours a virtual guided tour of ancient sites around the globe In 2022 we shared footage of experts leading us through sites like Southampton While this program is currently on hold we expect to have more of these in the coming year We also work in reception of ancient studies and one major platform currently in ancient studies reception is through video games Every Friday throughout most of the year our team of archaeogaming professionals live stream themselves playing games that deal with the ancient world alongside scholars game developers and other experts who can explore the ways in which Ancient Studies permeates the most modern means of communication This year our livestreams covered everything from Pokemon Africanus to indie games like Heaven s Vault and Doki Doki Ragnarok The upcoming summer special will focus on the Total War Series Projects 69

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 I ncreasing Accessibility New Port Ancient Partners in 2022 Port Ancient Partnership Highlights Crewing the Ship 10 Streams highlighting our Port Ancient partners Roman History New Classicists 1 300 Views between all the 2023 steams S U P P O R T E D BY Find us online at newclassicists com ISSN 2732 4168 New Classicists Vanaheim Vikings Moirai Myths Projects 71

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility In Text Translation Reading Groups SASA launched our free online Text in Translation Reading Groups in Summer 2020 creating an accessible means of studying ancient texts in synchronous informal discussion groups Led by PhD students and Early Career Scholars these groups cover a wide range of topics about different ancient cultures from around the globe Over the past two summers and Januaries we have hosted over 400 participants in our Reading Groups whose feedback is overwhelmingly positive 97 of participants offered 4 star or 5 star reviews In continuing to improve on these learning experiences we have received grants from the Society for Classical Studies and from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation in the amounts of 800 and 10 000 respectively This support ensures that we provide the best possible experience for Reading Group participants by encouraging excellent applications for Group Leader positions 97 Positive Feedback with 4 5 Stars 1 800 Particpiant Testimonials January 2022 Dr George Longley is an ancient treasure She made me think about the topics of the ancient world and always gave us the option of talking or reading at our own speed I would never have been able to engage with ancient studies in this fashion without the SASA group In a nutshell the session on Loving Losing Remembering Kalidasa s The Recognition of Shakuntala was insightful dynamic dialogic and democratic Payel Ray Summer 2022 Excellent I thought it was a good way to keep my mind churning during the summer and gave advice for future class activites I absolutely loved the reading group It s wonderful to be able to discuss various historical topics with a diverse group of people I learned so much and looked forward to it every week This reading group was fascinating It was very interesting to compare the various cultures and find the similarities We always had a wonderful engaging conversation Emily Wiencek The exploration of distinctiveness and difference between Greek and Sanskrit tragic drama in itself and in the light of the critical analyses of respectively Aristotle and Bharata was illuminating informative and intellectually stimulating The source material was provided and open discussion encouraged allowing fascinating insights through comments and critiques alongside the broad and deep knowledge of the reading group leader Eight sessions that were both stimulating and educational It has evoked an interest in further exploring the corpus of Sanskrit drama and other written works Ian Russell Lowell Cumulative Total in Generous Grants Projects 73

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility Destination SASA Archaeotours These partnerships virtually bring people into ancient sites which they may never have an opportunity to experience otherwise As such these events raise awareness of the diversity and wonder of the ancient world allowing us to increase exposure to the ancient world from an engaging yet academic perspective In one of our latest collaborations SASA has partnered with virtual tourism companies to provide engaging specialist tours of ancient sites including the American Institute for Roman Culture and Travelusion These tours are run by experts who also work as local guides and are tailored to the tours participants as they engage 3 streams with Dr Lillian Cespedes Gonzalez 320 views between all 2023 streams Projects 75

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility Mentorship Program Coming in Fall 2023 will be our new Mentorship Program It seeks to provide high school and college students who are interested in pursuing Ancient Studies direct access to mentors within Ancient Studies fields These mentorships will help students understand the pleasures and difficulties of studying the ancient world and support their academic and professional growth in order to set them up for long term success whether they pursue careers in higher education or in any other field Projects 77

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility Live Book Club Series The Book Club series is a monthly project and live streamed on SASA s social media platforms Jennifer Saint Author Elektra as well as those of our partner World History Online when appropriate Hosting both fiction and nonfiction books the book clubs consist of a one on one author interview followed by an interactive Q A with the audience In 2022 we hosted four book clubs for The Good Kings by Dr Kara Cooney Elektra by Jennifer Saint Nectar of the Gods by Liv Albert and the editors of Women in Classical Video Games Liv Albert Author Nectar of the Gods Kara Cooney Author The Good Kings Jane Draycott Kate Cook Editors Women In Classical Video Games Projects 79

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Increasing Accessibility Anceint Studies Resources A collection of quality academic resources for students and scholars of all disciplines of Ancient Studies was previously unavailable SASA is working to fill this gap by creating a new platform that presents important resources in all Ancient Studies fields and helps connect students and scholars with one another In the first tier of this project we have collected over 1 000 websites that in themselves contain tons of useful information We published the first version of our Ancient Studies Resources database this past October with a useful search tool We have also developed partnerships with various creative open access projects and media related to Ancient Studies and work to promote them through our social media outlets and partner project gallery Port Ancient to disseminate the fascinating engaging products they have created We are also working on producing these databases that are utterly crucial for Ancient Studies Access Team Efforts The access team has continued expanding the Online Resource Database which now contains over 1 400 entries The database itself is undergoing a refresh and a new user interface should appear in 2023 The Where to Study Ancient Studies project was reinvigorated under the leadership of Quill Kukuj who has revamped the Google Form that will be used to collect data The Access Team also published collaborative lists of archaeological terms in Modern Greek German French and Italian In 2023 the project will expand to include many more languages 1 400 Total Database Entries Archeological terms available in ALL available programs of study in ALL Ancient Studies fields at institutions of higher education in North America and beyond Modern Greek Scholarships and fellowships open to Ancient Studies fields for students at all levels from undergraduate to postdoctoral researchers German French Italian Inclusion of more laugagues are on the way for 2023 Projects 81

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Forming an Alliance Building Community Both Among Individuals Organizations Community building both among individuals and organizations is another of SASA s core values and we have other programs which focus on this aspect of our work Partnership Development with Ancient Studies Outreach Organizations We work with other outreach organizations within Ancient Studies to achieve this goal Many such groups sign on to become Port Ancient Partners but we are also affiliated with small publishers like Isegoria Partnership Development with Ancient Studies Academic Professional Organizations Furthermore SASA is engaged in building connections among academic professional organizations like the Society for Classical Studies the Society for Biblical Studies and more One of our long term goals is to bring together the major institutions from across ancient studies around the world into our Coalition of Ancient Studies Organizations so that we can support partnerships and cross disciplinary work Ancient Studies Alumni Community Building When it comes to individuals SASA is working not only with our independent scholars but also with the alumni of Ancient Studies programs around the world In the future SASA plans to create events for networking re entry into the field and other community building activities North Texas Branch Initiative In Person Community School Events We also work with students through not only our upcoming Mentorship Program but also our first in person initiative the North Texas Branch High school and undergraduate students in the Dallas area and surrounding are invited to participate in events that are designed to build interest in Ancient Studies by building interpersonal connections with alumni and other students This program is particularly aimed at encouraging the participation of students of color by focusing on the ways in which they can connect with their own history without abandoning other interests SASA hopes to build upon the success of the North Texas Branch by starting similar programs in other locations Projects 83

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Forming an Alliance Coalition of Ancient Studies Organizations CASO CASO aims to bring together academic professional organizations to work on outreach and accessibility projects toward the mutual benefit of all Ancient Studies fields The first official meeting was held on December 18th 2020 with the member organizations SASA the Society for Classical Studies SCS and the Society of Biblical Literature SBL We are continuing to work together to attract more academic organizations to join CASO The first joint project of CASO is underway As a part of the alliance we have worked on an Ancient Studies Advocacy Project Lives in Ancient Studies This project is collecting and publicizing video testimonials from alumni of closed or threatened Ancient Studies departments The goal of this project is to freely distribute professionally edited video collections of these testimonials for use by currently threatened departments in combating the pressure on them by showing the vibrant meaningful and successful lives that their alumni have created for themselves In addition they will be used as general advocacy tools for Ancient Studies through our organizations Projects 85

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Forming an Alliance Current Partnerships Partnership Development Port Ancient Port Ancient is a web collection where SASA has shared information on a variety of projects that focus on different aspects of ancient studies We believe that these projects will help pave the way to save Ancient Studies by bringing together a wide range of groups working on public outreach accessibility and engagement with various audiences Providing a broader platform for these projects will amplify their range and increase the strength of all member s messaging across a range of media channels Projects 87

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 Reenvisioning Post Education Scholarship In addition to supporting students and feedback and work towards publication In addition to those outside academia this space welcomes graduate students looking for additional resources in creating publishable scholarship Resources for Independent Scholars Grants scholars within the traditional bounds Scholarly materials access of academia SASA takes great pride in Affiliations creating a way for independent scholars Publishing options Including SASA Virtual Conference Proceedings to work in community Independent Scholars Working Group Our Independent Scholars Working Group fosters connections among those who are not working with the support of academic libraries and salaries ISWG provides a space for those scholars to work with their peers give and receive high quality feedback and help each other get published Independent Scholars Networking The ISWG hosts two events each month one for networking and building community and one to assist in scholarly works and publications The monthly Community Building event invites scholars to form connections and share resources for their work ISWG welcomes new members year round Work in progress Online Forum The other monthly event the Work In Progress meeting acts as a forum for these independent scholars to share their work at any stage get professional quality peer SASA maintains a number of resources that ISWG s access These include access to scholarly materials such as they might have received from a university library lists of grants available to unaffiliated scholars and publication resources Many of our ISWG members go on to present at scholarly conferences including our own Virtual Conference and also to get published either through conference proceedings or reputable journals National Coalition of Independent Scholars Joining NCIS as a Partner Organization Additionally ISWG partners with the National Coalition of Independent Scholars an organization dedicated to similar support of independent research but with a focus on the U S market rather than the Ancient Studies disciplines This allows even more reach and resources for unaffiliated scholars within the United States ISWG is always interested in providing a wider base of support for its members Projects 89

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 R eenvisioning Post Education Scholarship Virtual Conference Opening the Ancient World SASA held their second annual free academic virtual conference Opening the Acient World which was live streamed on August 14th 15th 2022 This year s theme was Who Has the Power Leaders and Leadership in the Ancient World The goal of the conference was to present and support excellent scholarship by independent scholars Over the course of the two day conference we had 13 presenters deliver insightful academic presentations from around the world including Brazil and India In addition to the presentations three special sessions were hosted to foster discussion and action regarding public outreach and scholarly inclusiveness These sessions included Roundtable for Independent Scholars a Storytelling Panel by Inspirational Independent Scholars and a workshop on Publishing Forums Working with our partners the conference was live streamed over a variety of platforms with over 10 000 participants attending the presentations and sessions over the two day conference This success provides support for the live streamed openaccess conference model encouraging participants and presenters globally to attend these events Virtual Conference Summary 13 10 000 2 Presenters Participants over Days of presentations and sessions Projects 91

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 R eenvisioning Post Education Scholarship Let s Get Published Events The Let s Get Published events are a collection of monthly informal virtual gatherings aimed at independent scholars researchers and students offering a comfortable forum to present recent research and receive feedback from an audience of like minded peers and allow for engagement with current research These sessions have run from the start of Q1 2022 and have been oversubscribed in each iteration encouraging their continuation throughout Q2 and Q3 The overwhelming popularity of these groups make it clear that there is not only a market for independent scholars but a need to provide spaces for those outside of the traditional model of academia to continue to support Ancient Studies research and the scholars that contribute to it Resources for Independent Schoalrs To this end SASA is working on creating dedicated resources for independent scholars beyond our Let s Get Published events At present this project is in its infancy aiming for a Summer 2022 release with our Independent Scholars Working Groups already live creating spaces for researchers outside of traditional academic models to be able to access consistent peer support networking guidance and information to continue to sustain their work Projects 93

ANNUAL REPORT 2022 New P rojects Reconnecting With Ancient Studies Alumni In SASA s vision for the future of Ancient Studies all individuals who have studied the ancient world will be welcome and have easy opportunities and support to participate in active scholarship This falls within our broad conception of the Independent Scholar as we work to build our inclusive Ancient Studies community Key to this is to reconnect with the tens of thousands of people who hold Ancient Studies degrees but have become disconnected from the Ancient Studies community Spearheading this initiative will be SASA s Outreach Team and Independent Scholars Working Group We look forward to creating this new community together Engaging The World In support of our vision of a global community for Ancient Studies SASA will spend 2023 working to engage individuals organizations and schools in Arabic and Spanish speaking locations This initiative will reach its initial climax during our Fourth Annual Virtual Conference in Summer 2024 With the support of the Wenner Gren Foundation one of the world s premier supporters of anthropology and archaeology SASA will create a multilingual environment in which speakers of English Arabic and Spanish will all be able to present and participate equally via simultaneous live interpretation Advocacy Although SASA has stayed mainly on the sidelines through our first three years regarding direct advocacy for Ancient Studies 2023 will be the beginning of new efforts in this direction In collaboration with our partner academic professional organizations we will build relationships with departments that are threatened and develop a program for supporting their employees and students At SASA we believe that no one is at fault for the current decline in Ancient Studies Instead we will begin to take a proactive approach to helping departments professors and educators effectively engage with administrators We believe the value of Ancient Studies is not as exotica but as a key element in understanding today s world and the totality of humanity in our many varieties We will work to help decision makers gain this understanding Projects 95

Want to get involved and help Save Ancient Studies Check out the opportunities available at saveancientstudies org get involved SaveAncientStudies SaveAncientStudies AncientSave Save Ancient Studies Alliance SaveAncientStudies S A V E A N C I E N T S T U D I E S A L L I A N C E