Omur Harmansah

Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies:
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Phone: +1 401 863 6411
Phone 2: +1 401 421 1641
Omur_Harmansah@brown.edu

Working in the field of archaeology, architectural history and material culture of the ancient Near East, Ömür Harmanşah's academic interests are increasingly focused on the intersections of architectural space, bodily performance and collective memory. He is particularly influenced by the developing fields of material culture studies, anthropological theories of art, technology and agency, ethnographies of space, place and landscape, and phenomenological approaches to spatiality.

Biography

Ömür Harmansah works on the archaeology of the ancient Near East, particularly Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia. Born and raised in Turkey, Ömür studied architecture and architectural history at the Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey). He received his PhD from University of Pennsylvania (2005), with a dissertation on the practice of founding cities in the ancient Near East. Since 1993, he participated in several archaeological projects in Turkey and Greece such as Kerkenes Dag and Isthmia, while he is currently involved with projects at Gordion and Ayanis in Turkey. He is in the process of developing a new archaeological survey project addressing questions of place and landscape in Southern Beyşehir Lake Basin in Central Turkey. He previously taught at Reed College (Portland, OR) for three semesters in 2005-2006. His favourite place in the world is Taskahve in Ayvalik, Turkey.

Interests

Having been initially educated as an architect and architectural historian, I intend to contribute to archaeological theory and practice especially by pursuing issues of the production of social spaces in antiquity. Material culture approaches are particularly relevant in pursuing architectural technologies in ancient contexts as well as the circulation of architectural/craft knowledge.

An odd list of fields I see myself affiliated with:

* archaeology, material culture and architectural history of the Ancient Near East, particularly Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia;
* archaeological and architectural theory in general,
* theories of space, place and landscape; including cities and production of urban space, commemorative monuments and collective memory.
* cultural studies; material culture studies; technology and agency; production and circulation of artisanal knowledge;
* theories of representation, body and performance;
* architectural and topographic documentation/representation of archaeological landscapes and sites.

As archaeologists, our research is usually dependant upon rigorous fieldwork. Since 1993, I participated in several archaeological projects in Turkey and Greece such as Kerkenes Dag and Isthmia, while I am currently involved with projects at Gordion and Ayanis in Turkey. At Gordion, this Phrygian site in Central Anatolia, I have been working on the Early Iron age building technologies. At Ayanis, I have worked on the use of stone in the architecture of this Urartian city, located on the Eastern shore of Lake Van in Eastern Turkey. Starting in 2007, I have become affiliated with an ethnoarchaeological project at Ayanis, where I took on the task of documenting architectural traditions and building technologies at the nearby village of Ayanis. I am in the process of developing a field project on the questions of event, place and performance in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age rock relief - spring sanctuary sites in South-central Turkey.

Here is a recent talk that I have presented at Brown and that gives a good idea of what I have been working on:

"Event Place Performance: The Making of the Urban Space in Early Iron Age Karkamish" Brown University, April 6, 2007.

Degrees

PhD in History of Art, MA in Architectural History, B. Architecture

Awards

2009 The Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award. Brown University Office of the Vice President for Research. Project title: "Southern Beyşehir Lake Basin Archaeological Research Project: First Field Season (2009)"

2009 Teaching with Technology Award. With the course Arch 0250 Intimate Stories: Narrative in ancient visual culture (A First Year Seminar - Fall 2008). Computer & Information Services, Vice President/Cio. Computing & Information Services and Dean of the College, Brown University.

2008 Faculty Lectureship Grant: The Mollie B. Mandeville Lectureship. Brown University, Office of the Dean of Faculty. "Archaeologies of Place and Landscape" Amount: $1,900.

2008 Course Development Grant. Brown University, Office of the Dean of Faculty. First Year Seminar Course Arch 0250 Intimate Stories: Narrative in Ancient Art.

2008 International UTRA (Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award) supervising Undergraduate Student Bochay Drum. Office of the Dean of College, Brown University.

2003 Carter Manny Citation of Special Recognition Award. Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, for the dissertation in progress.

2003 Dean's Scholar, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.

1999-2003 Kolb Fellowship; Louis J. Kolb Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

1997-1999 Williams Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Department of the History of Art.

1997 Prof. Dr. Mustafa N. Parlar Education and Research Foundation Thesis Award. Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey).

Affiliations

Archaeological Institute of America
College Art Association
The Society of Architectural Historians
American Schools of Oriental Research
Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft
British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara

Teaching

Most of my teaching has so far focused on the intersection of two major fields of inquiry: art, architecture and material culture of the ancient Near East on the one hand, and the archaeological, architectural, and art-historical theories used in the study of the ancient world on the other. I plan to continue teaching courses that focus on the intersections of contemporary theory and the archaeological evidence, with particular emphasis on theories of material culture and architectural space and a broad geographical focus on the ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean world (especially Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria, Iran, Egypt and the Levant). I do favor thematically designed courses such as those that I have taught so far: "Architecture, Body, and Performance," "Architecture and Memory" and "Material Worlds", and I plan to design new courses that engage with bodies of theoretical discourse and pursue new readings of relevant art-historical and architectural material, especially those that relate to issues of space, body, representation, gender and sexuality, performance, ideology and social memory.

You can reach the web pages of each course I have taught here. In Spring 2008, I am currently teaching a graduate seminar called Archaeologies of Place as well as a graduate/undergraduate course entitled Architecture and Memory.

Web Links

Curriculum Vitae

Download Omur Harmansah's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format