Transdisciplinary Research & Educational Outreach: Ancient Mediterranean and Levant
wisdom recovery project goals
Providing perspective, reference and resources for confronting an escalating global crisis
We developed nations are the advanced civilization that science fiction writers dreamed of fifty years ago. So, where is Utopia? According to the U.S. National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than one in ten young people in the U.S. is living with depression that disrupts school, work or home life. Therapists report that youngsters are increasingly feeling helpless and hopeless. Authorities in Europe and beyond report the same. The need for therapeutic treatment now far exceeds the capacity of trained professionals to deliver it! Making matters worse, many of our youth are being raised by parents who are themselves suffering from depression and other impairments. We can actually help by providing some insight and perspective!
Bringing more relevance for the application of Archaeology and Anthropology in the modern world
Citing the American Anthropological Association: “Nationally, our discipline is confronting structural challenges in universities and colleges. Anthropology departments are navigating how to prevent degree programs and departments from closing or being merged into other departments. Globally, the importance of anthropological contributions is being questioned. In the Global South, university administrators, academics, students, and government officials wrestle with the violent and extractive practices of anthropology and their contribution to colonial knowledge production. Debates from within and outside academia question our discipline’s relevance to contemporary knowledge production practices.”
Elevating the profile of western Neolithic development and the significance thereof
New excavations in southeastern Turkiye have already changed the existing dominant theory of human history. With the application of new scientific methodology, other present and past archaeological findings from all around the world are shaking “mainstream history dogma”, yet important reports are being lost in the wake of high tech developments and applications that displace human ingenuity. Authentic responsible research must compete with wild unsupported “urban mythology”. No matter how important, creative and successful “old fashioned” research and applied practices are, they become insignificant and get lost in today's ocean of media and information without a solid Public Relations plan addressing decision makers. These PR plans are beyond the budgetary reach of most academic institutions.
Innovation was born in the Stone Age, when tribal hunter-gatherer societies undertook construction of the first monuments of stone. Here was a turning point that brought us directly to where we are today. The western Neolithic transition from an ageless nomadic no-impact tradition to creating monumental megalithic architecture, then agriculture, a settled lifestyle and the collection of materials and knowledge that followed was a most pivotal chapter in human development. Archaeological discoveries of in southeastern Turkey continue to come in faster than textbooks can keep up. Things that happened in ancient Anatolia 12,000 years ago changed the world forever. Nobody could have foreseen where it would take us, but we can certainly benefit from being aware of the way the momentum got started.
