Past Events – British School at Athens
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October 2018
Book launch: Armand Marie Leroi, “The Lagoon: how Aristotle invented science”
Prof. Armand Marie Leroi (Imperial College London), "The Lagoon: how Aristotle invented science" Video
Find out more »Dimitris Papanikolaou, “Critically queer and haunted: on how (not) to do the history of Greek (homo)sexuality”
Prof. Dimitris Papanikolaou (University of Oxford), "Critically queer and haunted: on how (not) to do the history of Greek (homo)sexuality" ABSTRACT - Developing a history of modern Greek queer emergence and homosexual subcultures has always been a challenge. While for many outside Greece the country has always been quite queer anyway (and for many travelers, queerly available), for non-Greek institutions the possibility of a Greek queer history was for decades an unthinkable undertaking. The lecture will put both these views…
Find out more »MANIAS: modern desires for Greek pasts
A panel discussion with Prof Liz Prettejohn (York), Prof Nicoletta Momigliano (Bristol), Dr Katherine Harloe (Reading), Dr Andrew Shapland (British Museum), and Dr Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis (St. Andrews). Why do we engage with the Greek past? Building on the recent BSA publications of Cretomania (2017) and Hellenomania (2018), this panel brings together specialists on Greek material culture to discuss modern responses to the Greek past. Topics that will be explored include modern versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey, engagements with…
Find out more »Philip Mansel, “Alexandria, from Mohammed Ali to Farouk: the rise and fall of a royal capital”
Dr Philip Mansel (author and historian), "Alexandria, from Mohammed Ali to Farouk: the rise and fall of a royal capital" Dr Philip Mansel considers the modern history of Alexandria between 1805 and 1952 from the point of the dynasty which ruled it, the House of Mohammed Ali, rather than from that of its Egyptian or Greek inhabitants. Governor of Egypt, under the Ottoman Sultan from 1805 to 1849, Mohammed Ali came from Kavalla in what is now Greece and had…
Find out more »November 2018
Phiroze Vasunia, “The Prose of the World: Hegel, Plutarch, Herodotus”
Prof. Phiroze Vasunia (University College London) in collaboration with the National Hellenic Research Foundation and the Institute of Classical Studies In many cultures, prose comes after verse. Masters of Greek prose such as Herodotus and Plato were acutely self-conscious of the poets and poems that preceded them and they sought to fashion a medium that would hold its own against the great verse compositions of the past. In the ancient world and later, numerous theories were put forward to explain…
Find out more »Lorrice Douglas, “The Value of Fragments”
Lorrice Douglas (BSA Arts Bursary holder 2017/18), will give a talk on "The Value of Fragments" Lorrice is an artist and researcher at Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London. She will be talking about her recent residency at the British School at Athens, raising the particularities of entering the archaeological scholarly community as an artist and how those two worlds meet: 'I am surrounded by specialists in ‘the past’, literally at every turn. This is very exciting for me.…
Find out more »Leandro Fantuzzi, “Revisiting the origin of the Punic Amphorae from Corinth’s ‘Punic Amphora Building'”
Dr Leandro Fantuzzi (Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens), “Revisiting the origin of the Punic Amphorae from Corinth's 'Punic Amphora Building'. New evidence on trade networks between Classical Corinth and the Punic West”
Find out more »Polyxeni Adam-Veleni, “Thessaloniki, a Metro-polis through the centuries”
Dr Polyxeni Adam-Veleni (Director General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports), "Thessaloniki, a Metro-polis through the centuries" During excavations of the Metropolitan Railway in modern Thessaloniki, significant antiquities in seven stops emerged. A new, unknown until now, town nearby, an unknown Roman cemetery of a rich village, many burials in the eastern and western necropolis of ancient Thessaloniki, while in two central stations, in the heart of the ancient and the modern city, have revealed many…
Find out more »December 2018
Evangelia Kiriatzi & Maria Duggan “The British School at Athens and the work of the Fitch Laboratory: linking Britain and the Mediterranean”
Evangelia Kiriatzi (Fitch Lab Director, BSA) & Maria Duggan (BA PDF, Newcastle & BSA), "The British School at Athens and the work of the Fitch Laboratory: linking Britain and the Mediterranean" Dr Evangelia Kiriatzi will first provide an overview of the history and operation of the British School at Athens and its role in promoting and facilitating multi-disciplinary research collaborations between Britain and Greece. Dr Kiriatzi will also present the work of the Fitch Laboratory as a leading hub for science-based archaeology and a centre…
Find out more »Lorrice Douglas, “The Value of Fragments”
Lorrice Douglas is an artist and researcher at Chelsea College of Art, University of the Arts London. She will be giving a talk on her recent residency at the British School at Athens, raising the particularities of entering the archaeological scholarly community as an artist and how those two worlds meet.
Find out more »Dimitris Plantzos, “Mind the gap: revisiting Greece’s national “sites of trauma”
Prof. Dimitris Plantzos (University of Athens), "Mind the gap: revisiting Greece’s national “sites of trauma”
Find out more »Edyta Marzec, “Provenance and Technology of Hellenistic Colour-coated Ware Pottery from Nea Paphos on Cyprus”
Dr Edyta Marzec (Post Doctoral Research Fellow, BSA Fitch Laboratory), "Provenance and Technology of Hellenistic Colour-coated Ware Pottery from Nea Paphos on Cyprus"
Find out more »January 2019
Translations. Modern Greek literature through a translator’s lens
Translations. Modern Greek literature through a translator's lens - Prof. Roderick Beaton (King's College London), Prof. Patricia Barbeito (Rhode Island School of Design), Prof. Dionysis Kapsalis (poet, Director, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation), Alicia Stallings (poet and translator), Aris Laskaratos (Founder, Aiora Press)
Find out more »Dimitris Plantzos, Classical Encounters: Past and present in contemporary Greece
Professor Dimitris Plantzos (Associate Professor, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens), "Classical Encounters: Past and present in contemporary Greece" (How does Greece's famed Classical antiquity shape the country's present? Why is this happening? And what is its impact on the forging of modern Greek socila and cultural identities? Dimitris Plantzos will explore these questions using telling examples of current interaction with the Classical past)
Find out more »Sevasti Triantaphyllou, “Bodies on fire: tracing the practice of burning the human remains in the prehistoric Aegean through macroscopic and analytical methods”
Dr Sevasti Triantaphyllou (Assistant Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), "Bodies on fire: tracing the practice of burning the human remains in the prehistoric Aegean through macroscopic and analytical methods"
Find out more »Rosemary Jeffreys, “Gilded wreaths from Phoinikas, Thessaloniki”
Ms Rosemary Jeffreys (University of Oxford), "Gilded wreaths from Phoinikas, Thessaloniki" Ms Jeffreys will present some unpublished gilded wreaths from Phoinikas, Thessaloniki, which date to the second quarter of the fourth century BC. These wreaths are in an extraordinary state of preservation, having been placed in a sealed cist grave, in which even some textiles were preserved. She will tell us what is known of the woman buried in one of the graves, as well as what she has discovered…
Find out more »February 2019
The Work of the School in 2018 and lecture by Colin Renfrew and Michael Boyd “The sanctuary on Keros and the settlement of Dhaskalio in the light of recent research”
The Work of the School in 2018 by Professor John Bennet (Director, BSA) and lecture by Professor Lord Colin Renfrew and Dr Michael Boyd (University of Cambridge) "The sanctuary on Keros and the settlement of Dhaskalio in the light of recent research"
Find out more »Gerald J. Conlogue, “Field Radiography: Non-Traditional Applications of Medical and Industrial Radiography”
Professor Gerald J. Conlogue (Bioanthropology Research Institute, Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut), "Field Radiography: Non-Traditional Applications of Medical and Industrial Radiography"
Find out more »Judith Barringer, “The message is in the medium: White-ground lekythoi and stone grave markers in Classical Athens.”
Prof. Judith Barringer (University of Edinburgh), “The message is in the medium: White-ground lekythoi and stone grave markers in Classical Athens.” Video
Find out more »The Work of the School in 2018 and lecture by Roderick Beaton “Ο Λόρδος Μπάιρον και η Ελληνική Επανάσταση: από τον θρύλο στην πολιτική πραγματικότητα”
The Work of the School in 2018 by Professor John Bennet (Director, BSA) and lecture by Professor Roderick Beaton (King's College London) "Ο Λόρδος Μπάιρον και η Ελληνική Επανάσταση: από τον θρύλο στην πολιτική πραγματικότητα" - The heroic legend of Byron’s voluntary self-sacrifice is well known. But what was his real contribution to the Greek struggle for independence? This talk sheds new light on what Byron really did from the moment when he arrived at Missolonghi on Christmas Eve 1823…
Find out more »The Work of the School in 2018 and lecture by Roderick Beaton “1919: Venizelos’ Asia Minor policy revisited”
The Work of the School in 2018 by Professor John Bennet (Director, BSA) and lecture by Professor Roderick Beaton (King's College London), "1919: Venizelos' Asia Minor policy revisited" - One hundred years ago this year, in on 2/15 May 1919, Greek troops landed in Smyrna. For many the event was a vindication of Venizelos’s policies and a prelude to the fulfilment of the ‘Grand Idea’ of expanding the Greek state to include the entire Greek nation in the east. The…
Find out more »March 2019
Ruth Macrides, Byzantium and Modern Greece in Scotland
Dr Ruth Macrides, Byzantium and Modern Greece in Scotland
Find out more »Sarah Broadie, “What has Plato’s Divided Line to do with his Sun-image of the good?”
Professor Sarah Broadie (University of St Andrews), "What has Plato's Divided Line to do with his Sun-image of the good?" We know from the text that there is a close connection, but Plato leaves us with the task of working out exactly what it is. The explanation involves (of course) the so called dialectical method, presented in the context of the Divided Line. One of this method's distinctive marks is that it operates with, or from, a ‘non-hypothetical starting point…
Find out more »Ο Sir Arthur Evans, ο Μεγάλος Πόλεμος και η ειρήνευση του μινωικού πολιτισμού
Ο Sir Arthur Evans, ο Μεγάλος Πόλεμος και η ειρήνευση του μινωικού πολιτισμού ( British School at Athens, Upper House, workshop between 3.00 pm - 6.15 pm and at 8.30 pm the concert will take place at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas)
Find out more »Sarah Broadie, “Putting mathematics in its place in Plato’s Republic”
Professor Sarah Broadie (University of St. Andrews), "Putting mathematics in its place in Plato’s Republic" The discussion will centre on two questions: (a) what to make of the inferiority of mathematics to dialectic (the main locus for this is the Divided Line in Book VI)? And (b) what is the real purpose of the mathematical education laid out in Book VII?
Find out more »Angela Trentacoste, “Of cattle and connectivity: investigating the morphometric change in ancient livestock”
Angela Trentacoste, “Of cattle and connectivity: investigating the morphometric change in ancient livestock”
Find out more »April 2019
Ricardo Fernandes, “Integrating isotopic, archaeological, and historical evidence for high-quality reconstruction of past human lifeways”
Dr. Ricardo Fernandes, (Head of Radiocarbon Lab, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History Research Associate, University of Oxford; Associate Professor, Masaryk University), Integrating isotopic, archaeological, and historical evidence for high-quality reconstruction of past human lifeways (diet, nutrition, mobility, and chronology) from the Greek Bronze Age to the collapse of the Roman Empire
Find out more »Gonda Van Steen, “Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece”
Professor Gonda Van Steen (King’s College London), "Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece"
Find out more »Jonathan Hall, “Chasing the shadows of the past in Late Ottoman Argos.”
Prof. Jonathan Hall (University of Chicago), “Chasing the shadows of the past in Late Ottoman Argos.”
Find out more »Christina Ichim, “Dying to connect: a mortuary approach to southern Aegean connectivity in the middle and late Bronze Age”
Christina Ichim (BSA Richard Bradford McConnel Student / PhD candidate, UCL), "Dying to connect: a mortuary approach to southern Aegean connectivity in the middle and late Bronze Age"
Find out more »May 2019
The British School at Athens and its work in 2018
The British School at Athens and its work in 2018 - Speakers: John Bennet, Huw Halstead and Daniel Knight
Find out more »Glynis Jones, “The origin and spread of agriculture: what do the plants have to say? “
Prof. Glynis Jones (BSA Fitch Visiting Fellow / University of Sheffield), "The origin and spread of agriculture: what do the plants have to say? "
Find out more »Colin Macdonald, “Tradition and Innovation in the Protopalatial and Neopalatial Architecture of Knossos”
Dr Colin Macdonald, "Tradition and Innovation in the Protopalatial and Neopalatial Architecture of Knossos”
Find out more »Charlotte Van Regenmortel, “Warriors into workers: Military service as wage labour in the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods”
Charlotte Van Regenmortel (BSA Macmillan-Rodewald Student / PhD candidate, University of Leicester), "Warriors into workers: Military service as wage labour in the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic periods"
Find out more »Ioanna Moutafi, “Another Keros mystery: exploring the unusual burial choices at the Early Cycladic island of Keros”
Dr Ioanna Moutafi, "Another Keros mystery: exploring the unusual burial choices at the Early Cycladic island of Keros"
Find out more »Celeste Farge, “The Society of Dilettanti’s Second Ionian Mission: William Gell’s journals at the British School at Athens and the British Museum”
Sketchbooks and journals from the Ionian Mission © Trustees of the British Museum Celeste Farge (British Museum), "The Society of Dilettanti's Second Ionian Mission: William Gell's journals at the British School at Athens and the British Museum" William Gell (1777- 1836) - Classicist, traveller and topographer - was famously referred to by Byron as ‘Rapid Gell’. Aside from his numerous books, Gell produced unpublished manuscripts, hundreds of sketches, maps and finished drawings (including impressive panoramas of Athens), and wrote copious…
Find out more »Petrie, Pendlebury, and Hogarth in Greece and Egypt – A panel discussion
Petrie, Pendlebury, and Hogarth in Greece and Egypt - A panel discussion Flinders Petrie, John Pendlebury, and David Hogarth - in their excavations at Naukratis, Amarna, Ephesos and Knossos - developed ground-breaking archaeological approaches during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This discussion explores the connections between these pioneers and their archaeological institutions - how the BSA and EES shaped their work and their modern legacies within these institutions. Topics to be explored include Petrie's idea of the museum…
Find out more »Popular Music of the Greek World Conference
The diversity of Greek music is apparent from the rich variety of local traditions and from the richness of urban popular music both established and emerging. This conference aims to explore and evaluate that diversity, and its causes, from broader musical, sociological and artistic perspectives. This is of great value in itself and also sheds light on the ethnomusicology of better-studied aspects of Greek music such as Rebetika, which also features as one of the subjects of the conference. The Organising…
Find out more »Lambrini Rori, “Political violence in crisis-ridden Greece. Evidence from the radical right and the radical left”
Dr Lambrini Rori (BSA Early Career Fellow / University of Exeter), "Political violence in crisis-ridden Greece. Evidence from the radical right and the radical left"
Find out more »Chryssanthi Papadopoulou, “Exorcising Fear: Ritual Performances in Classical Athens”
Dr Chryssanthi Papadopoulou (BSA Assistant Director), "Exorcising Fear: Ritual Performances in Classical Athens"
Find out more »George Boys-Stones, “The Rationality of the Stoic God”
Professor George Boys-Stones (University of Durham), "The Rationality of the Stoic God"
Find out more »Vayia Xanthopoulou & Ioannis Iliopoulos, “Assessment of the clayey raw material suitability for ceramic production in Northern Peloponnese”
Vayia Xanthopoulou & Ioannis Iliopoulos (Department of Geology, University of Patras), "Assessment of the clayey raw material suitability for ceramic production in Northern Peloponnese"
Find out more »June 2019
Onyeka Igwe, “Being Close to, with or Amongst: other ways of Knowing the Archive”
Onyeka Igwe (BSA Arts Bursary Holder/London College of Communication), "Being Close to, with or Amongst: other ways of Knowing the Archive"
Find out more »Margaret Mountford, “Papyrology: is anything new under the sun?”
Dr Margaret Mountford (Chair, Egypt Exploration Society), "Papyrology: is anything new under the sun?" Dr Margaret Mountford will present a brief introduction to the famous Oxyrhynchus papyri, their contents, and their initial excavation. The lecture will take a closer look at a number of ancient texts that suggest people’s preoccupations have not changed much over the centuries.
Find out more »Annual Garden Party
Annual Garden Party
Find out more »July 2019
Earth Water Fire, Celebrating Cretan Pottery from Antiquity to the Present
Earth Water Fire, Celebrating Cretan Pottery from Antiquity to the Present The Thrapsano Cultural Association is organising a series of cultural events centred on Cretan pottery, in collaboration with the British School at Athens (Knossos Research Centre) and the Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics - G. Psaropoulos Foundation, co-organised by the Region of Crete with the participation of the Herakleion Ephorate of Antiquities and the potters of Thrapsano PROGRAMME THURSDAY 11-7-2019 (Village square) 20:00: Opening 20:30: Official speeches…
Find out more »August 2019
Erotokritos: για μια αγάπη άδολη
The British School at Athens (Knossos Research Centre) and the Knossos Cultural Association are organising a cultural event on EROTOKRITOS, the romance composed by Vincenzo Cornaros in early 17th century Crete. The romance consists of 10,102 fifteen-syllable rhythmed verses and its central theme is the love between Erotokritos and Aretousa. It constitutes a classic example of Greek Renaissance literature. The event includes a lecture by Professor Marina Detoraki (University of Crete) on Erotokritos and Venetian Crete, a recitation of selected…
Find out more »Amica silentia lunae
The Knossos Research Centre of the British School at Athens warmly invites you to attend Amica silentia lunae, the “Friendly Silence of the Moon”, an evening of music and poetry at the Villa Ariadne, at 21:00 on Sunday 18 August. Please ensure you arrive by 20:45. This free event is part of the August Full Moon series of events organised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports at archaeological sites and monuments open to the public. Classical and modern pieces…
Find out more »September 2019
Ann Eldridge: Monemvasia: People, Place, Presence
Ann Eldridge: Monemvasia: People, Place, Presence
Find out more »Craftspeople Mobility in the Archaeological, Historical and Ethnographic Record – A Comparative Perspective from the Aegean
Craftspeople Mobility in the Archaeological, Historical and Ethnographic Record – A Comparative Perspective from the Aegean PROGRAMME ABSTRACTS
Find out more »Peter Thonemann: “An eternal memorial of goodwill towards their kinsmen”: Abdera and Teos after the Third Macedonian War
Prof. Peter Thonemann (University of Oxford): "An eternal memorial of goodwill towards their kinsmen" :Abdera and Teos after the Third Macedonian War Abstract: One of the most extraordinary ancient Greek inscriptions ever discovered was unearthed in 2017 at the excavations of the Ionian city of Teos in Asia Minor. It records, in thrilling and moving detail, the assistance provided by the Teians in the repopulation and rebuilding of their daughter-city, Abdera in Thrace, after its sack by the Romans in…
Find out more »October 2019
Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, “Sacrificial rituals in the Mycenaean palatial centre of Kydonia (Khania, Crete)”
Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki (Hon. Secretary General, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports), "Sacrificial rituals in the Mycenaean palatial centre of Kydonia (Khania, Crete)" Kydonia, the most important ancient city in Western Crete, traditionally one of the three cities founded in Crete by Minos, occupied the Kastelli Hill in the centre of the Old Town of Khania. Its name appears on the Knossian Linear B tablets
Find out more »Robert Pitt: ‘Early British Travellers to Athens and the Hunt for Inscriptions: Some Overlooked Epigraphic Manuscripts of the 17th and 18th Centuries’
Robert Pitt (CYA): ‘Early British Travellers to Athens and the Hunt for Inscriptions: Some Overlooked Epigraphic Manuscripts of the 17th and 18th Centuries’
Find out more »Philip Kenrick: Cyrenaica: A Greek Pentapolis – but so much more
Dr Philip Kenrick: Cyrenaica: A Greek Pentapolis - but so much more
Find out more »A. Hobbs, Plato’s Republic, Ladybird Expert Series – 34
A. Hobbs, Plato’s Republic, Ladybird Expert Series – 34 Plato's Republic addresses questions of urgent concern in these troubled times. How can we prevent democracies being subverted to tyrannies by cynical demagogues? How can we protect truth from fake news and 'alternative facts'? And, ultimately, why do humans form societies and what is needed for them to flourish? In this event Professor Angie Hobbs will read extracts from her recently published Plato's Republic: a Ladybird Expert Book, discuss why and…
Find out more »Dancing with the Bull: Sir Arthur Evans and the palace of Knossos
The excavation of Knossos, one of the most important sites of the ancient world, is inextricably linked with Sir Arthur Evans. Evans discovered the ruins of a monumental complex and the remains of a hitherto unknown civilization, formulating the prevailing view of it. Inspired by Evans’ work, artist Teresa Valavani has created a collage collection entitled Dancing with the Bull: Sir Arthur Evans and the palace of Knossos, to be exhibited in the garden of the Knossos Research Centre of…
Find out more »Polyxeni Adam-Veleni: ‘Θεσσαλονίκη: μια μεγαλειώδης μητρόπολη της Αρχαίας Μακεδονίας’
Dr Polyxeni Adam-Veleni (Director, General Directorate of Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture & Sports): 'Θεσσαλονίκη: μια μεγαλειώδης μητρόπολη της Αρχαίας Μακεδονίας'
Find out more »Onyeka Igwe: Scenes from the BSA Archive
Onyeka Igwe is the 2019 BSA Arts Bursary holder and returns from a residency in Athens to share her encounters with the archive. Igwe researches the colonial imagination, its knowledges and influence on the archive and then uses a methodology, critical proximity, to create moving image works that attempt to activate archive material in other ways. She will share poetic snatches of her experiences at the BSA as well as outlining the methodology that roots both her artistic practice…
Find out more »Matthew Skuse: The nature of cult activity at Perachora
This BSA Ambassador event was organised in collaboration with Newcastle University where Dr Matthew Skuse (St Andrews) will present 'The nature of cult activity at Perachora'. After the paper we will be heading to Pani's Café (61-65 High Bridge, NE1 6BX) for dinner. If you would like to join us, please email Joseph Skinner (Joseph.Skinner@newcastle.ac.uk) by 12pm on Wednesday 16th October.
Find out more »Sergios Menelaou: “Shifting modes of connectivity between the Cyclades, the southeast Aegean and western Anatolia: A diachronic ceramic study of prehistoric Samos, East Aegean”
Dr Sergios Menelaou (Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens) : “Shifting modes of connectivity between the Cyclades, the southeast Aegean and western Anatolia: A diachronic ceramic study of prehistoric Samos, East Aegean”
Find out more »A poetry and spoken word performance by Vanessa Kisuule and Pavlina Marvin
A poetry and spoken word performance by Vanessa Kisuule and Pavlina Marvin On the occasion of the British Council’s 80th anniversary celebrations in Greece and of the UK being the Country of Honour at Public Book Awards, the British Council in collaboration with Public Bookstores, have invited Vanessa Kisuule and Pavlina Marvin to join forces on Wednesday 30 October, at 19:00, in the Penrose Library of the British School at Athens. The multi awarded poet and performer from Bristol and…
Find out more »November 2019
Katerina Galani, “British Shipping in the Mediterranean during the Napoleonic Wars: the untold story of a successful adaptation.”
A book discussion co-organized with the Institute for Mediterranean Studies-FORTH Discussants Professor Emerita Olga Katsiardi-Hering (University of Athens) Professor Maria Fusaro (University of Exeter) Co-Ordinator Professor Gelina Harlaftis (Institute for Mediterranean Studies-FORTH & Hellenic Open University)
Find out more »Maria Ntinou, “Firewood for the hearths. Woodlands of the Argolid from the Middle Paleolithic to the Neolithic.”
Dr Maria Ntinou (Center for Interdisciplinary Research & Innovation, University of Thessaloniki /LIRA Laboratory, Department of Archaeology, University of Thessaloniki), "Firewood for the hearths. Woodlands of the Argolid from the Middle Paleolithic to the Neolithic."
Find out more »Ceramic Petrology Group Annual Meeting
Ceramic Petrology Group Annual Meeting
Find out more »Robin Barber & Tony Spawforth: Instruction in an Antique Land: The First Taught Courses at the BSA, 1973-1989
No formal courses were taught at the BSA before 1973, the year of the first annual undergraduate programme. This was the brainchild of the then Assistant Director, Robin Barber, and helped to inspire a second, this time for UK school teachers in Ancient History, established in 1979. Both initiatives occurred under the directorship of Dr Hector Catling, who personally led the first six schoolteachers’ courses. The speakers will discuss the early history of these two courses (others—on epigraphy, numismatics…
Find out more »Lamprini Rori: ‘The Landscape of Political Violence in Crisis-Ridden Greece’
Political extremism has been present in Greece since 1974. Despite the adoption of a counter-terrorist governmental strategy around the turn of the millennium which temporarily limited episodes of violent extremism, violence remains a serious problem. By its unprecedented magnitude and durée, the ongoing financial crisis has triggered the emergence of circumstances that promote the toleration, acceptance and use of violence. The paper focuses on different expressions of political violence in Greece from 2008 onwards, aiming to identify its repertoires and causes, the actors involved,…
Find out more »Edith Hall: 21st-Century Responses to the Homeric Iliad
Since the turn of the 21st century there has been an unprecedented wave of creative responses to the Iliad, by prizewinning novelists and poets as well as cinema and TV producers. Professor Edith Hall (KCL) will explore the similarities and radical divergences between several of these responses, to ask why a poem with roots in the Bronze Age should still strike such resonant chords in our own, very different, societies. This lecture coincides with the British Museum’s exhibition Troy: Myth…
Find out more »December 2019
Michael Loy, “Luxury and commodity shipping routes in archaic Greece”
Michael Loy (BSA, Assistant Director), "Luxury and commodity shipping routes in archaic Greece"
Find out more »Victoria Hislop in Conversation
Best-selling author Victoria Hislop will be in conversation with John Kittmer (Chair, Anglo-Hellenic League) about her passion for Greece and the role that Greece plays in her writing, including her latest book Those Who Are Loved. Spaces will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. RSVP at Kate Smith: bsa@britac.ac.uk This event is organised in collaboration with the Anglo-Hellenic League.
Find out more »Meagan Dennison, “Evaluating the role of domestic dogs from archaeological contexts”
Meagan Dennison, "Evaluating the role of domestic dogs from archaeological contexts"
Find out more »M. Ganas, A Greek Ballad: Selected Poems, translated by D. Connelly and J. Barley
'A Greek Ballad' is the first collection in English of the renowned Greek poet Michális Ganás, translated by David Connolly and Joshua Barley and published by Yale University Press. On the evening there will be readings in Greek from the poet himself and in English from Joshua Barley, who will introduce the book. There will also be the opportunity for discussion with both poet and translator. We will be joined by the musicians Michalis and Pantelis Kalogerakis, who will perform…
Find out more »Tokens: The Athenian Legacy to Modern World
Tokens: The Athenian Legacy to Modern World PROGRAMME AND ABSTRACTS
Find out more »January 2020
Panel discussion: Migration and Diaspora, co-organized with King’s College London
Panel discussion: Migration and Diaspora, co-organized with King's College London Participants: Eirini Avramopoulou (Panteion University), "Intersecting stories of displacement and crisis:Ethnographic accounts from the island of Leros" Maria Christina Chatziioannou (National Hellenic Research Centre),"Some Theoretical Insights Regarding the Use ofHistorical Sources in Diaspora and Transnational Studies: the Greek communities of England as a case study" Vassiliki Chryssanthopoulou (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens), "Refugees, migrants, diasporans: Insights from ethnographic research among the Castellorizians" Giorgos Tsimouris (Panteion University), "Forced migration and…
Find out more »Distant seas, connected worlds: Tintagel, Britain, and Greece in Late Antiquity
A half-day symposium on ceramic production and maritime distribution in the Aegean and East Mediterranean, and long-distance links between Greece, the West Mediterranean and South West Britain during the 5th to 7th centuries AD.
Find out more »Panel discussion: Migration and Diaspora, co-organised with King’s College London
Moderator: Dionysios Stathakopoulos, King’s College London. Dionysios Stathakopoulos has been teaching at King's College London since 2005. He read Byzantine and Medieval History at the University of Münster and received his PhD from the University of Vienna. He is a social historian of the Byzantine world and has published widely on epidemics and famines, the practice and practitioners of medicine, charity, poverty and remembrance. His latest book is A Short History of the Byzantine Empire (2014), recently translated in Greek, Turkish and Estonian.…
Find out more »Alexandros Karakostis, “Setting a bridge between biological and cultural remains: Novel methods for the reconstruction of physical activity in the past”
Setting a bridge between biological and cultural remains: Novel methods for the reconstruction of physical activity in the past
Find out more »Gian Piero Milani “The Collection of Allied Aerial Photographs of the British School at Athens”
Gian Piero Milani (PhD student, University of Oxford), "The Collection of Allied Aerial Photographs of the British School at Athens”
Find out more »February 2020
The Work of the School in 2019
The Work of the School in 2019 by Professor John Bennet The Work of the Fitch Laboratory 2009-2019: Linking Britain with the Mediterranean by Dr Evangelia Kiriatzi (Fitch Laboratory Director, BSA) The Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory was founded over 45 years ago within the British School at Athens to promote the application of scientific techniques in archaeological research in Greece. In 2009-10, a generous donation by a long-lasting supporter of the institution enabled the establishment of a new Analytical…
Find out more »The Work of the School in 2019
The Work of the School in 2019 by Professor John Bennet (Director, BSA) Dr Zosia Archibald (University of Liverpool), "New Dimensions of an Ancient City: the Olynthos Project (2014-2019)"
Find out more »George Huxley: Achaeans, Hittites, and the Tale of Troy
The lecture restates the reasons for equating the territory known to the Hittites as Ahhiyāwā with the lands of the late Bronze Age Achaean Greeks. Diplomatic relations between the two realms are examined with particular attention to the city called Wilusa by the Hittites. Finally, it is asked to what extent, if any, the Iliad recalled western Asia Minor and its political geography half a millennium and more after the period traditionally assigned to the Trojan War. George Huxley…
Find out more »The Work of the School in 2019
The Work of the School in 2019 by Professor John Bennet (Director, BSA) Dr Bettina Tsigarida (Director, Ephorate of Antiquities of Pella), "Νέες διαστάσεις στην έρευνα της αρχαίας ελληνικής πόλης: το ερευνητικό πρόγραμμα της Ολύνθου"
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The Early Ottoman Peloponnese – A Study in the Light of an Annotated Editio Princeps of the TT10 – 1/14662 Ottoman Taxation Cadastre (ca. 1460 – 1463).
The Early Ottoman Peloponnese - A Study in the Light of an Annotated Editio Princeps of the TT10 – 1/14662 Ottoman Taxation Cadastre (ca. 1460 – 1463). In this book, Georgios C. Liakopoulos presents a unique insight into late Byzantine Peloponnese society and its economy, and how these were incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, using as reference the cadastre compiled immediately after the Ottoman conquest. What makes this study imperative is the fact that no similar Byzantine document of the…
Find out more »March 2020
‘Moving Seaside’: Neolithic seafaring workshop – CANCELLED
This workshop will focus on seafaring in the Mediterranean of the Neolithic Period, and will stimulate discussion on the topic for featuring in an international documentary film 'Moving Stones'. We aim to discuss how throughout the Neolithic Period the seas, far from being obstacles, were major vectors of transportation and communication. All welcome. Joint workshop with French Institute for Anatolian Studies
Find out more »Mike Edwards, “Places in the Attic Orators: a philologist and his topography” – POSTPONED
Professor Mike Edwards (Honorary Research Fellow, Royal Holloway, University of London / Visiting Fellow, BSA), "Places in the Attic Orators: a philologist and his topography"
Find out more »CANCELLED: Lamprini Rori, ‘The Landscape of Political Violence in Crisis-Ridden Greece’
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19. Political extremism has been present in Greece since 1974. Despite the adoption of a counter-terrorist governmental strategy around the turn of the millennium which temporarily limited episodes of violent extremism, violence remains a serious problem. By its unprecedented magnitude and durée, the ongoing financial crisis has triggered the emergence of circumstances that promote the toleration, acceptance and use of violence. The paper focuses on different expressions of political violence in…
Find out more »Panel Discussion: Archaeologists at the Trojan walls, meddling between myth and reality?
Archaeology is just one of the many disciplines that have approached the understanding of the site of Troy and the events in its history. In some ways, it occupies an awkward position between myth and the reality of the site. What is the role of archaeology in the modern consumption of Troy? Do archaeologists just look from the sidelines? A panel discussion will explore these issues in a frank and open manner. Contributors: Prof. Susan Sherratt, Dr. Naoise Mac Sweeney,…
Find out more »Voula Tsouna, “The techne analogy, the Argument from Benefit’ (Charm. 169c3-175a8), and its aftermath in the Republic” – POSTPONED
Professor Voula Tsouna (University of California), "The techne analogy, the Argument from Benefit' (Charm. 169c3-175a8), and its aftermath in the Republic" Co-organized by the BSA and the Research Centre for Greek Philosophy (Academy of Athens)
Find out more »POSTPONED: James Petre, “The Fortifications of Byzantine and Crusader Cyprus: some thoughts on origins, forms and functions”
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19. Friends x SPBS Annual Lecture James first studied Cypriot fortifications when pursuing a master’s under Prof. Allen ‘Castles’ Brown at KCL. He only returned to this interest for his second doctoral thesis (Cardiff University 2010), supervised by Prof. Denys Pringle, which he developed into a book – The Fortifications of Cyprus under the Lusignans 1191-1489 (The Cyprus Research Centre, 2012). The monograph focuses on the Lusignan period but necessarily considers what came…
Find out more »April 2020
POSTPONED: Voula Tsouna, “Socrates and Critias debate the techne analogy. The Argument from Relatives’ (Charm. 167c8-169c2)”
Professor Voula Tsouna (University of California), "Socrates and Critias debate the techne analogy. The Argument from Relatives' (Charm. 167c8-169c2)" Co-organized by the BSA and the Research Centre for Greek Philosophy (Academy of Athens)
Find out more »POSTPONED: Susan Mossman, Title TBC
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.
Find out more »Mike Edwards, “Places in the Attic Orators: a philologist and his topography”, Virtual Lecture.
Hundreds of places in Athens and Attica, and more broadly in Greece and across Europe, are referred to in the speeches of the Attic Orators, the canon of ten speechwriters and politicians from the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Among them are demes and sanctuaries, buildings and even walls. The precise location of many of these places remains uncertain, but often where a place was may have a direct bearing on the text or argument of a passage. In this…
Find out more »May 2020
Nicholas Salmon, “Archives and Attribution: Reconstructing the British Museum’s excavation of Rhodes”, AthENIS e-seminar
Dr Nicholas Salmon (BSA), "Archives and Attribution: Reconstructing the British Museum’s excavation of Rhodes" This presentation will focus on the excavation of Rhodes by British Vice Consul Alfred Biliotti and French artist Auguste Salzmann in the mid-nineteenth century, and how archives relating to this excavation can be used to retrieve the context of archaeological finds now kept in the British Museum. During the final months of their excavation of Kamiros in 1863-64, Alfred Biliotti kept a field diary that may…
Find out more »Antonis Kotsonas, “Politics, research agendas, and the history of archaeology in Crete: an archival perspective on the exploration of ancient Lyktos (c. 1880 – 1940)”. Virtual Lecture
Professor Antonis Kotsonas (Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University / BSA Bader Archive Lecturer 2019-2020), "Politics, research agendas, and the history of archaeology in Crete: an archival perspective on the exploration of ancient Lyktos (c. 1880 – 1940)" Politics and research agendas have had a major role in shaping the archaeology of Crete. This article focuses on the history of research on Lyktos, one of the most important ancient cities of the island, to explore…
Find out more »Mark Letteney, “Water to Aelia Capitolina: The Pools of Solomon from Hadrian to the British Mandate”, AthENIS e-seminar
Mark Letteney (Princeton University / ASCSA), "Water to Aelia Capitolina: The Pools of Solomon from Hadrian to the British Mandate" This event is hosted by AthENIS (Athens Early-Career Network of International Scholars), the new group for postgrads and postdocs, showcasing early-career researchers’ current projects and working papers in an informal and constructive environment. Zoom lecture invitation will be sent via the AthENIS mailing list. Please sign-up here: https://bit.ly/31b67Fh
Find out more »June 2020
HE Kate Smith, “Gennadios in London”, Virtual Lecture.
HE Kate Smith (British Ambassador to Greece), "Gennadios in London" Ioannis Gennadios was an exceptional figure of Western diplomacy. Living in London for a period spanning seventy years he penetrated into British customs and character always remaining a great Greek patriot. From 1862, when he first set foot in London to 1932, when he died there, Gennadios shared his time between London and Greece and lived all the excitement and drama of British and Greek history from the eve of…
Find out more »Carrie Sawtell, “Χρηστὸς / χρηστή in 4th and 3rd century BC Attic Epitaphs.” Virtual Lecture.
Dr Carrie Sawtell (BSA, Macmillan-Rodewald Student), "Χρηστὸς / χρηστή in 4th and 3rd century BC Attic Epitaphs" Variously translated as excellent, good, useful and worthy, among others, the epithet χρηστὸς / χρηστή when used in fourth-century BC Attic epitaphs is taken as denoting the servile status of the deceased. The epithet was used across the Greek world, though more commonly in the vocative χρηστὲ, with varying degrees of popularity at different times at least down to the late imperial period.…
Find out more »Stefano Frullini, “Synoikisms, tradition and reality: the cases of Elis and Mantinea”, AthENIS e-seminar
Stefano Frullini (University of Cambridge / BSA), "Synoikisms, tradition and reality: the cases of Elis and Mantinea" This event is hosted by AthENIS (Athens Early-Career Network of International Scholars), the new group for postgrads and postdocs, showcasing early-career researchers’ current projects and working papers in an informal and constructive environment. Zoom lecture invitation will be sent via the AthENIS mailing list: please sign-up contact Michael Loy or Eric Driscoll to be added to this mailing list.
Find out more »Michael Scott, “The View from the Aegean: Greek perspectives on a global ancient world” Virtual Lecture
Prof. Michael Scott (University of Warwick), "The View from the Aegean: Greek perspectives on a global ancient world" We are used to thinking about Greece in its hey-day as well connected to - and its inhabitants keen explorers of - a wide Mediterranean world. We know well the stories of particular Greeks who ventured further afield, bringing Greek influence to central and southern Asia, as well as exploring as far as Britain to the West. But, by the time of…
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