Susan E. Alcock facts for kids

Susan Ellen Alcock is an American archaeologist. An archaeologist is someone who studies human history by digging up old things. Susan specializes in studying the Roman Empire and how people remembered the past. She grew up in Massachusetts. She went to college at Yale University and the University of Cambridge. Susan Alcock has taught at several universities, including the University of Michigan. She now teaches about ancient history and cultures at the University of Oklahoma-Norman.

Becoming an Archaeologist

Susan Alcock started her studies at Yale University in 1979. She studied Archaeology and History and graduated with very high honors in 1983. After Yale, she went to the University of Cambridge in England. There, she studied classical history (the study of ancient Greece and Rome). She earned another degree in 1985. She continued her studies at Cambridge and earned her PhD in 1989. Her PhD research was about how Greek society changed when it became part of the Roman Empire.

Her Work and Discoveries

Susan Alcock has had an exciting career as an archaeologist. She has led many important projects that help us learn about the past.

Leading Archaeology Projects

• From 2006 to 2015, she was the Director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University. She was also a professor there.
• Before that, she taught Classical Archaeology at the University of Michigan.
• She helped lead the Pylos Regional Archaeological Project in southwestern Greece. This project explored an ancient area to understand how people lived there long ago.
• She also co-directed the Vorotan Project in southern Armenia.
• Currently, she directs the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project. This project studies the ancient city of Petra, which is famous for its buildings carved into rock.

Special Recognition

In 2000, Susan Alcock received a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship. This award is given to talented people in many fields who show great creativity and potential. It is sometimes called a "genius grant."

Teaching and Leadership

Besides her archaeological digs, Susan Alcock has also held important leadership roles at universities. In 2018, she became a leader at the University of Michigan–Flint. She helped manage the academic programs there. She continues to teach and inspire new students to learn about the ancient world.