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FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR DIGS INTO SPAIN'S
ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORY
Emerson Avery '05 will be using his recently
awarded Fulbright grant to conduct archaeological research in Spain
next academic year—but not the way you might expect.
“I like the Indiana Jones films
as much as the next man, and really appreciate the chance to get
my hands dirty,” he says, “but the fact of the matter
is that the pace of excavation always, always outstrips the pace
of analysis and publication.” So while Avery will visit the
excavation of Emporion, a Greek colonial site on the northeast coast
of the country, the focus of his research will be on previously
excavated objects and on writings produced by the colony’s
native citizens. “The sheer volume of material—indigenous,
Greek, and Roman—to emerge from Emporion during its nearly
100 years of excavation is staggering.”
As an undergraduate, Avery majored in
classics (specifically Greek) and classical and Near Eastern archaeology
(at Bryn Mawr) with a minor in Spanish. “I discovered early
on two powerful interests: in archaeology—history, really,
to be general—and in languages,” he says. “The
first I ever studied was Spanish, and I fell powerfully in love
with it.” He spent the first semester of his junior year studying
at the Universidad de Sevilla. While taking a Greek class to fulfill
his major requirements, he also picked up a course on the use and
development of technology in the Classical past, with examples drawn
mostly from the Iberian Peninsula. “Though I had previously
been interested in both Classical and Spanish history, it had never
occurred to me to conflate the two,” he says. “Seeing
such a rich presence in Spain was something of a revelation.”
Back at Haverford for the spring semester,
he attended a meeting about various scholarships open to seniors
(including the Fulbright) but had yet to draw up a solid project
proposal. It wasn’t until he returned to Spain that summer
to participate in two digs (unrelated to Emporion) that he made
the acquaintance of scholar Michael Blech, then head of the German
Archaeological Institute in Madrid, and was struck with inspiration.
“It was a comment he made regarding the lamentable invisibility
of the native presence, and moreover a native voice, in Classical
studies that gave me the idea I eventually turned into my project
proposal.” Avery credits not only Blech for his invaluable
assistance, but also fellow Iberian scholar Óscar García
Vuelta and Haverford Associate Dean Philip Bean: “His help,
in reading drafts of my proposal and CV, in offering insightful
criticism of weaknesses, and in providing me with his expertise
in the vagaries of the Fulbright’s application process, was
essential.”
Avery will live in Madrid and expects
his family to visit him from their home in Cortland, N.Y., in mid-January.
While in Spain he plans to apply to graduate school, hoping eventually
to pursue a Ph.D. in, and teach, archaeology or classics. “While
the Fulbright gives me the opportunity to do something different
from the norm,” he says, “I really do enjoy school,
and look forward to going on.”
Sponsored by the United States Department
of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright
Scholar Program sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad
each year to lecture and conduct research in a variety of fields.
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