Karin Sowada - Archaeological Career

Archaeological Career

After her Senate electoral defeat, Sowada had resumed postgraduate studies and was elected to a number of committees in the Anglican Church Sydney Diocese, including the Standing Committee, Sydney Synod and General Synod. For years she worked on archaeological excavations in Jordan, Egypt and Israel, studying and travelling around the world conducting research for her PhD. She also acted as a lobbyist for Capitol Research, a small corporate communications company she established on leaving the Senate. In 1996, Sowada was appointed Assistant Curator of the Nicholson Museum at Sydney University. She had her first child, Kate Euginie Maria Sowada Hicks, in 1997, by which time she had largely settled into academia.

Sowada gained her PhD in in Egyptian archaeology from the University of Sydney in May 2002. She maintains an active program of archeological fieldwork and research in Egypt and Jordan and is well-published in scholarly books, academic journals and popular magazines. She has also lectured widely around Australia and often appears as a media commentator on archaeology and Egyptology. In her former academic role as curator of the Nicholson Museum, Sowada often acted as a media representative after various discoveries, such as during the scientific testing of several mummies in the museum's collection in 1998, and after the 2005 find of long-lost graphic impressions (squeezes) made by Nicholson. Sowada remains active in the Anglican community but has presented a lower profile since 2000. She had a second child, Lily Margret Sowada Hicks, in 2004.