Launched in 2014, ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (ASOR CHI) is an international collaboration of scholars and institutions assisting local stakeholders in the Middle East and Northern Africa to preserve and protect cultural heritage. Through two cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of State and with the generous support private and public organizations and donors (including the Getty Conservation Institute, The Whiting Foundation, The Foundation for Jewish Heritage, and the Kaplan Fund), ASOR CHI documents, protects, and preserves the cultural heritage of war-torn Syria, northern Iraq, and Libya. Hundreds of significant heritage sites have been damaged since fighting began in 2011. Although the theft and destruction of cultural resources represents only part of the humanitarian crisis, these harmful actions threaten cultural identity, memory, and diversity as well as erase irreplaceable data on the past.
ASOR CHI may have the need to hire additional staff for temporary positions during the second half of 2017. We thus invite ASOR members and friends who might be interested in such positions to let us know. To be considered, please submit a one-page letter of interest stating your academic and professional qualifications and the sorts of positions within cultural heritage protection and preservation work that might be of interest. Please also submit a brief CV (no more than 2 pages) and a list of three professional references. Send the materials by email to Marina Gabriel with a CC to Britta Abeln; please put “ASOR CHI CV” in the subject heading of the email. This solicitation of CVs is not a guarantee of new positions.
ASOR CHI is led by four principal investigators: Michael Danti (ASOR Academic Director), Andrew Vaughn (ASOR Executive Director), Scott Branting (University of Central Florida), and Susan Kane (Oberlin College). Marina Gabriel, Susan Penacho, and William Raynolds serve as Project Managers. The international team also includes 15 eminent specialists who have agreed to donate more than 600 hours of expert time over the course of the next twelve months of the project.
Questions about ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives may be directed to ASOR CHI Academic Director Michael Danti and/or ASOR Executive Director Andy Vaughn.