The program is currently headed by Prof. Willeke Wendrich who has recently concluded her field work at Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea coast) and has started an integrated survey and excavation program in the Fayum.
Prof. Antonio Loprieno, a scholar of eminence who, in the footsteps of Prof. John Callender, has shaped and nurtured the Egyptology program at UCLA, will continue to contribute to teaching our young egyptologists, by dividing his time between his position as professor in Basel and adjunct professor in Los Angeles. He is co-editor of Lingua Aegyptia, the Journal of Egyptian Language Studies. His research includes work in the fields of language, literature, comparative Afroasiatics and religion.
In the recent past we have had the opportunity to enjoy the expertise of several visiting scholars. Among these are Dr. Zahi Hawass, who has taught the UCLA summer school for several years, but due to his many responsibilities as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities he will not be able to do so in 2002. We also had the pleasure of working with Dr. Katja Goebs of Oxford University (Visiting Assistant Professor for the 2000-2001 academic year) and Dr. Gilles Roulin, visiting scholar who has been working on the Books of the Netherworld, and personal piety formulae on New Kingdom scarabs.
UCLA has a tradition of hosting international faculty, including Prof. Daniel Polz, whose research interests include New Kingdom social history and theoretical archaeology, and who is now the Associate Director of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo. He is also the Project Director of the Excavation at Dra Abu el Naga (DAN) Project.
The department has enjoyed the expertise of scholars such as Dr. Thomas Ritter and Dr. Monica Bontty, as lecturers in ancient Egyptian languages. Seminars on various topics have been conducted by distinguished visiting faculty such as Prof. Anthony Spalinger, who conducted research on pSallier III (literary military compositions), Dr. Andrea Gnirs, whose research includes autobiographies and work on New Kingdom military society, Dr. Gregory Mumford, whose research includes the international relations between Egypt, Sinai and Syria-Palestine, and the archaeology of the Delta, and Dr. Chris Reintges of the University of Leiden, who conducts linguistic studies and returns to UCLA regularly for guest lectures.
