Recent Grants

The Program in Early Cultures (PEC) is co-sponsoring the following discussions, lectures, conferences, and events in the 2019-2020 academic year:

  • "Violence in Early Cultures: Questions, Comparisons, and Ethical Considerations" (September 2019)
  • "At the Margins: Interconnections of Power and Identity in the Ancient Near East" (October 2019)
  • The New England Medieval Conference 2019, "Rethinking the Body: Humanity and Its Discontents in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages" (November 2019)
  • Northeast Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory (November 2019)
  • Artist Talk by Michael Rakowitz (November 2019)
  • A discussion on comparison with Joanne Pillsbury and James Doyle (November 2019)

In the 2018-2019 academic year, PEC co-sponsored the following discussions, lectures, conferences, and events on-campus:

  • A lecture by Professor Daniel Selden (UC Santa Cruz), "World Literature and its Discontents: The Life of Ahiqar" (April 2019)
  • ​A seminar with Professor Renaud Gagné (University of Cambridge) on the topic "The Practice of Comparison in the Study of the Ancient World" (April 2019)
  • ​The Mediterranean Seminar Spring 2019 Workshop: Captivity & Ransom (May 2019)
  • ​The Eighth North American Syriac Symposium, "Syriac Worlds: Interactions, Exchanges, Contributions" (June 2019)

In the 2017-2018 academic year, the PEC supported a wide range of activities, including courses, events, and research funding.  See the list below for some examples:

  • Egyptology and Assyriology workshop on Afro-Asiatic languages in April 2018
  • Prof. Houston ANTH course museum trip
  • The Brown Classical Journal
  • A publication edited by John Bodel and Steve Houston on "Hidden Writing" and "Making a Mark"
  • Sophocles study day (Trachiniae Study Day)
  • The reenactment of an ancient Egyptian battle
  • JIAAW Islands conference
  • Andreas Stauder dinner
  • Graduate student summer grants