Spring 2022 Celebrations

 In-person doctoral hooding ceremonies for the years 2022 and 2021 were held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Wednesday May 11, 2022—following a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic. At this especially festive occasion, more than 600 graduates who had obtained their doctoral degree during the pandemic were given the opportunity to be hooded in person. Following the ceremony, faculty, students and staff of the Cotsen Institute celebrated their graduates on the terrace of the Fowler Museum, together with families and friends.

Katelyn Jo Bishop graduated with a thesis entitled Ritual Practice, Ceremonial Organization, and the Value and Use of Birds in Prehispanic Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, 800–1150 CE. Professors Gregson Schachner and Richard Lesure, both at the Department of Anthropology, chaired her dissertation committee. Katelyn has now joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign as assistant professor of anthropology.

Brandon Braun graduated with a thesis entitlted Commemorating Classical Battles: A Landscape Biography Approach to Marathon, Leuktra, and Chaironeia. Professors Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee.

Karime Castillo Cardenas graduated with a thesis entitled Glass Production in Colonial Mexico: Technology Transfer, Adoption, and Adaptation. Professor Ioanna Kakoulli of the Samueli School of Engineering chaired her dissertation committee. Karime has now joined the faculty of Bowdoin College in Maine as assistant professor of anthropology.

Adam DiBattista graduated with a thesis entitled Animal Transformations of Animal Materials in Early Greece. Professors Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee. Adam now is a Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.

Gazmend Elezi graduated with a thesis entitled Sociocultural Dimensions of Production, Use, and Circulation of Late Neolithic Pottery for Southern Balkans. Professors Sarah Morris and John Papadopoulos, both at the Department of Classics, chaired his dissertation committee. Gazmend now is a post-doctoral researcher in the Pasarow Mass Spectrometer Laboratory at UCLA.

Vera Rondano graduated with a thesis entitled The Economy of Human Resilience: Exploring Economic Growth during Periods of Political Fragmentation in Ancient Egypt. Professor Kathlyn Cooney, at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, chaired her dissertation committee.

Amr Shahat graduated with a thesis entitled Climate Change and the Social History of Food in Ancient Egypt: Between Humanities and Life Sciences. Professor Willeke Wendrich, at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, chaired his dissertation committee. Amr now is a post-doctoral researcher at the Cotsen Institute.

Willeke Wendrich, director of the Cotsen Institute, and Gregson Schachner, chair of the Archaeology Program, extended their congratulations to the new graduates and their families. They also welcomed incoming chair Stephen Acabado, who will succeed Schachner at the beginning of the new academic year. Schachner has served as chair of the Archaeology Program since 2019. Acabado is associate professor at the Department of Anthropology and director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, positions that he will maintain during his tenure as chair.

For more information, or to find out how to support our research and education in archaeology and conservation, please contact Michelle Jacobson at mjacobson@ioa.ucla.edu.

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Photo: From left to right: Gazmend Elezi (and his son), Katelyn Bishop, Willeke Wendrich, and Karime Castillo Cardenas.