Kate Liszka, an assistant professor of history at Cal State San Bernardino, is a specialist in ancient Egypt, teaching classes on the subject both in the classroom and at the university’s Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA).

“Ancient Egypt is a great means of learning about where the world has come from,” she said.

“Not only is ancient Egypt a lot of fun to learn about, but through its study you can get a much broader context about the importance of the past, its relevance for today and also about diversity and globalism,” said Liszka, who also has the distinction of serving as the Pamela and Benson Harer Fellow specializing in Egyptology, CSUSB’s first-ever fully-endowed faculty fellowship.

“The Pamela and Benson Harer Fellowship was a fantastic gift. They endowed a position in ancient Egypt specifically to complement the collection at RAFFMA,” Liszka said.

The Harer Fellowship supports a tenure-track faculty position focused on Egyptology, a longtime passion for the Harers. The Harer Family Trust has provided a substantial collection of Egyptian antiquities as gifts and on permanent loan to RAFFMA. The collection has become the centerpiece for several educational programs, including the “Kids Discover Egypt” program for local children held every summer.

Along with her work in the classroom and RAFFMA, Liszka is also the director and lead researcher for an ongoing archaeological and epigraphic project at Wadi el-Hudi, a valley in Southern Egypt.

The archaeological and epigraphic project looks at ancient Egyptian mining activities, their organization, and individuals who participated in them, especially in light of ancient ethnicities. The area incorporated a series of at least 17 archaeological sites located in the Egyptian Eastern Desert back to the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2100-1700 BCE) and Roman period (1st-4th century CE).

Liszka was awarded a Ph.D. and master’s degree in Egyptology and Egyptian archeology from the University of Pennsylvania. She was awarded a bachelor’s degree with honors in classics and ancient Mediterranean studies and international studies from Penn State University.

 “I’m hoping that my classes and the expansion of Egyptology becomes a resource for the Inland Empire community too,” Liszka said.

For more information, contact the CSUSB Office of Strategic Communication at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.