ASOR plans to award six Meyers fieldwork participation scholarships of $2,000 each during 2025 (see COVID disclaimer below).

Established in 2014 through generous gifts made by the students and friends of Eric and Carol Meyers, scholarship funds have been designated to support the participation of ASOR members as volunteers or staff on excavation projects. Eric and Carol joined the Duke faculty in 1969 and 1977 respectively. Both have taught and mentored several generations of archaeologists and biblical historians, and both have received the highest accolades for their academic work. On the occasion of their retirement, their students and friends decided to honor them with the establishment of this endowment fund.

Eric and Carol have been active ASOR members since their graduate school days. Eric served as Vice-President for Publications and later as ASOR President (three separate terms), and he received the Richard J. Scheuer Medal. Carol served on the Committee for Archaeological Policy (six separate terms) and on the Publications Committee and has received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award from ASOR. Both currently serve on the ASOR Board. Eric is currently on the Executive Committee, and Carol is on the Officers Nominations Committee and the Committee on the ASOR Policy on Professional Conduct.

The Eric and Carol Meyers Endowed Scholarship Fund for Archaeological Volunteers and Staff will support six scholarships of $2,000 each for the summer of 2025 to participants in any ASOR-affiliated archaeological project.

Eligibility

Applicants must be members of ASOR or be enrolled as students at an ASOR-member school (see list of Institutional Members). Applicants from underrepresented groups may request a membership waiver in order to apply. Applicants are encouraged to use the Uniform Fieldwork Scholarships Application to apply for all of the named and unnamed Fieldwork Participation Scholarships. Some of the named grants are designated for particular excavations (e.g., Hazor or Tell el-Hesi), for particular groups (e.g., BIPOC and veterans), and for particular countries (e.g., Israel or Jordan). Please check the appropriate boxes on the Uniform Application so that you can be considered for as many different scholarships sources as possible. In order to be eligible, applicants are required to participate in an ASOR-affiliated excavation (see list).

Preference will be given to individuals that have not received support through the ASOR scholarship program or other funding sources for the summer of 2025. Additional preference will also be given to applicants who would not usually receive funding (for airfare, lodging or a stipend) from the excavation. Preference is also given to applicants who have not received ASOR funding for excavations in the past three years.

Applications must include the contact information for the director of the excavation project.

Upon completion of the field season, a report of 250-350 words and three appropriate photos (500 dpi resolution or higher) on site must be submitted to the ASOR office by September 1, 2025. Reports and photos should be sent via email with “fieldwork scholarship report” in the subject line. More information will be available after the recipients have been notified.

Scholarship recipients will be required to sign a waiver indicating that ASOR is not responsible for any injuries they might sustain during their time at the excavation in which they participate. They will also be required to sign a release of rights to ASOR for the inclusion of their report and photographs in one of ASOR’s publications. This award may only be used for allowable direct expenses. Indirect and/or overhead expenses are not permitted.

COVID disclaimer: If the ongoing COVID pandemic, or any other reason, does not allow for many archaeological excavations to take place during 2025, ASOR may at its sole discretion decide not to offer fieldwork scholarships. If ASOR deems such a decision as necessary, applicants may reapply for non-fieldwork summer stipends if ASOR offers stipends for 2025. Regrettably, applicants and successful applicants may not postpone fieldwork scholarships to another year if the applicant or ASOR decides that fieldwork scholarships will not be awarded in 2025. If the pandemic or any other reason causes a cancellation of fieldwork in 2025, applicants must reapply for funding in 2026 (or for stipends if they are made available in 2025).