The Phi Beta Kappa Society Announces 2021 Winner of
Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship

WASHINGTON, DC – The Phi Beta Kappa Society has chosen Camille Reiko Acosta, doctoral candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, as the winner of the 2021 Mary Isabel Sibley Fellowship. Established in 1934 by Isabelle Stone (ΦΒΚ, Wellesley College) in honor of her mother, this fellowship recognizes exceptional young scholars in the field of French or Greek language, literature, and culture. Acosta earned her Master’s degree in Classical Archaeology from the University of Oxford, and her past recognitions include the Classics Bursary for Ancient Greek award, the Adrian Condie Travel Award, and the Cota-Robles Fellowship.

With the Sibley Fellowship, Acosta will be awarded a stipend of $20,000 that she plans to use to complete the research necessary to write her dissertation in fulfillment of the requirements of a Ph.D. in Archaeology. Her project, “Death and Migration in Classical Athens,” focuses on the burial practices of migrants in the Greek world from 500-300 BCE. Her project will “gather all known migrant graves in Classical Athens, using archaeological data to reconstruct the actions and rituals which took place at the funeral.”
 
Acosta aims to enhance the existing body of scholarly work on this subject by creating a comprehensive record of migrant burials and cemeteries in Classical Athens. Based at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), she will analyze archaeological and historical materials to explore the circumstances of migrant burial and compare local and foreign traditions.

For more information on the Sibley Fellowship, please email Hadley Kelly.