Throughout her academic journey, Anna Soifer has demonstrated unwavering dedication to her role as an educator. Despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, she rose to the occasion, delivering engaging and insightful instruction to her students. As a testament to her exemplary teaching abilities, Soifer received glowing recommendations from faculty members at the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World.
Candace Rice, Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Classics, shares that Soifer devoted a significant amount of time and energy to facilitating the online course community for the Behind Closed Doors: Domestic Life in the Roman World course. Of particular note, was the week she led a session on a topic relevant to her own research, giving an excellent lecture and developing engaging discussion sessions. Soifer developed three entirely new interactive discussion activities for this course.
“She inspires students with her enthusiasm and encourages their development as young scholars by creating a respectful learning environment and providing detailed and constructive feedback that enables students to flourish,” says Rice.
Soifer was also the lead instructor for The Archaeology of College Hill, a ‘hands-on’ course that teaches undergraduate students excavation techniques in Providence, RI. The course is a unique offering because it provides fieldwork training for undergraduate students without requiring them to attend expensive field schools, thus removing a substantial financial barrier.
Soifer’s evaluations from the class are unanimously positive; they are full of praise and include several rave reviews - including the statistic that 91% of students rated her effectiveness as a teacher as excellent.
“Anna Soifer not only made everyone feel welcome, particularly considering the exceptional circumstances, but also brought a vibrant passion to teaching that made excavating in the Providence summer heat feel rewarding and worthwhile, even from the first day,” shares one undergraduate student.
This course was also quite notable for Sofier. She expresses how rewarding it was to experience their awe at their first archaeological finds and watch them develop confidence and practical skills over the course of the semester. “I was included in their joy at being able to interact and work together in, what was for many, their first in-person college class,” shares Soifer.
Soifer is a role model both in the classroom and in the field. She has completed fieldwork in Sardinia, Italy since 2018, with Peter van Dommelen, Joukowsky Family Professor of Archaeology, where she advised and mentored students in the field, both from Brown and
elsewhere. “During the last two field seasons she has moreover co-directed part of the excavation and I was impressed (though not surprised) by the ease and care with which she managed her excavation team, which included American and Spanish undergraduate and graduate students,” shares van Dommelen.
Soifer also joined Rice’s excavation of a Roman villa in Vacone, Italy as a trench supervisor in 2022. “She has been a particular inspiration for female students who look to her as an example and seek her out for support and guidance regarding the challenges that women face when conducting archaeological fieldwork,” says Rice.
Beyond teaching and fieldwork, Soifer’s dissertation investigates the lived experience of ceramic and metal production in 7th-4th century BCE Etruria, exploring the ways in which producing craft goods shaped social interactions and experience of the landscape.
In closing, Soifer shares, “it is an honor to have been selected for this award and to know that I have had a positive impact on my students' educational experiences.”
Jack-William Barotta, Alba Lara Granero, David Peede and Anna Soifer received Excellence in Teaching Awards at the University Awards Ceremony on May 1, 2024.