This project is an unsettling of traditional single-history narratives in archaeological practice and an exploration of how knowledge can be generated from beyond the academy and incorporated into an engaged archaeological epistemology. Working with Brown’s Petra Archaeological Project, Kelley will employ archaeological ethnography and promote accessible scholarship through presentations and publications in both Arabic and English to build a lasting model for collaboration with local stakeholders. This project aims to acknowledge and prioritize how modern communities engage with material remains, offering equal weight to every aspect of Petra’s history, and articulating an activist, inclusive, and imaginative archaeology.

Advisor: Felipe Rojas (Archeology and the Ancient World)