THE GLOBAL INITIATIVE NETWORK

Katie is a co-director of the Antiquities Trafficking and Heritage Anthropology Research (ATHAR) Project Project and a founding member of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online (ACCO). She is an anthropologist and research analyst and serves as an affiliated researcher with The Day After Heritage Protection Initiative (TDA-HPI). Her work focuses on the trafficking and destruction of cultural property and its connections to transnational crime and terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa. Katie focuses on the role of social media and new technologies in monitoring and recording trafficking in nations in crisis. Katie believes it’s not enough that only archaeologists work to protect heritage; rather, the world needs ArchaeoActivists: People working across fields and disciplines to combat the trafficking of antiquities by organized criminal networks.

Previously, Katie served as chief of staff and a research fellow at the Antiquities Coalition, a Washington, DC-based non-profit dedicated to combating cultural racketeering. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University (OH) with a double major in Anthropology and Ancient Greek and earned an M.A. in Anthropology at The George Washington University.

• Al Azm, Amr, and Katie A. Paul. 2019. “Facebook’s Black Market in Antiquities: Trafficking, Terrorism, and War Crimes.” ATHAR Project.
• Al Azm, Amr, and Katie A. Paul. 2018. “How Facebook Made It Easier Than Ever to Traffic Middle Eastern Antiquities.” World Politics Review.
• Al Azm, Amr, and Katie A. Paul. 2018. “With Facebook’s Help, Middle East Antiquities Trafficking Enters the Digital Age.” Trend Lines Podcast.
• Paul, Katie A. 2018. “Tunisia’s Light Side and Dark Side: Home of Luke Skywalker and ISIS Foreign Fighters.” The Antiquities Coalition.
• Paul, Katie A. 2018. “From Hearing to Signing: What’s Happened While Libya Awaited Their MOU.” Heritage Daily.
• Paul, Katie A. 2018. “Ancient Artifacts vs. Digital Artifacts: New Tools for Unmasking the Sale of Illicit Antiquities on the Dark Web.” Arts 7, no. 2: 12.
• Herdrich, Peter and Katie A. Paul. 2018. “The DLME and Cultural Heritage Preservation.” Digital Library of the Middle East.
• Paul, Katie A. 2017. “The Pop-Cultural Heritage of Terrorism, Treasure Hunters, and Trafficking: Entertainment versus Reality.” Heritage Daily.
• Al Azm, Amr, and Katie A. Paul. 2017. “ISIS Eyes Tunisia’s Cultural Heritage as Militants Return.” The Middle East Institute.
• Paul, Katie A. 2017. “Preview: The U.S. Market in Cambodian Cultural Property.” The Antiquities Coalition.
• Paul, Katie A. 2016. “Repatriating the Past: Filling the Holes in Egypt’s History Left by Looting – Katie A. Paul, The Antiquities Coalition.” Heritage Daily.
• Lehr, Deborah, and Katie A. Paul. 2016. “The Potential Dark Side of China’s Art and Antiquities Boom.” The Diplomat.
• Paul, Katie A. 2016. “Cultural Racketeering in Egypt—Predicting Patterns in Illicit Activity: Quantitative Tools of the 21st-Century Archaeologist.” The Future of the Past: From Amphipolis to Mosul, New Approaches to Cultural Heritage Preservation in the Eastern Mediterranean: 21-30.
• Paul, Katie A. 2016. “Exploring Interactive #CultureUnderThreat Map: Heritage Destroyed Across MENA.” The Antiquities Coalition.
• Paul, Katie A., and Tess Davis. 2016. “So, Those Cool Souvenirs You Bought on Vacay Might Not Actually Be Legit.” InStyle Travel.
• Lehr, Deborah, and Katie A. Paul. 2016. “Terror Groups Profit from Looting Ancient Religious Sites.” Interfaith Voices. NPR. Deborah Lehr and Katie A. Paul present on destruction of cultural heritage by terror groups in the Middle East.
• Paul, Katie A. 2016. “Using Social Media to Predict When Precious Antiquities Are Under Threat.” Slate Future Tense.
• Paul, Katie A. “Pop-Cultural Heritage: The Daily Show, ISIS, and Looted Antiquities.” 2015. Huffington Post.
• Lehr, Deborah, and Katie A. Paul. 2014 “Rocking the Cradle of Civilization: Antiquities Theft Funding Terrorists.” Huffington Post.

• ATHAR Project