“What in the World?”
This favorite program of television viewers during the 1950’s and ’60’s is being revived. An all-new series of “What in the World?” programs is being videotaped on location in the Lower Egyptian Gallery of The University Museum, with Martin Biddle as host and University Museum experts as panelists. Guest panelists from other institutions are also participating.
On each program, a panel of four tries to guess the identity of objects selected from the vast collection of The University Museum. Mystery objects, brought by the guests, add to the interest.
The new “What in the World?” will premier in 1981. It is a coproduction of The University Museum and Radio Broadcasting Company, Inc. (the owner of Channel 57/WWSG-TV, a new television station in Philadelphia).
Gillian Wakely, Co-ordinator of Education at The University Museum, is Associate Producer of the series. Caroline Dosker, Assistant Registrar, has the critical role of selecting the objects in great secrecy.
Conference on work in Eastern Europe – Archaeologists excavating in eastern Europe will be meeting for a week-end conference at the Museum in late February 1981. Faculty and graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, City University of New York (Brooklyn), State University of New York at Buffalo, and other institutions will talk on and discuss recent archaeological research in Jugoslavia, Poland and Germany.
An NEA Grant
The University Museum’s Education Department and International Classroom have been awarded a grant of $21,500 by the National Endowment for the Arts to continue their program, “The World: Ancient and Modern,” for another year. This program brings Philadelphia school children to the Museum for a guided tour of one of the galleries followed by a talk on that part of the world today by one of International Classroom’s foreign students. Gillian Wakely and Marilyn Roper are joint directors of the project.
Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology
Robert L. Schuyler, Associate Curator in Charge of the American Historical Archaeology Section, has been elected Chairman of the Executive Board of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology.
Book by Gregory L. Possehl
The Indus Civilization in Saurashtra, published by the Indian Archaeological Society, explores the nature of ancient India’s first urban culture in Gujarat. The material on which it is based was derived from Dr. Possehl’s research program in this region and the Appendices accompanying the text provide complete coverage of his data.
One of the contributions this work seeks to make is a more complete understanding of the important Harappan site of Lothal to the southwest of Ahmedabad. An original hypothesis is developed in this regard which should be of interest to ancient historians and archaeologists alike. This discussion, plus the broader approach to the protohistoric archaeology of Gujarat, provides the student of the ancient world with a new insight into the character of the Indus Civilization in its southwestern domain.
The Indus Civilization in Saurashtra will be on sale in The Museum Shop for $40.00.
Membership Manager
The Museum is happy to announce the appointment of Mrs. Barbara Fox Thornton to the position of Membership Manager. Mrs. Thornton took on her new duties December 8. Before coming to the Museum she had been Assistant Director of Development at the Valley Forge Military Academy and Junior College. She is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and has been an active participant in Radnor Township community activities.