LECTURES
2025 - 2026 Season
Thursday, October 23, 2025
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“The Creation of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art at the Louvre Museum: Scientific and Museographic Challenges in the Face of the Contemporary World” (Dumbarton Oaks Lecture, hosted by Georgetown University Greek Studies Program)
Maximilien Durand, Director of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art at the Musée du Louvre.
6:00-7:00 pm EST (Reception at 5:30 pm)
Lohrfink Auditorium, Hariri Building, Georgetown University.
In Person Only (Free Registration Required)
Thursday, November 13, 2025
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Petra’s Forgotten Past: Uncovering the Iron Age Foundations of Nabataean Society (National AIA Joukowsky Lecture)
Dr. Jennifer Ramsay, SUNY Brockport
7:00 pm EST (Reception at 6:30 pm)
Hybrid
University of Maryland, College Park
Francis Scott Key Hall, Rm. 0106
Online via Zoom
Petra, the Nabataean capital, embodies the transformation of a formerly nomadic people into a sophisticated civilization that commanded key trade routes across northern Arabia and the southern Levant. The project I co-direct examines cultural and artistic transitions from the Late Iron Age and Persian Period to the emergence of the Nabataeans (600–300BCE), seeking to understand how this strategically connected region fostered their distinctive traditions.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
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Escape from Pompeii: Tracking Survivors from the Eruption of Vesuvius (Annual de Bragança Endowed Lecture. Co-Sponsored by the Capitol Archaeological Institute and the George Washington Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations)
Professor Steven L. Tuck, Miami University, Ohio
7:00 pm EST (Book Sale and Reception at 6:15 pm EST)
Hybrid
Funger Hall, Room 108
2201 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052
The George Washington University
In Person Attendance (REGISTRATION REQUIRED)
Online via Zoom
Popular culture views the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE as an apocalyptic event that killed everyone in Pompeii; scholars generally assume that some Pompeians escaped. Steven L. Tuck aims to settle that debate. He starts by establishing the circumstances and timeline of the eruption and the evidence that people at both Pompeii and Herculaneum had the chance to escape the eruption. From there, he moves to the search for survivors. Using evidence from inscriptions supported by archaeological, documentary, and literary sources, Tuck finds survivors in twelve different communities and uncovers details on how they rebuilt their lives, livelihoods, and identities after fleeing the volcano.
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
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Beauty, Power, and Presence: The Neo-Assyrian Queens of Nimrud's Northwest Palace, c. 865-705 BCE (Annual Louise D. Davison Memorial Lecture & The AIA Wilhelmina and Stanley Jashemski Lecture)
Dr. Amy Rebecca Gansell, St. John's University
7:00 pm EST (Reception at 6:15 pm EST; Annual Business Meeting at 06:45 PM)
Hybrid
Funger Hall, Room 108
2201 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052
The George Washington University
Online via Zoom
Prof. Gansell’s most recent focus has been on the beauty and material culture of ancient Mesopotamian queens, culminating in her recent book from which this lecture draws its title. Her works seek to highlight the vital role of feminine beauty in the Neo-Assyrian Northwest Palace at Nimrud, embodying fecundity and complementing the king’s potency both literally and conceptually in the courtly experience and imperial ideology.
Thursday, April 30, 2026
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Greek Caves: On Archaeology, Myths, Religions, and Cultural Heritage Preservation (Richard Hubbard Howland Lecture of the Washington Society)
Dr. Stella Katsarou, Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Speleology, Greek Ministry of Culture
6:30 pm EST (Reception to follow the lecture)
Hybrid
In Person Attendance (REGISTRATION REQUIRED)
Online via Zoom
Caves offer a powerful gateway into the deep past of Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. From prehistory to the present, these natural sanctuaries have functioned as places of memory, where nature and culture converge. Their sensorial, mysterious environments gave rise to spiritual meaning and enduring cultural narratives. They were places of shelter, holding traces of early human migrations, Neolithic rituals, and the mythic origins of ancient civilizations. Caves are sacred landscapes—shaped by water, darkness, and stone—that inspired awe, story, and ceremony. This illustrated talk will introduce aspects of ongoing research on the archaeology of caves in Greece. Today, caves are being reimagined not as resources to exploit, but as vital partners in understanding human history and ecological heritage. They offer rich insights into the social and symbolic worlds of ancient peoples—and serve as reminders of the deep, sacred relationship between humanity and the natural world in an era of environmental reckoning.
For previous lecture seasons, click here.
