On Thursday, October 16, the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University will host an event in celebration of International Archaeology Day. Each October, the Archaeological Institute of America and organizations around the world present archaeological programs and activities. This will be HRAF’s fourth annual Archaeology Day event co-sponsored by the UConn Stamford Anthropology Society. Matthew Longcore, Ph.D., Director of Membership and Outreach at HRAF, teaches Anthropology at UConn and is the faculty advisor for the UConn Stamford Anthropology Society.

UConn students have been invited to New Haven for a day exploring anthropology and cross-cultural research. We will begin our day with a visit to the HRAF offices at 755 Prospect Street. There will be a presentation on cross-cultural research from President Carol Ember, Ph.D., followed by a discussion about the Melvin Ember Internship with current interns Hattie Berke and Jonathan Zhang.

Following the visit to HRAF, the group will take a tour of the historic Yale University campus. Afterwards the group will have lunch at Yorkside Pizza. New Haven is well-known for its legendary pizza restaurants. Yorkside Pizza, a family operation since 1969, has served generations of Yale students. The day will conclude with a visit to the Yale Center for British Art followed by coffee at Book Trader Cafe on  Chapel Street in downtown New Haven.

The Yale Center for British Art has an ongoing exhibition from 2025 to 2027 titled In a New Light: Five Centuries of British Art. This exhibition features ethnographic insights from British artists working in India, the Caribbean, and elsewhere:

This installation sheds light on the surprising and complicated history of British art, bringing into focus the people and cultures that produced these artworks. From the sixteenth century to the present, Britain has attracted artists from all over the world, with their outputs as diverse as their origins. Many artists traveled or migrated to India, the Caribbean, and beyond. Individual and family portraits uncover the systems of class, gender, and race that undergirded societies around the globe and privileged the wealthy and influential. Other works depict landscapes, seascapes, manor houses, and cathedrals, often offering a record of the industrialization of an agrarian world. Allegorical, historical, and religious subjects further enrich our understanding of the expansive culture of a changing nation.

Many thanks to UConn students for joining us in celebration of Archaeology Day 2025. We will post a reflection with photos after the event.

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