Diversity Committee

The Diversity Committee is working towards creating and maintaining the Faculty of Archaeology as a place where you can feel at home and safe. A place where you feel you are accepted in a close-knit community, regardless of race, age, gender, religion or disabilities.

We meet about 6 times a year and also have regular contact with the Board.

Members

• Sofia Espinoza
• Miyuki Kerkhof
• Sarah Schrader
• Ian Simpson
• Lychinta Zichem

If you are interested in joining one or our meetings, you can contact the coordinator at: diversity@arch.leidenuniv.nl. 

Mission and vision statement

The Diversity Committee’s mission is to promote diversity and inclusion among students and staff at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. Central to our mission and our impact is to support a truly diverse and inclusive community that empowers all students and staff to feel valued, respected and to develop to their full potential. Diversity in people, experiences, and perspectives enriches our teaching and strengthens our research. High quality education and research is invariably inclusive and promoting varied perspectives helps generate better ideas to solve the complex problems of a changing—and increasingly diverse—world.

Our goal is to advocate for an atmosphere where diversity and inclusion are naturally implemented in all aspects of the faculty’s community and policy with an outlook to explore creating a more equitable future for all.

Diversify ARCHaeology (DARCH) Fund

The Committee assists small-scale projects that contribute to diversifying archaeological practice in all domains, including classrooms, laboratories, museums, and the field. 

Projects include, but are not limited to:

• organising (guest) lectures and workshops,
• producing audio-visual material (e.g., short videos, infographics),
• connecting FdA’s diversity efforts with other faculties and organisations,
• testing community engagement and ethical citizen-science ideas,
• community building

Apply for funding through this form.

Suggestion Box

We can’t do this by ourselves and need your involvement: to profit from all the knowledge and ideas within our faculty, we have installed a suggestion box for diversity-related ideas or concerns specifically. It is located on the noticeboard in the hallway, near the front desk at the Van Steenis building. Alternatively, you can share your thoughts digitally via this form. We hope you will all use this to share your ideas or concerns (anonymously) with us and help us create an inclusive archaeology community.