All posts by Nathanael Roesch

Conferences and Presentations, GSAS Faculty

Professor Peter Magee speaks at German Archaeological Institute annual plenary

Magee - well Tell Abraq

Professor Magee was invited to speak at the final plenary of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), a scientific organization within the German Foreign Ministry. Magee delivered his research to a group of scholars from the DAI and German Universities who focus on technical innovations and their social consequences in prehistory and antiquity. Magee’s talk, “The Impact of Technical Innovations in the Later Prehistory of the Persian Gulf Region,” explored innovations in water supply from about 3000 to 1000 BC.

The well seen above, which Magee excavated last winter, was used at the ancient settlement of  in the United Arab Emirates; Magee discussed the technology behind this sort of well in his lecture.

Conferences and Presentations, GSAS Faculty

Professor Lisa Saltzman (History of Art) participated in “The Art of Memory and Mourning” Symposium

Adams Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Adams Memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Lisa Saltzman, Professor of History of Art and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Chair in the Humanities, participated in the symposium “The Art of Memory and Mourning,” November 14 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The symposium was dedicated to art historian Cynthia J. Mills (1947–2014), former executive editor of the journal American Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum academic programs advisor, and recognizes the release of her book Beyond Grief: Sculpture and Wonder in the Gilded Age Cemetery (Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2014). It also featured talks by Miguel de Baca of Lake Forest College; Erika Doss of Notre Dame University, James Meyer of the National Gallery of Art, Jennifer Van Horn of George Mason University, and independent scholar Sarah Beetham.

The entire symposium can be viewed online, at:

http://youtu.be/etV5SVIIsBo

Conferences and Presentations, Current Students

Archaeology Graduate Students Present at ASOR 2014

steven-at-ASORM
Steven Karacic and Maggie Beeler, both Ph.D candidates in Archaeology, recently presented papers at the annual meeting of the American School of Oriental Research, held in San Diego, November 19-22. Maggie’s talk was titled, “Untying the Knot: Investigating Knotted Belts and Lion Colossi at Assurnasirpal’s Northwest Palace, Nimrud (Calah).” Steven was the lead author of “The Late Bronze IIA Pottery from Goldman’s Excavations at Tarsus-Gozlukule, Turkey: the Results of Archaeometric Analysis.”

maggie-at-ASORM

 

Conferences and Presentations, Current Students

Shannon Steiner (History of Art) presents at 40th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference

Symeon_Menologion of Basil II

Shannon Steiner, Ph.D. candidate in the History of Art, recently presented at the 40th Annual Byzantine Studies Conference, held at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver BC, from November 6-9, 2014.

She was invited to participate in the session “Two Columns and a Stylite,” organized by Dr. Robert G. Ousterhout of the University of Pennsylvania. Her paper, titled “Pillars of the Community: Stylites as Architecture,” explored representations of stylite saints (early christian monks who lived their lives on top of columns) that either showed the saints with architectural features or that were executed directly on architectural elements like columns or piers. She contextualized these images in the common Byzantine understanding of architecture as a metaphor for community and argued that stylite saints purposefully merged their bodies with architecture in order to become monumental rallying points for new Christian communities.

Above is an image of one of the painted miniatures from the Menologion of Basil II.

Alumnae/i, Placements

Christina Marinelli (Archaeology, M.A. ’13) joins the Education Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

marinelli_mma
This past September, Christina Marinelli became Education Programs Associate in the Academic Programs division of the Education Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Principally, Christina is responsible for the workings of the Met’s fellowship office – working with the various curatorial and conservation departments to host fellows and visiting scholars, and organizing professional development workshops, research roundtables, and an annual colloquia in which the fellows present their work. Additionally, she coordinates a staff exchange program between the Met and the State Museums in Berlin.
In her new role, Christina particularly enjoys the opportunity to teach in the galleries to a variety of age groups (from grammar school through college students and adults) and to facilitate gallery programming.
Christina received her MA in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology in 2013. Her thesis, “The Rites of Artemis Brauronia: A Reconsideration,” sought to reevaluate the material finds from Brauron alongside the textual traditions to arrive at a more holistic understanding of how the site was used.
Congratulations, Christina!