Staff
Hope Elizabeth Gillespie
Editor in Chief
Hope Elizabeth holds a BA from the George Washington University in Archaeology and an MA with Merit in Archaeology and Heritage of the Near East and Egypt from University College London. She has excavated in Israel with the Tel Kabri Excavations in both 2017 and 2019 and served as the Archaeology Lab intern at the Mount Vernon Estate, the home of George Washington. She is currently an Editorial Assistant for Interdisciplinary Egyptology and Assistant Manager of Gallery Experiences at the Carnegie Science Center.
Her research interests include Colonialism in Archaeology, Women in Ancient Egypt, Cultural Memory and Religion in Egypt, and English imperialism in the East.
MaryKate Smolenski
Operations Director
MaryKate earned a BA in Anthropology and History from the George Washington University and a MA in History and Museum Studies from Tufts University. Some of MaryKate’s past positions include working with the Preservation Society of Newport County, Newport Historical Society, and History Cambridge. She is currently a PhD Student in the American and New England Studies Program at Boston University.
Research interests include: early American and British Atlantic history, American Revolution-era Loyalist women, public history, interpretation, exhibition development, collections management, and curation.
Sydney Sheehan
Creative Director
Sydney earned a B.A. in Art History with a minor in Anthropology from George Washington University and an M.A. in American Art of the 19th Century from Columbia University. Sydney has held positions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and numerous contract positions in the arts. Sydney is currently the Gallery and Exhibitions Coordinator of the Foreman Gallery, as well as adjunct lecturer, at Hartwick College.
Research interests include: 19th century Folk and Maritime art, Native-Settler relations of the Jacksonian era, and public depictions of Indigenous figures by Euro-Americans.