The 2022 recipients of the George Fischer International Student Travel Award are Alicia Johnson from the Alexandria Center for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage, University of Alexandria and Jack Pink from the University of Southampton. Because 2021 was a virtual conference, the ACUA was able to give the award to two outstanding recipients this year.
Ms. Johnson has a Master’s in Maritime Archaeology from the University of Alexandria, a BA in Classics with a minor in Latin and a BA in History with a minor in Jewish Studies, both from the College of Charleston.
Please join us in welcoming Alicia and attending her paper entitled: Effective Management of Archaeological and Historical Shipwreck Sites in the Red Sea, Egypt
Alicia’s paper explores the impact of SCUBA diving and economic impacts. Each year, the SCUBA industry creates a billion-dollar economy and numerous job opportunities; many of which are in developing countries. Popular diving attractions, such as the Thistlegorm in Egypt or the Pacific’s Chuuk Lagoon, are UCH sites and attract many visitors. Each year, the Thistlegorm generates €5,000,000 and attracts thousands to the Egypt’s Red Sea. When managed effectively, historic shipwrecks can be intellectually, culturally, and financially enriching. Seemingly, the lack of oversight, regulation, and education of divers places these UCH sites at-risk against illegal salvage, looting, destruction of archaeological integrity, and increased decomposition of the wreck sites. Effective project management plans can be devised and implemented via evaluating different traits, conditions, and circumstances of three at-risk UCH wreck sites of the Red Sea: the Roman wreck at Fury Shoals, the 18th C Ottoman merchant ship of Sadana Island, and the Thistlegorm WWII shipwreck.
Mr. Jack Pink is currently enrolled in the PhD program, Center for Maritime Archaeology, University of Southampton where he also received his Master’s degree.
Please join us in welcoming Jack and attending his paper entitled: Paper Ships on Digital Seas
Jack’s paper explores ordinary ships such as merchant schooners—and most importantly the people involved in their lives—are often missing entirely from discussions and narratives of the 19th century. Their absence is a problem. Not just because it reveals an incompleteness in the record or a focus on specific tiers of society, which it does. But because of the potential of the ordinary to inform our understanding of the 19th century maritime world. A challenge faced by archaeologists and historians is that only a small number of such ships have been explored in any detail. It is clear archaeology has a lot to add to and challenge about our understanding of this period. Therefore, this presentation introduces new information through the material culture documentation of several hundred ships, in a way that will move beyond individual vessel-narratives to produce new knowledge about and ideas of seafaring and shipbuilding from this period.