William & Mary
We’re excited to celebrate Eli Aziere (The Independent School, 2024) on receiving an Honors Fellowship through the Charles Center at the College of William & Mary, along with the Anthropology Department’s Altshuler Scholarship. Together, these awards will support 10 full weeks of honors research for Eli’s anthropology major, conducted on campus in Oceanic Archaeology Lab under the mentorship of Jennifer Kahn, from late May through early August.
Eli’s research is a comparative archaeological study of two sites on the island of Rurutu in French Polynesia, examining feasting, ritual, and shell artifact use over time through microscopic analysis of shell tools. This project will be the first comparative study of shell artifacts in the island’s history and aims to advance archaeological knowledge while elevating the cultural heritage of Oceania—an underrepresented region in anthropology. The work will culminate in an Honors thesis, to be written during the academic year and defended in spring 2027.
“𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚 & 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑦 𝑃. 𝑂’𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑦 𝐹𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠.”
