EUROPEAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE PRIZE 2014
The16th European Archaeological Heritage Prize has been awarded to Marie Louise Stig Sørensen in recognition of her ground breaking achievements in promoting heritage studies on academic grounds and leading important projects, and Erzsébet Jerem in recognition of her outstanding multi-faceted contributions to both the protection and the presentation of the European archaeological heritage.
Marie Louise Stig Sørensen is awarded the European Heritage Prize in recognition of her ground breaking achievements within two major fields. At the University of Cambridge she introduced one of the very first master courses in archaeological heritage and museums, a course which she is still directing. In this capacity she has educated more graduate students in archaeological heritage than any other lecturer in the field, and perhaps more importantly helped to raise the academic awareness of the field internationally. She introduced the Annual Heritage Seminar, which is now an established international institution running in its 15th year.
Secondly, as an innovative researcher Marie Louise Stig Sørensen has also directed a major EU financed project on heritage and the reconstruction of identities after conflict (CRIC), which dealt with difficult but important issues related to heritage reflecting Europe’s more recent traumatic past and the role of that heritage in a current political and cultural context. Her book edited with John Carman, her co-lecturer for many years in Cambridge, titled ‘Heritage Studies: Methods and Approaches’ from 2009 is widely used in teaching and covers the main aspects of modern heritage studies. Today, when cultural heritage studies are taught globally, Marie Louise Stig Sørensen deserves this recognition both for her own innovative research activities and for her early awareness of the need for an academically and critically anchored academic teaching program at Master and PhD level. In this she has, and has had a major influence on the European and even global expansion of what is now known as critical heritage studies.
Erzsébet Jerem is awarded the European Heritage Prize in recognition of her outstanding multi-faceted contributions to both the protection and the presentation of the European archaeological heritage.
As Professor and Senior Fellow of the Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Erzsébet Jerem has promoted ways to protect and present the archaeological parks of Hungary. She has been involved in educational and experimental activities within the parks, organized cultural programs aimed at the general public, and fostered innovative ways to present the virtual heritage of these sites.
As Executive Director of the Archaeolingua Foundation, she has fostered numerous projects, and as Editor-in-Chief of the publication series Archaeolingua, she has provided encouragement and opportunities for scholars from across Europe to present interdisciplinary archaeological research in monographs and edited volumes, especially conference proceedings.
As Associate Professor in the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Miskolc, Hungary, she teaches students about the archaeological heritage of Hungary and of Europe.
Last but not least, she has provided exemplary and dedicated services to the EAA since its inception.
Erzsébet Jerem deserves this recognition for her unique role as a communicator and facilitator linking academicians across Europe and bringing archaeology and heritage out to the wider public.