Pasts Imperfect is a weekly newsletter amplifying and supporting public writing focused on a global antiquity. Subscribe here: https://pastsimperfect.substack.com/ For our first newsletter, we wanted to signal boost the creation of a number of new spaces welcoming public writing focused on ancient pasts from a global perspective. These spaces underscore scholarship from diverse scholars as wellContinue reading “Introducing Pasts Imperfect: New Spaces for Public Scholarship”
Category Archives: The State of the Field
Nefertiti and Digital Colonialism: A Short Bibliography
I am not an Egyptologist. My specialities are digital humanities, epigraphy, and the laws of the late Roman Empire. The beauty of academia and of journalism is that far more brilliant people than you can allow exploration of intellectual terrain through their research, writing, and excavation. This is certainly the case for my new articleContinue reading “Nefertiti and Digital Colonialism: A Short Bibliography”
Ancient 3D Models Before Digital Modeling
Last week, my interview with Abydos Archaeology’s Matthew Douglas Adams was published at Hyperallergic. The article focused on the discovery of an industrial royal brewery dating to 3100-2900 BCE at the Egyptian site of Abydos, where Adams co-directs the excavation with Deborah Vischak, as part of fieldwork supported by New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and Princeton University. InContinue reading “Ancient 3D Models Before Digital Modeling”
Working Together to Transcribe Ancient Documents During COVID-19
As the pandemic known as COVID-19 grips the globe, thousands of instructors in the United States and elsewhere have been asked to transition their courses online for the remainder of the semester. To some instructors, such as the superb Classics professors at the Open University, distance learning has become a normalized pedagogy. To many othersContinue reading “Working Together to Transcribe Ancient Documents During COVID-19”
Consider the Anus Radish: Etymologies, Adultery, and the Defense of the Microhistory
Isidore was a learned scholar and the Bishop of the Spanish city of Seville from 600-636 CE. Thousands of manuscripts containing his Etymologiae (“The Etymologies,” also called the Origines, “The Origins”) survive today; the only work to surpass it in terms of extant manuscript copies in Western Europe is the Bible (Throop 2005: xii). The sheer number ofContinue reading “Consider the Anus Radish: Etymologies, Adultery, and the Defense of the Microhistory”
Pro Publica: A Public Classics Workshop
Pro Publica: A Public Classics Workshop Northwestern University, October 18-19, 2019 How can we better speak and write about the ancient Mediterranean for the general public? How can academics engaged in the study of antiquity underscore the relevance of Classics in the present day? The Society for Classical Studies and the Department of Classics atContinue reading “Pro Publica: A Public Classics Workshop”
My Statement on the ‘Future of Classics’ Panel and the Aftermath
This morning, the SCS released a statement over confusion about whether I have been formally censured by the society. I have not been formally censured by the SCS but would like to discuss what did happen: At 5:36 pm on February 26, I received an email from the Vice President for Outreach at SCS, whoContinue reading “My Statement on the ‘Future of Classics’ Panel and the Aftermath”
Reacting to the Racist Events At the SCS-AIA Annual Meeting in San Diego: A Roundup
[This post was originally published on the SCS Blog] It has now been a month since the SCS-AIA annual meeting in San Diego, and many have written evocative, emotional, and important pieces about the racist events that occurred there. Instead of posting each separately on our social media or blog, I have tried to compileContinue reading “Reacting to the Racist Events At the SCS-AIA Annual Meeting in San Diego: A Roundup”
Book Review: Not All Dead White Men
Over on Ancient Jew Review, I have a review of Donna Zuckerberg’s new book, Not All Dead White Men. The review was certainly not easy to write, but I do recommend buying, reading, and then sharing this important read. It is honestly the only time in the past two years or so that I have been happy toContinue reading “Book Review: Not All Dead White Men”
Signs of the Times: Ancient Symbols Reused by Hate Groups
For the past year and half, I have written extensively about the appropriation of ancient symbols, texts, and material culture as a rallying point for hate and marginalization within the U.S. and Europe. I wanted to take a moment to aggregate this work, to address how and why ancient historians are working to record thisContinue reading “Signs of the Times: Ancient Symbols Reused by Hate Groups”
History From Below 