The Department of Near Eastern Studies is pleased to announce that Dr. Alice Mandell, the William Foxwell Albright Chair in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, has received both the prestigious Catalyst Award and the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute’s Faculty Fellowship for 2024-2025.

The Catalyst Award is awarded to early-career faculty members from across all nine academic divisions of Johns Hopkins University in recognition of the recipients’ academic accomplishments, creativity and originality, and scholarly impact. Alice is one of thirty-five scholars to receive this award, which includes a $75,000 grant to support her research over the next year. Her work explores alternative histories of the early alphabet in the ancient Near East and is a testament to her innovative approach to Near Eastern studies.

Additionally, Alice has also been selected as a Faculty Fellow by the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute (AGHI) for the academic year 2024-2025. This fellowship is awarded to faculty members whose interdisciplinary work is poised to contribute significantly to the intellectual community at Johns Hopkins. As a Faculty Fellow, Alice will receive additional research funding and have the opportunity to engage with colleagues across the humanities through weekly discussions, presenting her work, and involving students in her research projects.

These accomplishments reflect Alice’s exceptional contributions to the field of Near Eastern studies and underscore the university’s commitment to fostering innovative and promising scholarship in the humanities. Congratulations, Alice!