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2021
Naval Warfare and Maritime Conflict in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Mediterranean
Emanuel, J. P. (2021). Naval Warfare and Maritime Conflict in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Mediterranean . Ancient Warfare. Leiden: Brill. Link to publisher's pageAbstract

In Naval Warfare and Maritime Conflict in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Mediterranean, Jeffrey P. Emanuel examines the evidence for maritime violence in the Mediterranean region during both the Late Bronze Age and the tumultuous transition to the Early Iron Age in the years surrounding the turn of the 12th century BCE. 

There has traditionally been little differentiation between the methods of armed conflict engaged in during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, on both the coasts and the open seas, while polities have been alternately characterized as legitimate martial actors and as state sponsors of piracy. By utilizing material, documentary, and iconographic evidence and delineating between the many forms of armed conflict, Emanuel provides an up-to-date assessment not only of the nature and frequency of warfare, raiding, piracy, and other forms of maritime conflict in the Late Bronze Age and Late Bronze-Early Iron Age transition, but also of the extent to which modern views about this activity remain the product of inference and speculation.

Emanuel, Jeffrey P. 2020. Naval Warfare and Maritime Conflict in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Mediterranean (monograph). Ancient Warfare Series, Volume 2; Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 117. Leiden: Brill.

 

Review Excerpt

All in all, the author has presented a truly profound study that examines the source material in an almost encyclopedic manner and interprets it lucidly with the question of the role and consequences of maritime conflicts. ...[E]ven what is known gains new nuances and aspects that are of interest not only to Bronze Age specialists through its confident classification in power-political contexts, the cross-epoch overview and the always carefully considered discussion of research.

– R. J. Schulz, Ancient West & East 22 (2023), 353

 

 

2020
Sea Raiders in the Amarna Letters? The Men of Arwad and the Miši in Context
Emanuel, J. P. (2020). Sea Raiders in the Amarna Letters? The Men of Arwad and the Miši in Context. Altorientalische Forschungen , 47 (1), 1-14.Abstract
The Amarna corpus contains several references to maritime conflict and related activities in the 14th century BCE, including blockades, the movement of troops, the capturing of ships at sea, and seaborne evacuation. While most of these are encountered in the context of conflicts between Levantine polities, there are clear references to what might on the one hand be called piracy, but on the other hand either acts of naval warfare or naval elements of a larger war effort, on both land and sea. This paper considers the martial maritime activities discussed in the Amarna letters, with particular emphasis on two uniquely controversial groups mentioned in this corpus in the context of maritime violence: the ‘ships of the men of the city of Arwad’ and the ‘miši-men.’ While the men of Arwad are identified with a polity on the Phoenician coast, they are referred to only by this collective term, even when mentioned in lists that otherwise contain only rulers. The miši, on the other hand, are not associated with any specific name or toponym. The purpose of this study is to identify just what can be determined about the roles and affiliations of these two groups in their Amarna context in this period.
Augmented Reality and the Harvard Yard Archaeology Project
Emanuel, J. P. (2020). Augmented Reality and the Harvard Yard Archaeology Project. In Revolution: 2020 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Boston, MA, January 8-11 . Presenter in "Harvard Yard Archaeology Forum" session.Abstract

Harvard Yard Archaeology Project is a university museum, academic and community focused effort with special attention to the 17th-century educational institution. Years of investigation in the Yard highlight remarkable artifacts, features, public archaeology, and more recently, digital methods. Project stories contribute to local archaeology and broader significance in the archaeology of colonial institutions, health, and indigenous education. Recent field findings and demonstrations of digital archaeology come together from student contributors and study partners. Examples include GIS data visualization and analysis, 3D imaging, a web-based interpretative and data access platform, and an augmented reality application. The theme of heritage issues on campus and within community archaeology anchors discussion.

Panelists: Patricia Capone (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University), Diana Loren (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University), Wade Campbell (Dept of Anthropology, Harvard University), Jeff Emanuel (Academic Technology, Harvard University), Diana Gerberich (Harvard University), Jeremy Guillette (Academic Technology, Harvard University), Christina Hodge (Stanford University), Sarah Johnson (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University), Nam Kim (Dept of Anthropology, Harvard University), John Stubbs (The Paideia School; and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University), Paul Tamburro (Dept of Anthropology, Harvard University), Alex McQuilling (Harvard University)

Seafaring
Emanuel, J. P. (2020). Seafaring. In Joint Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Society for Classical Studies (SCS), Washington, DC, January 3-5 . Respondent in session "Imagining Islands, Meditating on Mainlands".Abstract

This workshop will adopt a forum format to explore the construction of island identities in relation to mainland identities in the Iron Age Mediterranean. This topic is the focus of a major new project based at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK. The project involves the archaeological investigation of island identities on Cyprus, Crete, and Sardinia during the period ca. 1100–600 B.C.E., and will culminate in a large-scale exhibition in September 2021.

The aim of this workshop session is to kick-start the project with a radical and open exchange of ideas, adopting a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective to develop new approaches to the topic. It will begin with the presentation of a case study—that of Cyprus and Cilicia. Subsequent speakers will respond to this, and workshop participants will be encouraged to use the example case as a jumping off point to explore other instances and broader implications.

The workshop will be moderated by project’s P.I. and Lead Curator.

Moderators: Anastasia Christofilopoulou, University of Cambridge, and Naoíse Mac Sweeney, University of Leicester

Panelists: Jo Quinn, University of Oxford, Marian Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Evi Margaritis, The Cyprus Institute, Jana Mokrisova, Birkbeck College, University of London, Louise Hitchcock, The University of Melbourne, and Jeffrey P. Emanuel, Harvard University

2019
The Harvard Yard Archaeology Project: From Analog Past to Digital (AR) Future
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). The Harvard Yard Archaeology Project: From Analog Past to Digital (AR) Future. In Digitorium 2019, Tuscaloosa, AL, Oct. 10-12.Abstract

Since the turn of the millennium, students in the Harvard College course Anthropology 1130 “The Archaeology of Harvard Yard” have participated in a biennial excavation of a portion of Harvard Yard, the center of America's oldest college. The course includes excavation, conservation, analysis, and cataloguing of material finds, many of which are displayed by the Peabody Museum for Archaeology and Ethnology in an exhibit called “Digging Veritas.” 

In the 2016 field season, the Peabody Museum and Harvard’s Academic Technology group partnered to integrate digital methods into the excavation process and the course. This began by gathering geospatial and photogrammetric data from the excavation, by building 3D models of the excavation trenches, and by developing and supporting an Omeka site for images and “object biographies” of key finds. This partnership has since focused on the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) application that will help accomplish the public archaeology and cultural heritage missions of the excavation and exhibit by enabling the public – physically at Harvard Yard or around the world – to interact with the excavation and its results, and to learn about the early history of American higher education, including its multicultural nature and the experiences of the students who lived it. 

This presentation discusses the purpose of the excavations and the integration of digital methods, lessons learned, and future prospects, and offers a hands-on demonstration of the AR application for use and feedback.

Advancing Digital Methodology in Teaching, Learning, and Research: A Networked Approach
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Advancing Digital Methodology in Teaching, Learning, and Research: A Networked Approach. In Digitorium 2019, Tuscaloosa, AL, Oct. 10-12.Abstract

Recent years have seen an increase in digital scholarship, in digital methods-related courses, and in the integration of digital components into courses and assignments. At Harvard, the latter has been encouraged through the Digital Teaching Fellow, or DiTF, program, an initiative to support the thoughtful redesigning of courses to support the integration of digital methods and tools into learning objectives and curricula. With no formal “digital scholarship center,” “digital humanities center,” or other formal support structure, the challenge of providing necessary support for these increases in digital methods and tools was met by a group of key role players from around the university. 

Beginning as an informal gathering, this supporting cast has developed into the Digital Scholarship Support Group, or DSSG, a decentralized network that strives to foster the acquisition of digital literacy and the use of digital methods and tools in teaching, learning, and research. Its members, which represent multiple disparate departments, centers, and organizations across Harvard, take a “no wrong door” approach to supporting and furthering digital scholarship, working together to provide the University community with a single point of entry to the resources available to them.

 

A core focus of the DSSG is providing greatly-in-demand training to students, teaching fellows, faculty, and staff. The DSSG’s training seminars focus on the fundamentals of digital scholarship, on the integration of digital tools and methods into pedagogy, and on specific genres of tools and methods (for example, Visualization), and each is re-thought and redesigned based on the feedback of previous participants. 

A key DSSG offering is the Digital Teaching Methods seminar. Initially created to train the aforementioned DiTFs, this workshop focuses on the learning goal–based integration of digital tools and methods into pedagogical approaches, providing hands-on introductions in the context of specific pedagogical examples and use cases. Unlike many ‘teaching with technology’–related efforts that focus on specific tools or on the digital genre in general, the DSSG’s approach emphasizes using technology to enhance learning, addressing both the practical mechanics of employing these tools and approaches and the pedagogical needs that they serve.

This presentation focuses on the impetus for the DSSG’s formation and persistence, the iteratively-developed and user-focused nature of its activities, and future prospects in the digital scholarship space, with an emphasis on the pedagogical advances and support made available by the group’s efforts.

First Annual Boston-Area Digital Scholarship Symposium
Singhal, R., Schreiner, M., Crawford, C., & Emanuel, J. P. (2019). First Annual Boston-Area Digital Scholarship Symposium. [Organizer] . Cambridge, MA. Click Here for More Information About the SymposiumAbstract
The First Annual Boston Area Digital Scholarship Symposium brings together scholars from the greater Boston area to share their work in digital scholarship in the form of talks, panel discussions, and poster presentations. The focus of the 2019 symposium is "Institutional Models of Collaborative Support."
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Nurturing Talent to Nurture Success: Enabling Experiential Learning Opportunities Across Harvard
Markman, K. M., Rios, J., DeBlois, R., & Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Nurturing Talent to Nurture Success: Enabling Experiential Learning Opportunities Across Harvard . Harvard University President’s Administrative Innovation Fund, $15,000. Click Here to Learn MoreAbstract

"Nurturing Talent to Nurture Success: Enabling Experiential Learning Opportunities Across Harvard" is a pilot project to create formal processes and structures for finding, filling, and assessing experiential learning opportunities for staff, such as:

  • • 80/20 or 90/10
  • • Job exchange or rotation
  • • Shadowing a team on a large project

We will centralize these opportunities through the creation of a “job board” website, along with forms, templates, best practices, procedures, and assessments. By formalizing these processes, we make learning opportunities available in a systematic, transparent, and equitable manner across the University.

In addition, we will promote the development of shared expectations between staff and host departments, which is critical to the success of experiential learning and difficult to achieve in an ad hoc environment. Finally, formalizing these processes will allow for assessment – we will be able to measure who is offering and who is taking advantage of these opportunities, how well they are working for both staff and departments, and what gaps still exist.

Brian Janeway, Sea Peoples of the Northern Levant? Aegean-Style Pottery from Early Iron Age Tell Tayinat
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Brian Janeway, Sea Peoples of the Northern Levant? Aegean-Style Pottery from Early Iron Age Tell Tayinat. American Journal of Archaeology , 123 (3). Click Here to DownloadAbstract

Publisher's description:

Did an invasion of the Sea Peoples cause the collapse of the Late Bronze Age palace-based economies of the Levant, as well as of the Hittite Empire? Renewed excavations at Tell Tayinat in southeast Turkey are shedding new light on the critical transitional phase of the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age (ca. 1200–1000 B.C.), a period that in the Northern Levant has until recently been considered a “Dark Age,” due in large part to the few extant textual sources relating to its history. However, recently discovered epigraphic data from both the site and the surrounding region suggest the formation of an Early Iron Age kingdom that fused Hieroglyphic Luwian monumental script with a strong component of Aegeanizing cultural elements. The capital of this putative/erstwhile kingdom appears to have been located at Tell Tayinat in the Amuq Valley.

More specifically, this formal stylistic analysis examines a distinctive painted pottery known as Late Helladic IIIC found at the site of Tayinat during several seasons of excavation. The assemblage includes examples of Aegean-style bowls, kraters, and amphorae bearing an array of distinctive decorative features. A key objective of the study distinguishes Aegean stylistic characteristics both in form and in painted motifs from those inspired by the indigenous culture.

Drawing on a wide range of parallels from Philistia through the Levant, Anatolia, the Aegean Sea, the Greek Mainland, and Cyprus, this research begins to fill a longstanding lacuna in the Amuq Valley and attempts to correlate with major historical and cultural trends in the Northern Levant and beyond.

 

Entangled Sea(faring): Reconsidering the Connection between the Ships of the Sea Peoples, the Aegean, and 'Urnfield' Europe
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Entangled Sea(faring): Reconsidering the Connection between the Ships of the Sea Peoples, the Aegean, and 'Urnfield' Europe. In The Entangled Sea: The Mediterranean Sea in Ancient History and Prehistory . University of Manchester, June 12–13.Abstract
The naval battle representation on the walls of Ramesses III’s ‘mansion of a million years’ at Medinet Habu (ca. 1175 BCE) stands as one of the earliest, and certainly most detailed, depictions of ship–to–ship combat. It also depicts the only known vessels of Helladic galley type to be depicted with stem–and–stern avian decoration. As such, they have been called upon as evidence for the inclusion of Central Europeans (‘Urnfielders’) in the Sea Peoples coalition(s), and – more recursively – to bolster the view that the highly schematic designs on the stemposts of Helladic galleys were avian in nature. This paper addresses these conclusions and evaluates the evidence that has been presented for an ‘Urnfield’ connection to the Sea Peoples’ ships, along with some notes on the ostensibly avian nature of Helladic galleys’ finial decorations.
Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge (eds.), 'Sea Peoples' Up-to-Date: New Research on Transformation in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th-11th Centuries BCE
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Peter M. Fischer & Teresa Bürge (eds.), 'Sea Peoples' Up-to-Date: New Research on Transformation in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th-11th Centuries BCE. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research , 381, 246-248. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

Publisher's description: 

This volume presents the outcomes of the European Science Foundation workshop “Sea Peoples” Up-to-Date. New Research on Transformations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th–11th Centuries BCE, which took place in November 2014 at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. It offers up-to-date research on the Sea Peoples phenomenon during the so called “crisis years” at the end of the Bronze Age.

This period encompasses dramatic changes in the political and cultural landscape of mainly the Eastern Mediterranean around 1200 BCE and most of the 12th century BCE. In geographical terms, these changes are noticeable in a vast area stretching from the Italian peninsula over the Balkans, the Aegean, Anatolia and Cyprus, to the Levant and Egypt.

The term “Sea Peoples phenomenon” should be considered as an encompassing term, which – in addition to the written records on hostile activities of various ethnic groups in the Eastern Mediterranean – is synonymous with the effect of this turbulent period as reflected in the material remains. As a consequence, these events ended the Late Bronze Age, the first period of “internationalism” in human history. The papers are presented in five sections: “Overviews: From Italy to the Levant”; “Climate and Radiocarbon”; “Theoretical Approaches on Destruction, Migration and Transformation of Cultures”; “Case Studies: Cyprus, Cilicia and the Northern and Southern Levant”; and “Material Studies”.

The reader of this volume gains insights into very complex changes during this period. It will become clear that these changes manifest themselves over decades and not years, and include numerous underlying factors: One single wave of migration, one general military campaign and other simple explanations should be dismissed. The breakdown of Late Bronze Age societies and the transformative processes that followed in its wake occurred in a vast area but they are mirrored in differing ways at local levels.

Seafaring and Shipwreck Archaeology
Emanuel, J. P. (2019). Seafaring and Shipwreck Archaeology . In C. López-Ruiz & B. Doak (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean (pp. 423-433) . Oxford University Press. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

Perhaps no civilization in history is as associated with the sea as the Phoenicians, whose ships and seafaring ability allowed them to travel, trade, and establish colonies across the Mediterranean. Search and survey operations in the Mediterranean have resulted in the discovery of a limited number of Canaanite, Phoenician, and Punic shipwrecks, which have been found in both deep and shallow water. These assemblages provide valuable evidence of this culture’s critical maritime component, improving our knowledge and understanding of Phoenician and Punic seafaring, while also helping us better understand the written accounts we do possess about these mariners and their activities. Within the last decade in particular, the excavation of the shipwreck at Bajo de la Campana (Spain) has shed new light on Phoenician seafaring and ship construction, while the discovery of the Xlendi Gozo wreck (Malta) has provided new evidence for Phoenician activity in the central Mediterranean. Survey and excavation off the northwest coast of Sicily, in turn, has provided a remarkable material counterpart to the textual evidence for the events at the end of the First Punic War. When combined with the deep-water wrecks off the coast of Ashkelon and the smaller, locally oriented wrecks off the coast of Mazarrón (Spain), a more coherent — albeit still very incomplete — picture of Phoenician and Punic activity begins to take shape.

Emanuel, Jeffrey P. 2019. "Seafaring and Shipwreck Archaeology." In C. López-Ruiz and B. Doak, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Phoenician and Punic Mediterranean. London: Oxford University Press, 423-433.

2018
Donald B. Redford, The Medinet Habu Records of the Foreign Wars of Ramesses III
Emanuel, J. P. (2018). Donald B. Redford, The Medinet Habu Records of the Foreign Wars of Ramesses III. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections , 20, 75-78. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

Publisher's description:

The Medinet Habu Records of the Foreign Wars of Ramesses III is a new translation and commentary of the Textual record of Ramesses III’s military activity. As such it dwells heavily upon the inscriptions dealing with Libyans and Sea Peoples. Since the format is oral formulaic, the texts are scanned and rendered as lyric. The new insights into the period covered by the inscriptions leads to a new appraisal of the identity of Egypt’s enemies, as well as events surrounding the activity of the Sea Peoples. The exercise is not intended to dismiss, but rather to complement the archaeological evidence.

Differentiating Naval Warfare and Piracy in the Late Bronze – Early Iron Age Mediterranean: Possibility or Pipe Dream?
Emanuel, J. P. (2018). Differentiating Naval Warfare and Piracy in the Late Bronze – Early Iron Age Mediterranean: Possibility or Pipe Dream? In L. Niesiolowski-Spano & M. Węcowski (Ed.), Change, Continuity, and Connectivity: North-Eastern Mediterranean at the Turn of the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age (pp. 68-80) . Harrassowitz Verlag. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

The difference between warfare and piracy, particularly when it comes to naval conflict in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Eastern Mediterranean, has been in need of theoretical attention for some time. While both terms are frequently used, the acts themselves remain imprecisely delineated. This paper endeavors to begin the process of exploring to just what degree that is possible.

Emanuel. Jeffrey P. 2018. "Differentiating Naval Warfare and Piracy in the Late Bronze – Early Iron Age Mediterranean: Possibility or Pipe Dream?" In L. Niesiolowski-Spano & M. Węcowski, eds. Change, Continuity, and Connectivity: North-Eastern Mediterranean at the Turn of the Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age. Contributions to the Study of Ancient World Cultures 118. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 68-80.

Building Sustainable Digital Scholarship Support at Harvard
Pizzorno, G., Schreiner, M., & Emanuel, J. P. (2018). Building Sustainable Digital Scholarship Support at Harvard . Harvard University Library S.T. Lee Innovation Grant, $19,950 (Co-Investigator).Abstract

This grant supports on a series of initiatives designed to improve support for Digital Scholarship at Harvard, by providing opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to acquire digital skills and support their efforts to apply them in research and curricular contexts.

In particular, it supports the expansion of the Library's role in Digital Scholarship through the development of a sustainable, scalable training program in digital methods for its staff.

This expansion aligns with the Harvard Library objectives for delivering innovative and programmatic support for Research, Teaching and Learning in delivering innovative and programmatic support for learning and research in partnership with faculty and other research and pedagogical support organizations.

Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge
Schiefsky, M., Livingston, I., Brown, R. M., Emanuel, J. P., & Barthelmy, W. F. (2018). Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge . Harvard University Foreign Language Advisory Group (FLAG) Development Grant, $2,500 (Co-Investigator).Abstract
Hedera facilitates the application of second language acquisition research to teaching and learning by enabling users to maintain custom lists of known vocabulary and analyzing texts to see what percentage of words the user knows. A prototype of Hedera is being developed for Latin in order to create readable texts for beginning Latin students and to facilitate Latin teachers' selection of passages for reading and assessment.
Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge
Schiefsky, M., Livingston, I., Brown, R. M., Emanuel, J. P., & Barthelmy, W. F. (2018). Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge . Harvard University Barajas Dean’s Innovation Fund for Digital Arts and Humanities, $12,000 (Co-Investigator).Abstract
Hedera facilitates the application of second language acquisition research to teaching and learning by enabling users to maintain custom lists of known vocabulary and analyzing texts to see what percentage of words the user knows. A prototype of Hedera is being developed for Latin in order to create readable texts for beginning Latin students and to facilitate Latin teachers' selection of passages for reading and assessment.
Stitching Together Technology for the Digital Humanities with the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)
Emanuel, J. P. (2018). Stitching Together Technology for the Digital Humanities with the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF). In K. Joranson & R. Kear (Ed.), Digital Humanities, Libraries, and Partnerships (pp. 125-135) . Chandos Elsevier. Click Here to DownloadAbstract

The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) is a set of common APIs developed to provide access to digital visual material from libraries, museums, and other repositories without the all-too-frequent need for a common viewing application. By using a common framework to collaborate across institutional silos, Harvard has leveraged the promise of IIIF in multiple functional areas, supporting the adoption of a new Harvard Library Viewer, walls of images in the Harvard Art Museums, and image collections embedded in Canvas and in massive open online courses from HarvardX—all in high resolution, and with unprecedented interactivity.

Emanuel, Jeffrey P. 2018. "Stitching Together Technology for the Digital Humanities with the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)." In K. Joranson and R. Kear, eds. Digital Humanities, Libraries, and Partnerships (Vol. 1) . Oxford: Chandos Elsevier, 125–135.

Harvard Yard Archaeology Project
Capone, P., Loren, D., Emanuel, J. P., & Wolf, A. (2018). Harvard Yard Archaeology Project . Harvard University Information Technology/Faculty of Arts and Sciences (HUIT/FAS) Project Review Board Grant, $25,000 (Co-Investigator).Abstract
For over a decade, sections of Harvard Yard have been opened up every other fall so that students in the College can study the history that lies beneath their feet. The excavation is part of the Archaeology of Harvard Yard (ANTH 1130 and 1131), a two-semester course offered biennially by the Department of Anthropology and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

The Peabody Museum has displayed artifacts from this excavation in its “Digging Veritas” exhibit since 2008, and a recent partnership between Academic Technology for FAS (AT-FAS) and the Peabody is bringing the dig to life in a new, technologically-advanced way, using an online exhibition tool (Omeka) and an augmented reality (AR) application that allows users both to view 3D reconstructions of the trenches, and to access student-authored "object biographies" of key finds from the excavation.

More information is available at the following links:

 

Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge
Schiefsky, M., Livingston, I., Brown, R. M., Emanuel, J. P., & Barthelmy, W. F. (2018). Hedera: A Personalized Vocabulary Database and Readability Gauge . Harvard Initiative in Learning and Teaching (HILT) Targeted Support Grant, $65,332 (Co–Investigator).Abstract

Awardees will incorporate more languages and enhanced features into Hedera, a web application that supports research-based language pedagogy.

Hedera facilitates the application of second language acquisition research to teaching and learning by enabling users to maintain custom lists of known vocabulary and analyzing texts to see what percentage of words the user knows. A prototype of Hedera was built for Latin in order to create readable texts for beginning Latin students.

The project team aims to begin incorporating more languages into Hedera, starting with Ancient Greek and Russian. New features include a reading environment, where the user can access their custom glossary, and making the platform adaptive by offering recommended readings as the learner’s vocabulary grows. The team hopes that Hedera will be adopted by instructors, students, and independent learners.

More information is available at the following links:

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