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In Memoriam. Joan M. Gero 19442016.

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96
In Memoriam
JOAN M. GERO 19442016
The world became a lesser place with the passing of Professor
Joan Gero on 14 July 2016.
Joan Gero was born on 26 May 1944. She was an eminent
scholar in the socio-politics of archaeology, the archaeology of
gender, archaeological ethics, and South American archaeol-
ogy. With Margaret Conkey, she co-edited the seminal volume
Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehistory (1991), which
has been reprinted six times. Her most recent publications
include The evolution of happiness (Loring & Gero 2012),
published in Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological
Congress, and Yutopian: Archaeology, Ambiguity and the Production
of Knowledge in Northwest Argentina (Gero 2015).
At the time of her passing, Joan Gero was Professor
Emerita, American University,
Washington, DC, and a Research
Associate with the Department of
Anthropology at the Smithsonian
Institution. Prior to this, Professor
Gero taught at the University of
South Carolina (USA). She held
visiting professorships at Cam-
bridge University (UK), Univer-
sidad Nacional de Catamarca
(Argentina), Universidad Nacio-
nal del Centro de Buenos Aires,
Olavarra (Argentina), and the
Universities of Ume and Uppsala
(Sweden). Through these appoint-
ments, Professor Gero shaped
archaeological thinking in many
parts of the world.
Over many decades, Professor Joan Geros efforts, vision
and generosity enriched archaeology globally. This is evident
in the prestigious awards she has received. For instance, she
received three Fulbright awards: (i) a Fulbright-Hays Grant for
graduate study in Peru (19781980), (ii) a Fulbright Research
and Teaching Award for her work at the Universidad Nacional
de Catamarca in Argentina (1994), and (iii) a Fulbright Senior
Specialist to Colombia in South America (2009). Her contribu-
tions to the Fulbright Program included being a member of the
Fulbright Selection Board for the Southern Cone Region of
South America, in 1998 and 1999. She also hosted Fulbright
scholars from around the world.
Professor Gero worked tirelessly for the World Archaeolog-
ical Congress (WAC) over many decades (Smith 2016). She was
the nationally elected senior North American representative
for WAC from 1999 to 2008. When the arrangements to hold
WAC-5 in Brazil fell through due to a major change in the
economic circumstances of the country, Professor Gero agreed
to take on hosting the event herself. WAC-5 was held in Wash-
ington, DC, in June 2003. It supported some 230 participants
from indigenous groups and low-income countries, and
provided a surplus that put WAC on a secure financial footing
for the first time in its history. From 2003 to 2008, Professor
Gero was Series Editor of the One World Archaeology series, then
published by Left Coast Press. Her other WAC commitments
included becoming a founding member of the Advisory Board
for Archaeologies: The Journal of the World Archaeological Congress
in 2003, and serving as a member of WACs Standing Commit-
tee on Ethics from 2007.
View publication stats
South African Archaeological Bulletin 72 (205): 96, 2017
In all of these WAC roles, Professor Gero saw, and under-
stood, the complexities of every situation: the ironies, the
contradictions, the ethical dilemmas. She did not make
decisions easily or lightly. Instead, she considered issues
deeply, looking for faults in the logic, alternatives that had not
been considered, ways of improving the process or the out-
come (e.g. Gero 1985, 1994, 2007). We will miss her critical and
creative mind.
An inspiring and generous teacher, Professor Joan Geros
legacy survives through her students, peers and the other
scholars she motivated to share her vision. She was trained at
the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where her principal
advisor was Martin Wobst.
In the last months of her life,
Professor Gero continued her ser-
vice to WAC through supporting
the possibility of a bid for WAC-9 in
Cuba. She worked to bring about a
fairer world for all through her
active support of Bernie Sanders
campaign to become the Demo-
cratic nominee for the 2016 presi-
dential elections in the USA.
While looking forward to
attending the WAC-8 in Kyoto,
Japan, Professor Gero passed
away shortly after returning from
Argentina, a country that she
loved.
World archaeology has been
greatly enriched by the efforts, vision and generosity of Profes-
sor Joan Gero over many decades. Her work continues through
the people she inspired, supported and loved.
References
Conkey, M. & Gero, J. 1997. Programme to practice: gender and femi-
nism in archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology 26: 411437.
Gero, J. 1985 Socio-politics of archaeology and the woman-at-home
ideology. American Antiquity 50: 342350.
Gero, J. 1991. Genderlithics: womens roles in stone tool production. In:
Gero, J. & Conkey, M. (eds) Engendering Archaeology: Women and
Prehistory: 163193. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Gero, J. 1994. Excavation bias and the woman-at-home ideology. In:
Nelson, M., Nelson, S. & Wylie, A. (eds) Equity Issues for Women in
Archaeology: 3742. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropo-
logical Association No 5. Washington DC: American Anthropological
Association.
Gero, J. 2007. Honoring ambiguity/problematizing certitude. Journal of
Archaeological Method and Theory 14: 311 327.
DOI: 10.1007/s10816-007-9037-1.
Gero, J. 2015. Yutopian: Archaeology, Ambiguity and the Production of
Knowledge in Northwest Argentina. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Gero, J. & Conkey, M. 1991. Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehis-
tory. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Loring, S. & Gero, J. 2012. The evolution of happiness Archaeologies:
Journal of the World Archaeological Congress: 376402.
DOI: 10.1007/s11759-012-9208-x
Smith, C. 2016. Joan M. Gero 19442016. Available at: http://worldarch.
org/blog/joan-m-gero-1944-2016/
Claire Smith
Flinders University, South Australia
E-mail: claire.smith@flinders.edu.au