Distinguished Lecturer Series in Ancient Studies Indiana University Distinguished Lecturer Series in Ancient Studies

The Distinguished Lecturer Series seeks to provide a venue for faculty and students working on various areas of antiquity to explore common interests. The Program normally invites two major scholars a year whose interests cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. The scholars are chosen by a formal nomination process from the faculty. For the process, each nomination shall be a co-nomination by faculty members from at least two different departments. The lectures are of broad interest to students and faculty members. Each visitor will present a public lecture and meet with interested students and faculty during his or her visit.

Future Distinguished Lecturers (2008-2009 academic year)

Fall 2008

Prof. Lawrence Stager (Harvard University).
Professor Stager is Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel, head of Harvard's Semitic Museum, and the current director of the excavation of Ashkelon, an important Philistine port city. He has previously directed excavations at ancient Carthage. His research, much of it focused on the Philistines and other sea-faring peoples, spans the Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to beyond the end of antiquity and touches on issues of interest for Near Eastern, Israelite and Greek culture (especially the Aegean origins of the Philistines). The important ways that Dr. Stager interrelates archaeological and textual evidence make him well suited for the interdisciplinary goals of our ancient studies distinguished lecturer series.


Spring 2009

Mr. Robin Lane Fox (New College, Oxford).
In a long and extremely distinguished career, Robin Lane Fox has shown an almost unparalleled chronological range and an acute historical mind. His work spans literally the whole of antiquity. In addition to his seminal study Alexander the Great (1974), he has also written a comprehensive history of paganism and Christianity in the Roman world (Pagans and Christians [1986]) as well as a lively recent history of antiquity, The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian (2006). In his articles, he treats subjects ranging from Aeschines to the last Neoplatonists. In addition to his extensive work on the ancient subjects, Mr. Lane Fox has also published and taught on the early Islamic world and serves as a gardening columnist for the Financial Times. His range of interests and energetic personality mark him as an excellent visitor for our growing ancient studies program.



Past Distinguished Lecturers

A. A. Long (Berkeley), a prominent scholar in the field of Hellenistic philosophy, Spring 2002.

Heinrich von Staden (Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton), a renowned scholar of ancient medicine, Fall 2002.

Susan E. Alcock (University of Michigan), an accomplished archaeologist and cultural historian, Fall of 2003.

Fritz Graf (Ohio State University), an authority on Greek and Roman mythology, religion, and magic, Spring 2004.

Shadi Bartsch (University of Chicago), a prolific expert on Roman culture and literature, Fall 2004.

John Dillon (Trinity College, Dublin), among the world's foremost scholars of Platonism, Spring 2005.

Maud Gleason (Berkeley), innovative scholar in ancient rhetoric and gender studies, Fall 2005

Brent Shaw (Princeton), expert historian of North Africa in the Late Roman Empire. Spring 2006.

Christopher Gill (University of Exeter, UK), leading scholar of ancient personality and ethics. Fall 2006.

Glen W. Bowersock (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), preeminent authority on Greece, Rome, and the Ancient Near East. Spring 2007

Ian Morris (Stanford), distinguished archaeologist and cultural historian who bridges anthropology and the study of the classical world. Spring 2008.

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