From Andean forests to ancient sites in Turkey, UChicagoans spent the summer abroad

Unearthing ancient cities in Turkey

This summer, an international team led by Assoc. Prof. James Osborne and Asst. Prof. Michele Massa (Bilkent University) broke new ground on an ancient city. As an archaeologist, Osborne studies Bronze and Iron Age Anatolia, a region within the modern-day Republic of Turkey. This year, he and site co-director Michele Massa secured permission to excavate Türkmen-Karahöyük—an archaeological site in central Turkey—for the first time ever.

“It was very exciting to finally be able to put a pick in the ground and actually see what was under the surface,” said Osborne, an associate professor in UChicago’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies and at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.

From July to August, the team awoke each day at 5 a.m. to eat breakfast and head out to beat the heat. After a long, hot day of digging, researchers rushed back to process their finds—washing pottery, scrubbing animal bones with toothbrushes and searching soil samples for seeds—clues to ancient diets.

“It's very hard work,” Osborne said. “It's very fun, it's very gratifying, but it is tiring.”

As the team dug into the mound, which sits 5 to 6 stories high, they began piecing together the history of a long-occupied settlement. The first layer revealed the well-preserved remains of a building dating back to about 100 B.C.E. Burnt soil indicated the city had been destroyed—either by attack or natural disaster. When they dug further into the side of the mound, researchers also discovered buildings from a much older city, dating from roughly 1700 B.C.E.

These older remains could shed light on a transformational period in Anatolian history. Starting around 1650 B.C.E., local kingdoms were forced into the region's first major empire, known as the Hittite Empire.

“Türkmen-Karahöyük is not in the heartland of the Hittite Empire. It's in a region that it wanted to control, and wanted to access economically and politically,” Osborne said. “By excavating that period in this region, we can understand how Empire formation processes were taking place in the contested zone.”

Though the team couldn’t confirm the site’s identity this summer, research at the site suggests there are “tantalizing historical clues” indicating it might be Tarḫuntašša, a famously lost Hittite capital and important historic center. The team hopes to collect more evidence over the next few seasons.

Investigating the court systems in Nigeria

Bisola-Mariam, a graduate student in the Crown Family School of Social Work, spent most of the summer in Nigeria working on an investigative report about victims of domestic violence. Born in Osogbo, Nigeria, Bisola-Mariam, AM ’25, spent the last several years studying and working in the United States. Her return to Nigeria this summer provided her the opportunity to compare the legal pathways available to domestic violence survivors in the U.S. and Nigeria. 

Bisola-Mariam found that in both countries the court systems for survivors of domestic violence were complex and often bureaucratic. In the U.S., she interviewed survivors who wanted to engage the court system but found it financially challenging to pay lawyers and to follow through with the process to its completion. In contrast, “legal services are more affordable and less complicated in Nigeria, but very slow. While the court system in Nigeria did not require a lot of direct financial expenses, the length of time it took for a case to be resolved, often resulted in indirect financial costs on survivors,” she noted.   

Although the work was difficult, involving long days—and sometimes nights—meeting with survivors, and community leaders, Bisola-Mariam said her research has been invaluable. She’s not only gained a better understanding of different legal approaches to justice, but also built the foundation for developing technology to help survivors find resources around the world.  

Bisola-Mariam’s travel to Nigeria was funded by the Institute of Politics’ David Axelrod Reporting Grant. She continues to receive support from the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation regarding her next goal: the development of a software platform that provides information on options for Space (appropriate housing), Support and Safety for survivors of domestic violence who might not seek help from traditional social service systems.

Language and sustainability in China

Twenty-eight College students spent the summer in China on the Wanxiang Ambassador Fellows Program, with a focus on language learning and sustainability issues. The Wanxiang Ambassador Fellows Program is a collaboration between the University of Chicago and the Wanxiang Corporation, which sponsored the program and provided programmatic support through its local affiliates in China. The six-week program, organized by the Office of Career Advancement and facilitated by UChicago Global and the Center in Beijing, took place in Beijing and Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province.

Students began with a week-long conference on green energy at the UChicago Center in Beijing. “Students had the opportunity to learn from experts in environmental science and policy, which included employers such as the United Nations Development Programme in China, Tsinghua University, the Institute of Resource and Environmental Policies, and China Wind Energy Association,” said Grace Beckman, associate director of International Careers in the Office of Career Advancement, who led the program this past summer.

“Once our ‘work’ day was over, we embarked on a Wanxiang study tour,” said Alexandria Schmidt, a rising fourth-year in the College. “Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City was one such stop. I remember roaming about the Forbidden City—with royal pavilions, intricate designs, and protective lion statues standing on guard.”

The group then traveled to Hangzhou, where they participated in a three-week program of classroom-based Chinese language and culture study, as well as seminars focused on clean energy. During their time in Hangzhou, the UChicago group lived at Wanxiang Polytechnic College, where they had the opportunity to interact and make friends with local students. Towards the end of the program, students participated in a shadowing/mentorship program held at the headquarters of Wanxiang Electric Vehicle Company.

Schmidt also noted how the trip had improved her Mandarin language skills: “At first, as a beginner trying to practice, it was scary and a bit embarrassing, but over time we became brave and more confident in making mistakes,” she said. “I learned that true improvement doesn’t come from being perfect or understanding something right away. Rather, growth comes from the willingness to make mistakes, get to know real people, and plunge headfirst into deep cultural immersion with respect and growth in mind—something I learned through the Wanxiang Ambassador Fellows Program.”