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SAVE ANCIENT STUDIES ALLIANCE2021ANNUAL REPORT
CONTENTS
Programs & Projects 36Know What You Know 38Raising Awareness 40Supporting Education 42Increasing Accessibility 46Forming an Alliance 48PROJECTS 36Prospects 52Goals For 2022 52Operations Budget for 2022 53New Projects 54PROSPECTS524MISSION & VISIONMission & Vision 5SASA ARC 6What is Ancient Studies? 8The Value of Ancient Studies 10SASAs Core Values 12How We Operate 14IMPACT18Impact 18People Reached 20Global Reach 21ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT22Organizational Development 22Organizational Structure 24Teams & Team Leaders 26Internship Programs 28Remote-Run Organization 29New Funding Model 302021 Donations 31Grants Received & Applied For 32Ambassador Program 35
A personied Eye of Horus offers incense to the enthroned god Osiris in a painting from the tomb of Pasheduca. Thirteenth Century BCE1 Continue to develop and professionalize our organizational infrastructure2 Transform our initial projects into ongoing programs3 Create new projects to address areas of outreach need4 Begin nancially supporting our work5 Double our audienceACHIEVING OUR GOALSDuring SASA’s rst year, in 2020, we were successful in beginning several Ancient Studies outreach and education projects, estab-lishing our organizational infrastructure, and attracting an initial following. At the end of our rst year, we set lofty goals for our second year, 2021. They were to:We have been incredibly successful in each of these areas!In this report, you will be guided through the many areas of SASA’s work and see how far we have come in our rst two years. We hope this encourages you to get involved in our work and mission in any way you can.David DanzigDavid DanzigExecutive Director
5ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION MISSIONVISIONSave Ancient Studies Alliance works to reverse the current down-ward trend in the study of the Ancient World. Building a grass-roots movement through outreach, collaboration, accessibility, 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 con-nection with the richness of deep human history and culture is shared by all people. Our vision for a New Ancient Studies will encompass: Broad understandings of our pasts to help nurture cross-cul-tural awareness, curiosity, sensitivity, and an afnity for each other. Widespread opportunities to engage with our deep pasts in educational, public, and cultural spheres that emphasize openness and accessibility to all. Ancient Studies scholarship is a shared endeavor in a com-munity of lifelong learners, both inside and outside institu-tions of higher education. Ancient Studies is a model of humanistic scholarship that ac-tively engages the public imagination and exemplies proac-tive inclusivity, interconnectedness, and cooperation.
THE SASA ARCAll of our projects and programming is aimed at achieving one or more of the goals that form the “SASA Arc.”1. Know What You Know Educational Sociology and Marketing research about Ancient Studies2. 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 World3. Supporting Education Support formal and informal Ancient Studies learning at all educational levels4. Increasing Accessibility Increase access to Ancient Studies for allTHE SASA ARC
7ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION THE SASA ARCKNOW WHAT YOU KNOW RAISING AWARENESSINCREASING ACCESSIBILITYREENVISIONING POST-EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPSUPPORTING EDUCATIONFORMING AN ALLIANCE5. 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 scholarship6. Reenvisioning Post-Education 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 fields142536
WHAT IS ANCIENT STUDIES?The concept of “Ancient Studies” as encom-passing a variety of academic disciplines is not yet widespread and accepted. SASA includes the following disciplines within “An-cient Studies”. The concept of a deeper past exists in all disciplines of historical study. This is the history we mean to encompass by the term “Ancient.” The potential gains in accepting this moniker and associating these elds with one another is appreciable. The collaboration of our elds will allow for the creation of a larger niche for them with-in the Humanities, helping to prevent their downsizing and creating a unied advocacy platform within the Humanities. In essence, forming an alliance of Ancient Studies elds puts us ahead of this downward trend and enables us to reposition ourselves as newly vital and ourishing elds.Samuel anoints David, Dura Europos3rd century CE, Syria
9ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION ANCIENT AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIESSOUTH ASIAN STUDIESCENTRAL ASIAN STUDIESEAST ASIAN STUDIESOCEANIA STUDIESANCIENT EUROPEANCIENT AFRICAN AND EGYPTIAN STUDIESANCIENT NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONSBIBLICAL STUDIESANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN STUDIESARABIC AND ISLAMIC STUDIESLATE ANTIQUE AND MEDIEVAL STUDIESART HISTORYHISTORY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYPRESERVATION AND CONSERVATIONANCIENT PHILOSOPHYANCIENT MUSICANCIENT RELIGIONGENERAL HISTORYGENERAL ARCHAEOLOGYAncient Studies is a dynamic and constantly evolving eld, so SASA anticipates changing and growing this list in the future.
THE VALUE OF ANCIENT STUDIESWe believe the study of peoples, histories, and cultures distant from us in time is profoundly important and has signicant contemporary relevance in the following ways.A Sanskrit manuscript copy of the Heart Sutra at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, nd
11ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION Socio-political dynamics and cultural mentalities transcend the human experience across time and space. The study of the past is a mirror in which we are able to see ourselves with greater clarity, informing many aspects of our lives today. All contemporary cultures are reections of the past, and as such, Ancient Studies continues to be a vibrant interest for communities. Likewise, it inuences how we think about, study, and present, Ancient Studies themselves. As the history of the human journey, Ancient Studies is at the core of the Humanities. Studying the ancient past fosters attitudes of cultural respect, empathy, and humility. Ancient Studies brings with it an inherent understanding and afnity for peoples and cultures that feel markedly different from ourselves. Ancient Studies thereby serves as an inclusive environment to encourage cross-interaction between peoples of different languages, cultures, socio-economic background, gender identities, sexual orientations, and skin colors. The empathy and understanding gained from studying ancient peoples ameliorates contemporary prejudices and inter-group tensions.III
SASA’S CORE VALUESEDUCATIONWe 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. ACCESSIBILITYWe believe that education, knowledge, and understanding should be open and freely available to all. Our past is something that is owned by all of us. We endeavor to actively share this knowledge with all communities. LEARNING & SCHOLARSHIP IS A LIFE-LONG ENDEAVORIntellectual 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 all should be accept-ed as participants in excellent scholarly discussion regardless of background, occupation, or means. The current model of restrictive membership must change to an open, inclusive com-munity.QUALITYWe 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.EDUCATION FOR ALLJaharis Byzantine Lectionaryca. 1100
13ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION RESPECT, INCLUSIVITY & COMMUNITYAs an organization, we believe that regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, age, race, disability, religion, social or professional status, everyone must be respected for who they are. Everyone has a right to learn, and everyone should be supported in this journey. “WALKIN’ THE WALK” AT SASAAs individuals and as an organization, the SASA Team values inclusivity, collaboration, diversity, compassion, integrity, respect, transparency, equality, innovation, and excellence in everything we do. SASA aims to model the behaviors and exemplify the attitudes that we wish to share with others. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATIONCOMMITMENT TO DIVERSITYVOLUNTEERISM & FINANCIAL SUPPORTWe highly value volunteerism as a means of giving back to one another and the community at large. We also believe that people who contribute to an organization in a regular and ongoing manner deserve nancial support and recognition for their time and work. Currently some of SASA’s staff, volunteers, and interns are unpaid. We are dedicated to providing all our volunteers with the necessary tools to succeed, and so we have been, currently are, and will continue our process of actively seeking funding to pay our talented and dedicated volunteers. PASSION & INSPIRATIONAll 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!
Illustration by Yahyá al-Wasiti depicting scholars at an Abbasid library in Baghdad1237DIGITAL OUTREACHFrom the beginning, our fundamental vision of how we should operate necessitated fast growth and connection with people around the world. We call this Digital Outreach. By utilizing multiple avenues of digital networking we form new partnerships, recruit interns and volunteers, share AS stories and leverage our projects. These digital modalities include our cloud workspaces, online gatherings, website, social media pages, and virtual live events. A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT Save Ancient Studies Alliance recognizes and reafrms the high value of Ancient Studies for the contemporary world. We are also aware of the accelerating decline: in our elds; in enrollment numbers; `in university, governmental, and non-prot support; and in the minds of potential participants. HOW WE OPERATE
15ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION In this current climate, where the perceived societal value of Humanities is waning, direct lobbying to school decision makers for increased funding for Ancient Studies has proven to be ineffective. Therefore, the rst 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 toward 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 as a positive. Our understanding of the past is shaped by the popular media we consume, including comic books, lms, novels, or video games! Whatever sparks a desire to learn more about Ancient Studies is benecial 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, life-long learners, young students and enthusiasts from around the world.
HOW WE OPERATECOMMUNITY BUILDINGSave Ancient Studies Alliance recognizes and reafrms the high value of Ancient Studies for the contemporary world. We are also aware of the accelerating decline: in our elds; in enrollment numbers; in university, governmental, and non-prot support; and in the minds of potential participants. In this current climate, where the perceived societal value of Humanities is waning, direct lobbying to school decision makers for increased funding for Ancient Studies has proven to be ineffective.PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIPSASA is working to incorporate public-facing and open access scholarship as a normal and expected part of scholarly life. Too often, scholarly research remains conned within the walls of academia and is not readily disseminated to the wider public. What a shame! The wealth of knowledge modern scholars produce is incredibly rich and relevant to the public. Most scholars acknowledge the inherent merit of public outreach. Yet, effective public outreach in Ancient Studies elds is not prioritized within the academic community. This must change if Ancient Studies is to survive.Illustration by Yahyá al-Wasiti depicting scholars at an Abbasid library in Baghdad1237
17ANNUAL REPORT 2021MISSION & VISION SOCIAL ENTERPRENEURSHIPAt SASA, we model our organizational strategies and practices after that of social entrepreneurship, employing: a modied business model in our organizational planning; design thinking in our project selection and development; and impact measurement in our self-evaluations. As a novel organization, SASA’s methods and programming are naturally experimental. By importing and adapting business best practices into a non-prot setting, SASA works to continue becoming more effective in Saving Ancient Studies.DIGITAL INTERCONNECTIVITYAt SASA, digitality is central to our daily workow and all of our outreach projects. SASA staff and volunteers work remotely, connecting a dedicated international team of individuals who want to bring Ancient Studies to as many communities as possible. The interconnectivity between people in different places and communities affords a tremendous opportunity for public engagement. SASA leverages digital networks to reach and engage as many people as possible about the Ancient World and Ancient Studies.
Thangka painting of Manjuvajra mandala, 15th century18
19ANNUAL REPORT 2021IMPACTSASA’s initial development in Spring-Summer 2020 aimed at early recruitment and publicizing SASA’s goals. The rst project SASA embarked on was to create free Text-in-Translation Reading Groups to enable participants from high school age and up to engage with a variety of ancient texts without requiring a background in ancient languages. The rst groups in March-May 2020 enabled the rst recruitment of participants and of academic early career scholars as volunteers to lead the groups. This was achieved through personal outreach and via SASA’s nascent website and social media accounts. These groups led to the creation of ten 8-week Reading Groups over summer 2020 with over 150 participants. At the same time, SASA developed its Inspire Social Media Campaign, in which a team with 10 interns created a suite of original social media content during summer 2020 to be used over the course of September 2020 – August 2021. This suite was composed of 150 posts about fascinating ancient topics and are still rolling out, which has helped carry our social media general outreach.IMPACT3+ MILLION SOCIAL MEDIA REACHES54,600 ENGAGEMENTS
PEOPLEREACHEDSince the creation of our social media pages in March 2020, we have engaged a growing audience.37,000WEBSITE VISITORS20We launched our website, saveancientstudies.org, right along with the birth of the organization. In our rst year, we reached almost 12,000 unique users. In our second year, we doubled the number of new visitors.SAVEANCIENTSTUDIES.ORG TRAFFIC
21ANNUAL REPORT 2021IMPACTVideos 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. Volunteers play an instrumental role in SASA’s reach and success. SASA has had 170 remote volunteers and that number continues to grow. Our usual complement of active part-time staff, volunteers, and interns is between 40-50.16,000 + VIDEO VIEWS500+ LIVE EVENT ATTENDEES170+ VOLUNTEERSWe are extremely proud of the wide appeal of our programming, as seen in the 198 Countries Represented among our website visitors. This reects the truly global interest in Ancient Studies.GLOBAL REACHSAVEANCIENTSTUDIES.ORG TRAFFIC
Georg Braun; Frans Hogenberg: Civitates Orbis Terrarum157222
23ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTSASA’s development and expansion throughout our second year has been substantial. Undertaking new projects has required an expansion of our teams which has led SASA to recruit over 80 new volunteers and interns. Successful fundraising efforts have allowed us to pay some of our staff members and contractors who are working on grant funded projects including our Reading Group hosts and coordinators, and several key members of the Archaeogaming Education Team. Our Individual Donor support has also allowed us to bring on our rst paid member of the Executive Team, Corey Loftus, in her role as Executive Assistant, keeping SASA running smoothly internally. We had signicant success in beginning to support our programming through granted funding. We continued SASA’s very rst project, Text-in-Translation Reading Groups, for both Summer and Winter sessions funded by the Society for Classical Studies, and secured funding for our upcoming Summer 2022 sessions from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Our Archaeogaming Video Learning Modules also launched this year with the support of grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the University of North Carolina Humanities for the Public Good Initiative. We also began presenting many other exciting live events including Archaeogaming livestreams, and the rst pilot programs of our exciting new Destination Ancient: Archaeotours initiative. As our base of operational and programming support for SASA grows, we expand our impact!ORGANIZATIONALDEVELOPMENTCorey Loftus
Warka vaseca. 3000 BCEERIC N.INTER-ORGANIZATIONCOMMUNICATIONSDAVID D.FUNDRAISINGFLOR F.OUTREACHLAUREN K.COMMUNICATION ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMSORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURETo accommodate the multiplicity of our projects and the compartmentalized remote working en-vironment, we adopted a hybrid divisional and project-centered organizational model. In this schema, Teams were created to support SASA’s main areas of endeavor and projects, as follows:
25ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ANH N.VIRTUAL CONFERENCEJOHN H.ACCESSLAUREN K.LIVE EVENTSJULIE LEVYPROGRAMMING COORDINATORAGNIESZKA AMENTORSHIPVALERIA Z.RESEARCHMIGUEL V.NORTH TEXAS BRANCHKATE M. &ALEXANDER V.ARCHAEOGAMINGLIVEPAIGE B.ARCHAEOGAMINGEDUCATION LEADERSHIP COMMITTEEDavid Danzig TEAM LEADERSResponsibilitiesAssistance, help, and/or guidance in:• Long Term Planning • Program Development • Fundraising • Organization • Budgetary PlanningResponsibilities• Fundraising • Collaboration DevelopmentFUTURE:STEERING COMMITTEEVFUTURE:BOARD OF TRUSTEESDIRECTORDavid Danzig EXECUTIVE TEAMResponsibilities• Management • Admin • Planning • CASOFUTURE:CO-DIRECTORPROGRAM DIRECTOR SASA STAFF ORGANIZATION CHARTSASA AMBASSADORSPROGRAMMING TEAMSORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
ORGANIZATIONALTEAM LEADERSEXECUTIVE Led by David Danzig, this team runs SASA’s organizational support, both in terms of human resources and information technology. In addition, it organizes and executes all nancial, legal, administrative and recruitment functions.COMMUNICATIONS Led by Lauren Kubosch, designs visual communications, maintains our website, manages social media presence, and mass email communications, including our monthly newsletter, the SASA Oracle. In addition, our Interorganizational Communications mini-Team maintains lines of communication with our many partners,large and small. The Communications Team also brainstorms and researches new strategies to reach wider audiences.OUTREACH Led by Flor Fustinoni, seeks out partnerships with other organizations of all sizes, including the formation of the Coalition of Ancient Studies Organizations, a group of Ancient Studies professional associations working together on outreach and advocacy. The Outreach team drives SASA’s growth by involving educators in elementary and secondary schools and providing materials and tools to increase interest in Ancient Studies. FUNDRAISING Led by David Danzig, this team organizes fundraisers, applies for grants, and manages the website Bazaar as an alternative to traditional giving campaigns. The Fundraising Team also oversees SASA’s nonprot organizational development goals, including our SASA Ambassador Program.
27ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMMINGTEAM LEADERSARCHAEOGAMING EDUCATIONLed by Paige Brevick, this team produces the archaeogaming modules for implementation in classrooms around the world. In addition, this team forms important relationships with educators and supports the use of our modules in classroom learning.ACCESS Led by John Haberstroh, the Access team is developing a web platform database to list online resources within Ancient Studies elds, including programs of study offered by universities, a general list of all Ancient Studies informational websites, a list of available scholarships, and listings of ancient-related public outreach projects. VIRTUAL CONFERENCE Led by Anh Nguyen, organizing a free, public virtual academic conference for Summer 2022 that targets the participation of scholars not on traditional career paths. The Summer 2021 Virtual Conference, Opening the Ancient World, brought together scholars from around the world for presentations and roundtable discussions focused on fostering diversity in the eld and inclusive scholarship outside the academy. LIVE EVENTS Led by Lauren Kubosch, develops a program of free virtual live events hosted on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch with a selection of programming including Book Club with authors, Archaeogaming play-throughs, as well as free Text-in-Translation Reading Groups in summer and winter.RESEARCH Led by Valeria Zupieta Lupo, researches and gathers evidence on the Downward Trend in Ancient Studies while creating materials on the importance and value of Ancient Studies aimed at being used as marketing tools for Ancient Studies departments.
INTERNSHIPPROGRAMOur internships offer a fantastic opportunity to get involved with a vibrant educational community and outreach-oriented non prot in the Ancient Studies sector. SASA welcomes interns from a broad range or backgrounds who are interested in growing, 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 benecial. Our interns participate in various SASA projects ranging from fundraising to social media and archaeogaming production. In addition to learning new skills related to nonprot work, we also encourage our interns to build connections within the eld of ancient studies. Internships also include:• Monthly Professional Development Events • Career Guidance/Mentoring by AppointmentOUR ANNUAL INTERNSHIP CYCLE CONSISTS OF 3 RECURRING PERIODS PROGRAMS:Autumn: September 1– December 31Spring: January 15 – April 30Summer: May 15 – August 15SASA is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity organization. All qualied applicants will receive consideration for internships without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, dis-ability, age, or veteran status. We also welcome applicants from diverse educational backgrounds, aside from Ancient Studies, and those on any career trajectory. Olmec Head No. 31200–900 BCE,San Lorenzo-Tenochtitlán
29ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTSOLVING THE CHALLENGES OF A REMOTE, VOLUNTEERRUN ORGANIZATIONAs a completely remote organization, we had some trial and error with various cloud softwares and processes before we landed on what worked for us. With a core group of volunteers and dozens of interns that change every semester, Team Leaders have determined which applications facilitate their workows best, as different teams rely on various methods to assign and track work. In addition, a concerted effort was made to streamline and set-up walkthroughs for new interns and volunteers, to onboard and teach the process of working remotely in a concise and efcient manner. SASA utilizes a variety of modes of communication in order to accommodate individuals with various comfort levels. In addition, to improve our organizational efciency, we created an Intranet Web Portal, where all staff, volunteers, and interns have access to the tools and information they need. This step has propelled our remote workow to a new level.
This year saw some signicant strides in the realm of Fundraising for SASA. We attribute part of our success to our new fundraising model. Our Fundraising operations have pivoted to a two-pronged funding model, with grants supporting our projects, while donations reinforce our day-to-day operations. NEW FUNDING MODELDONORS OPERATIONSGRANTSPROGRAMMING30
31ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT2021 DONATIONS$4,974.58For individual donations, we organized two major fundraising efforts which rallied both new and old donors to the cause of Ancient Studies. From April 2021 through March 2022 SASA was supported by 63 individuals, accruing a total of $4974.58. Our rst major fundraising campaign was the Birthday Bash in Spring of 2021, celebrating the rst year anniversary of SASA’s birth. During the Birthday Bash, we raised $3850, focus-ing on larger gifts with matching funds from partner organizations, including a $1000 matching gift from the World History Encyclopedia. Our Fall Fundraiser emphasized small monthly recurring gifts, as 9 new recurring donors helped move us toward devel-oping another, sustainable stream of revenue. DONOR SUPPORTWhile 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 imple-ment a new donor support and engagement system to increase transparency and en-gagement 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 benets to all monthly recurring donors, helping our donors maintain their connections with SASA. FUNDRAISING PROJECTSThe SASA Bazaar has grown in its array of ancient-branded merchandise, which provides another stream of revenue toward SASA’s operations. This has been an exciting avenue for our fundraising efforts and we plan to continually expand our offerings. One way in which we are doing so is through our design competition rst held last fall which invited applicants to submit new artistic designs to go on our items. This competition was designed to promote creativity and engagement with Ancient Studies through art and graphic design.
GRANTS RECEIVEDGRANTS APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED TOSpencer Foundation $50,000American Historical Association $28,973The Standard Foundation $15,000Humanities Nebraska $10,000The Achelis & Bodman Foundation $7,150Arizona Humanities $5,000Pollination Project $1,000Awesome Foundation $1,00032$21,236$800$7,150$10,000
33ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTGRANTS CONTINUED$10,000$1,000BIRTHDAY BASH MATCHINTERCONNECTIONDONATED LAPTOP$200 VALUEAIA/SCS VIRTUAL BOOTH$200 VALUEAIA/SCS VIRTUAL BOOTH
One of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid’s ElementsCirca AD 100 Oxyrhynchus34
35ANNUAL REPORT 2021ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTAMBASSADOR PROGRAMThis year, we were excited to launch our new SASA Ambassador Program. SASA Ambassadors are inuential 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. The rst Ambassador who joined us is Charles E. (Chuck) Jones, Tombros Librarian of Classics and Humanities at Penn State and creator of the Ancient World Online Blog. Our second ambassador is 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-Sa/Gath Archaeological Project (gath.wordpress.com) for the last 25 years, co-directs 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. 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. Aren MaeirProfessor of Archaeology at Bar-Ilan UniversityChuck JonesClassics Librarian at Pennsylvania State University
36Thor’s Fight with the Giants Painting by Mårten Eskil Winge1872
37ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSPROGRAMS & PROJECTSSASA offers a wealth of programs and projects, all of which t into various stages of 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.KNOW WHAT YOU KNOW RAISING AWARENESSINCREASING ACCESSIBILITYREENVISIONING POST-EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPSUPPORTING EDUCATIONFORMING AN ALLIANCE142536
KNOW WHAT YOU KNOWRESEARCHING THE DOWNWARD TREND: AN EDUCATIONAL SOCIOLOGY PROJECTThe Downward Trend Research Project gathers and analyzes data to identify statistical indicators for Ancient Studies prospects. These indicators include degree completion, language course enrollment, and hiring at higher education institutions, as well as funding for departments, learned societies, and individuals. This research allows us to map the recent trajectory of Ancient Studies in the United States, predict the future trend, and follow our impact over time. Future goals include creating a publicly accessible database of information on Ancient Studies and related outreach that will be updated annually, and to expand our research to cover how the public understands Ancient Studies and what can be done to help focus college recruitment towards students in the subject area.
39ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSCONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS: SASA has been welcomed at a range of conferences and presented our research in the past year, including the Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, American School of Overseas Research, and American Oriental Society. IDEAS TO IMPROVE ANCIENT STUDIES VIDEO SERIESWorking with our research team interns, we have developed a range of ideas on how to improve the accessibility, reach, and appeal of Ancient Studies to the general public. This project is presented as videos on our YouTube channel. These videos have been completed to date: New Possibilities for Ancient Language InstructionSASA & Social EntrepreneurshipAncient Studies & International RelationsThe Advantages of Multilingualism
INSPIRE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNPart of growing SASA’s social media presence is the Inspire Campaign, which was produced over Summer 2020 and 2021. Through engaging posts on a variety of fascinating topics from ancient cultures across the world, the ongoing campaign aims to inspire curiosity, engagement, education, and enjoyment in connection with the Ancient World.RAISING AWARENESS200 POSTS CREATED1,000 POSTS POSTED10,000 PEOPLE INSPIRED40 • Ancient Kitchen• Ancient Fanction• What’s that Artifact?• Where in the World?• Demons & Deities & Demigods• Modern World, Ancient Roots• Past Politics• Ancient STEM• Fun and Games• Epoch StylePOST CATEGORIES
41ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTS RAISING AWARENESSCONTINUED
SUPPORTING EDUCATIONArchaeogaming is the nascent eld that studies and employs the incorporation of histor-ically-oriented video games in connection with ancient studies to reach a range of audi-ences. Since young students are often engaged with video gaming, use of archaeogam-ing is an effective way to engage young people in learning about the past as opposed to conventional media, as it is a more interactive learning experience. As such, we have developed Archaeogaming Education-al Modules, each of which is a collection of teaching materials geared towards the ancient world. Each module includes a video for classroom usage with foot-age from video games, as well as a complete support package, designed to be delivered by teachers and other educators. The material is age appro-priate, and requires no prior knowledge on behalf of the educator - they all come with their own handouts and context pages that make sure that the educators can really get to grips with the information before they teach it. Our Education Modules are currently aimed at the 11–14 year old age bracket, but there is scope to scale it up all the way through to undergraduate level teaching. ArizonaCaliforniaMassachusettsMarylandMichiganNebraskaNew JerseyNew York North CarolinaSouth CarolinaTexasVirginiaWashingtonCanadaGreeceIsraelSpainSwitzerlandOUR TEACHING MODULES ARE FREELY AVAILABLE TO TEACHERS AND ARE CURRENTLY BEING USED IN THE FOLLOWING US STATES AND COUNTRIES:42ARCHAEOGAMING EDUCATIONAL MODULESSUPPORTED BY GRANTS FROM:
43ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTS MODULE CONTENTS• 10-minute Archaeogaming Video• Interactive Accompanying Slideshow (guide to using this module)• Teacher’s Packet (contains contextual subject information; activity links; video transcript; further reading)• Assessment Quiz (multiple choice)• Assessment Quiz (long-form answer)• Activity worksheet (creative)• Activity worksheet (numeracy)• Crossword (literacy)• Wordsearch (literacy)MODULES COMPLETED & IN PRODUCTION• Ancient Greece & Pottery Production• Creating and Maintaining the Roman Empire• Early Urbanism in Egypt and Mesopotamia• Introduction to Medieval Ireland• Viking Diaspora• Medicine and Knowledge in Medieval Europe
44VIRTUAL LIVE PUBLIC EDUCATIONTEXT-IN-TRANSLATION READING GROUPSSASA 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.13 READING GROUPS200 PARTICIPANTS4.75 out of 5SATISFACTION RATING2 LANGUAGES OFFERED (ENGLISH & SPANISH)INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY
45ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSDESTINATION ANCIENT: ARCHAEOTOURSThese 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 with the audience. SASA AND DARIUS ARYALive On-Site at the Pantheon in Rome Live On-Site at Trajan’s Column in RomeSASA AND LILLIAN GONZALEZ, PHDHyde AbbeySouthampton City Walls
LIVE ARCHAEOGAMINGOur Archaeogaming Live Events include playthroughs with engag-ing and scholarly commentary by Ancient Studies experts and gamers, as well as special in-terviews with game creators and archaeogaming scholars. Our program has taken great strides this year as we have expanded our schedule to offer weekly free online events, covering a num-ber of popular games that have just been released. These events have quickly picked up a growing following on Twitch, the major gaming inter-active livestreaming platform. This mode of live interaction with gamers who are interested in the ancient world allows us to reach whole new audiences, as SASA continues to make strides in developing accessible educa-tional content in contemporary settings.A recent highlight was hosting Greg Kasavin, Creative Director and Writer at Su-pergiant Games, discussing their new game Hades, a Hugo-award winning video game, during a live session of the virtual conference Antiquity in Media Studies.46INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY
47ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSANCIENT STUDIES RESOURCESA collection of quality academic resources for students and scholars of all disciplines of Ancient Studies was previously unavail-able. SASA is working to ll this gap by cre-ating a new platform that presents import-ant resources in all Ancient Studies elds and helps connect students and scholars with one another. In the rst tier of this project, we have col-lected over 1,000 websites that in them-selves contain tons of useful information. We published the rst 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.1,000WEBSITES LISTEDWe are also working on producing these databases that are utterly crucial for Ancient Studies:ALL available programs of study in ALL Ancient Studies elds at institutions of higher education in North America and beyond.Scholarships and fellowships open to Ancient Studies elds for students at all levels, from undergraduate to postdoctoral researchers.
FORMING ANALLIANCE CASO aims to bring together academic professional organizations to work on out-reach and accessibility projects toward the mutual benet of all Ancient Studies elds. The rst ofcial 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 aca-demic organizations to join CASO. The rst joint project of CASO is underway. As a part of the alliance, we have worked on an Ancient Stud-ies 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 dis-tribute professionally edited video col-lections of these testimonials for use by currently threatened departments in com-bating the pressure on them by showing the vibrant, meaningful, and success-ful lives that their alumni have created for themselves. In addition, they will be used as general advocacy tools for An-cient Studies through our organizations.48COALITION OF ANCIENT STUDIES ORGANIZATIONS (CASO)
49ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSPARTNERSHIP 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. A LIST OF OUR CURRENT PARTNER PROJECTS CAN BE FOUND BELOW:
SASA partnered with Digital Hammurabi to create Opening the Ancient World, a free public academic virtual confer-ence. On August 15th and 16th, 2021, the conference was live-streamed over a variety of platforms. The goal of the conference was to present and support excellent scholarship by independent scholars, regardless of their primary occupation. Additionally, special roundtable sessions were hosted, discussing issues of how to develop outreach by Ancient Studies scholars, further inclusiveness, and reimagining scholarship as a lifelong pursuit within a diverse yet inclusive scholarly community. Working with our partners we delivered a two-day virtual conference, provided entirely free of charge and online with zero barrier to entry. Over the course of the conference, we had 19 independent scholars deliver insightful academic presentations, with over 1,800 participants attending the presentations and other sessions. This success provided proof of concept for future live-streamed open-access conferences.We are currently transforming the conference into a recurring annual event with the goal of improving the accessibility of Ancient Studies and continuing to push for open-access academic events for all.50RE-ENVISIONING POST-EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP1,800+ ATTENDEES19 INDEPENDENT SCHOLAR PRESENTEDVIRTUAL CONFERENCE: OPENING THE ANCIENT WORLD
51ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROJECTSINDEPENDENT SCHOLARS WORKING GROUPAs a part of our commitment to widening accessibility to scholarship for all, SASA has offered a range of events that encourage scholars from independent or otherwise non-organizational backgrounds with forums and opportunities to engage with like-minded scholars that are commonly inaccessible to researchers not in privileged institutions. These events have received positive feedback from participants and have become a rm xture in SASA’s monthly network of accessible material.LET’S GET PUBLISHED EVENTSThe 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 SCHOLARSTo 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.
GOALS FOR 2022 FUNDRAISINGDeveloping new sources of funding has been a growing focus over the past year. In 2022, we are committed to bringing our fundraising to new levels.Increasing Donations: In the realm of donations, we are developing our team of SASA Ambassadors to help us reach and engage donors of substantial means who can help underwrite our operations. We are aiming for a breakthrough in this area in our third year. In addition, we will consider SASA Ambassadors as potential future board members, as we work toward developing a suitable Board of Trustees within the coming years.Sustainability Through Grant Cycles: Following upon our very successful year in grant seeking in support of our projects, we are reaching higher toward larger grants. In an effort to develop sustainable support for our projects, we will re-apply to all the foundations from which we were awarded grants for thevtions.Major Grants: Further, by seeking partnerships with other organizations with longstanding reputa-tions, including academic professional organizations, museums, and universities, we are working toward producing competitive grant applications to major human-ities foundations, such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, and the Niarchos Foundation. We are currently undergoing an external nancial review in preparation for these major grant applications.52PROSPECTSNew social media engagementsNew website visitorsNew video viewsNew social media followersNew email subscribers80,00040,00018,0006,0003,000In 2021, we were able to hit most of our Impact Goals that we set as double that of our rst year, 2020. For 2022, our third year in operation, we have set the same high bar - to double our impact of the previous year. We aim to achieve:DOUBLING OUR IMPACT, AGAIN!
53ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROSPECTSOPERATIONS BUDGET FOR 2022TOTAL: $16,500ADVERTISING $500WEB & GRAPHIC DESIGN $900COMMUNICATIONS $1000LIVE EVENTS $1000ACCOUNTING $2,500INSURANCE $3,000FUNDRAISING $400ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF $7,200
NEW PROJECTSINREACH: GATHERING ANCIENT STUDIES SCHOLARSGrowing our base of support within academia, our natural pri-mary constituency, is crucial for the continued development of SASA in all its facets. In 2022, we will be working toward attract-ing the participation of Ancient Studies scholars and students in SASA in two ways. One will be through the further development of the Coalition of Ancient Studies Organizations, as we court the induction of more member organizations.The second will involve a new “boots on the ground” approach. Building off of our recent successes at Ancient Studies confer-ences, we will be promoting the ideas and methods of SASA at in-person conferences throughout the year. This will be in the form of conference booths, presentations, and panels that bring our Educational Sociology research, our novel educational meth-ods, our social entrepreneurial model, and our unique programs to the attention of scholars across our elds.INREACH: GATHERING ANCIENT STUDIES PUBLIC EDUCATORSAncient Studies extend beyond the walls of academia to the many ways in which people engage with the deep past of all cultures, whether in primary and secondary education, in informal online contexts, in museums, in the arts, and in popular culture. A major goal for 2022 is to begin to make inroads with profes-sionals in these settings. Within the wider public Ancient Studies, we are prioritizing developing a network of teachers, connecting with museum professionals, and drawing in online Ancient Stud-ies popularizers through our Port Ancient gallery.
55ANNUAL REPORT 2021PROSPECTSNEW PROJECTSRESEARCH & MARKETINGEffectively explaining the value of Ancient Studies to those not en-gaged in our elds has been a difculty Ancient Studies scholars have yet to resolve. As part of SASA’s Educational Sociology Re-search Program, we will be researching this issue and working on nding effective solutions through marketing research. To begin, we are investigating how institutions and university de-partments have articulated the value of Ancient Studies in recruit-ing and advocacy statements. These results will be placed in the context of value statements about the Humanities in general. Thereafter, we will create a survey distributed to focus groups of persons of varying connectedness to Ancient Studies. These results will lead us in developing marketing packages for use by university departments for their internal recruiting.PUBLICATIONSIn expanding SASA’s impact, we are working to use the time-tested vehicle of scholarly publishing, in order to make long-lasting con-tributions. In the coming year, we intend to publish the rst parts of our ndings on the health of Ancient Studies in a well regarded Education Research journal. To further support the Independent Scholars who presented at our rst Virtual Conference in August 2021, we will publish their pa-pers in an open access conference proceedings volume. As part of promoting public scholarship, we will also publish editorials about SASA and our projects in popular Ancient Studies magazines, such as Biblical Archaeology Review. We view collaborations with publishers, who are instrumental in disseminating the scholarship and ideas of all Ancient Studies scholars, as another important piece of the Ancient Studies puzzle.
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