Bringing Greece's Past to Life

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS

Bringing Greece,s past to life since 1881

Dig deeper into the American School through our video at https://vimeo.com/166801992

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For 136 years, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens has

served postgraduate education as the leading American teaching and research institution in Greece devoted to the advanced study of all aspects of Greek culture from antiquity to the present day.

The broad mission of the American School has remained constant over its distinguished history: teaching; research; archaeological exploration; and publication and dissemination of research.

Founded in 1881, the American School provides graduate students and scholars from a consortium of nearly 200 North American colleges, universities and research institutions, a base for research and study in Greece. These institutions, with programs in classical archaeology, classics, linguistic studies, Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern Greek studies, archaeological sciences, political science, history, and other social sciences, regard the outstanding academic programs, excavations, libraries and other facilities of the School as extensions of their own institutions’ graduate programs. The American School’s academic program for postgraduate students is viewed by many institutions as a requirement for the well-rounded Ph.D. in Greek area studies.

In fact, many of today’s faculty in American universities in these core disciplines are alumni/ae of the School.

The School also administers two leading excavations in Greece, is home to world renowned Libraries and research centers, oversees the excavations and research activities in Greece of its affiliated U.S. institutions, publishes important monographs and an award-winning scholarly quarterly journal, and houses a major research laboratory for archaeological sciences.

The beginnings of a school, 1887

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Discover the treasures in the Gennadius Library at https://vimeo.com/217034933

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The Gennadius Library was built with generous support from the Carnegie Corporation to house the collection of Joannes Gennadius

Libraries The Gennadius Library

The Gennadius Library is an internationally renowned center for the study of Greek history, literature, and art, from ancient to modern times.

Its unique collections range from first editions of Homer to watercolors by Edward Lear and manuscript scores of the composer-conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Opened in 1926 to house diplomat Joannes Gennadius’s collection of 26,000 rare books, manuscripts, and archives, the Gennadius Library today holds an ever expanding col- An early score by Mitropoulos; a first edition of Homer's Iliad lection of 130,000 volumes. With an over 90-year tradition of excellence in collections management, research, and publication, the Library supports the growing fields in Greek area studies, and serves approximately 6,000 visitors about the american school of classical studies a 5

each year. In addition to its role as a library and research institution, the Gennadius is also an active participant in the Athenian and international community through its seminars, concerts, exhibitions, publications, and lectures broadcast worldwide on the Internet.

The Library was designed by New York architects John Van Pelt and W. Stuart Thompson in a neo-classical Beaux Arts style typical of the early 20th century. The Library consists of a main building flanked by East and West wings and is surrounded by gardens, creating one of the few green spaces to be found in Athens today. In recognition of the Library’s architectural significance, the entire complex has been landmarked by the Greek Ministry of Culture.

The Carl W. and Elizabeth P. Blegen Library

Containing over 109,000 volumes and nearly 700 periodicals, the Blegen Library covers virtually the entire field of classical antiquity, with a special emphasis on Greek language, literature, art, and archaeology. Many scholars in classical antiquity consider the Blegen to be among the best research collections in their field because of its comprehensive and unique holdings in classical studies and Greek archaeology. The Blegen also provides a wide range of electronic resources and journals.

The Archives of the Blegen make available the notebooks, plans, and photographs from more than a century of School-sponsored excavations and other archaeological work in Greece. An antiquities study collection provides an excellent resource for hands-on instruction and comparison.

Students perform research both in the stacks and through the Blegen's extensive online resources

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The Stoa of Attalos is part of the Athenian Agora excavation and archaeological park at the base of the Acropolis

archaeological Research Centers Research Center at the Agora

Housed in the Stoa of Attalos, the School’s Agora Research Center contains the offices, workrooms, conservation laboratory, photographic facilities, and storerooms connected with its excavations in the Agora. These excavations, currently directed by Professor John McK. Camp II, have produced primary evidence for the rise of ancient Athens, including the origins and operations of democracy as well as other aspects of Greek, Roman and post-antique Greek culture and civilization.

Student excavators logging in archaeological data

The Center also furnishes study facilities for visiting onsite researchers. Recently, the Center completed a major project funded by the Packard Humanities Institute to computerize retroactively the excavation catalogue and much other information gleaned over 80 years of excavation. In addition, in its continued effort to leverage technology, the School has created iDig, available on iTunes, a digital app that aspires to transform archaeological recording and analysis. It was developed by Bruce Hartzler who works as the IT Specialist

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Watch John Camp,s lifelong passion for the Agora at https://vimeo.com/166798518

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for the Agora Excavations in Athens. He has created software which field archaeologists can use to record excavation data easily, accurately, and consistently in real time, then process and share it quickly. Error-checking and on-the-spot analyses are empowered by interactive access to plans, photographs, and the records of the entire run of notebooks dating back to 1931. iDig has been used in the Agora for five seasons and is increasingly becoming adopted by international excavation teams.

Research Center at Ancient Corinth

Ancient Corinth is famous in Western history as a place where Saint Paul preached, as the capital of the Roman province of Achaea, and as a rich city of Ancient Greece. Corinth was a major cosmopolitan city throughout antiquity and during the succeeding early Christian era, under the Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, and Ottoman Empires, and of key importance in the Greek War for Independence. The School is currently proposing a Master Planning project to unify the ancient port, the city, and the citadel of Acrocorinth into a 6 km2 archaeological and nature park in preparation for nomination of Ancient Corinth as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The School has conducted archaeological excavations at Ancient Corinth almost continuously since 1896. The site is unique in Greece for preserving intact its ancient harbor, city and citadel, in a spectacularly beautiful landscape. It is imperative to protect such a vast ancient to modern landscape, encompassing over 2.5 square miles within its walls and over 60 acres of excavated area, that includes the lofty acropolis of Acrocorinth, an impressive excavated city center, a broad agricultural plain, and two historically strategic ports on the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs.

Site of Ancient Corinth with the Acrocorinth in the distance

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The new Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science was opened in 2016

Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science

On June 4, 2016, the American School inaugurated the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, which will propel the School into a new era of research and solidify its standing as the preeminent center for high level archaeological science in the Mediterranean and Southeastern Europe. The new building replaces the former lab that Mr. Wiener founded in 1992 and adds cutting edge equipment, among which are a scanning electron microscope, a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer and a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.

Director Karkanas analyzing materials in the lab

Under the Directorship of Dr. Panagiotis Karkanas, the Wiener Laboratory can now provide to the research community state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, extensive and diverse comparative collections, and resources for independent scientific research. Currently, the Wiener Laboratory is involved in long-range, multidimensional programs of research focused primarily on human osteology, faunal analysis, and a range of geoarchaeological and palaeoenvironmental research. As an example, the Wiener Laboratory has undertaken the analysis of more than 1,500 skeletons from one of the largest cemeteries ever unearthed in Greece: the systematic excavation at Old Phaleron, the ancient port of Athens, where the Stavros Niarchos

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Foundation has constructed its cultural center containing the new National Library and National Opera. The cemetery establishes the basis for an unprecedented view of ancient Greek heritage and the history of ancient Athens. It dates from the Archaic period into the early Classical era (late 8th to early 5th century B.C.), a time of major sociopolitical unrest as Athens developed the institutions of democracy.

Academic Programs The School remains the most significant resource in Greece for American scholars of the language, literature, art, history, archaeology, and philosophy of Greece and the Greek world from its deepest prehistory to the present.

With its extensive teaching programs, the School is unique among America’s overseas research centers. Foremost among its academic programs is the “Regular Program,” open through an annual competitive examination to 15 to 20 Ph.D. candidates in classics, ancient history, classical archaeology, art history, and related fields at North American institutions. Regular Program Members receive comprehensive, rigorous training through systematic guided visits to the principal archaeological sites and museums of Greece and seminars taught by resident and visiting scholars. They can also participate in the excavation training session at the School’s site in Ancient Corinth.

The School also serves approximately 30 to 50 Student “Associate Members” each year, graduate students whose dissertations and research interests bring them to Greece. Although Student

Mellon Professor Kevin Daly leads students through the important archaeological sites and museums of Greece

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Clockwise fron left: Students excavating at the Agora; sorting pot sherds at Corinth; Assistant Director Dylan Rogers (right) discusses the Parthenon frieze with a student at the Acropolis museum

Associate Members are ordinarily advised by scholars at their home institutions, the resident professors and scholars at the School offer them assistance, especially to the experts and resources available at the other foreign institutes and to the museums, universities and members of the Greek Archaeological Service. Scholars already holding the Ph.D. who wish to conduct research at the School apply to become Senior Associate Members. Membership is awarded upon review of the scholar’s curriculum vitae and project statement.

The American School also offers a broad array of pre- and postdoctoral fellowship opportunities for students and scholars to use its overseas facilities, participate in academic programs, or engage in pure research.

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Capital Projects

The Makriyannis Wing and New Exhibition Gallery in the Gennadius Library

The new construction and renovation of the recently named Makriyannis Wing will expand the existing space of the Gennadius Library with the addition of a state-of-the-art exhibition area, an entire floor of open-stacks shelving, a multipurpose room for seminars and meetings, and improved spaces for conducting research. These improvements, which are in line with current best practices in library science, will significantly enhance the library and its services by facilitating scholarly research and encouraging public engagement with the unique holdings housed in this magnificent and historically important building.

With major funding secured from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Hellenic Republic’s Ministry for Development and Competitiveness, and numerous other institutional and private gifts, the School inaugurated the construction phase of this project in July 2014. The opening ceremony is planned for 2018.

Clockwise from left: The Gennadius Library grounds with the new Makriyannis Wing expansion along the left side.

Construction progress on the main entrance Architectural renderings of the main entrance and exhibition space

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Clockwise from left: Loring Hall in 1929; the courtyard today; students mingle with senior scholars in the saloni

Loring Hall / Student Center Building and Renovation

The renovation and enhancement of the student residential facilities is a key priority in the coming year. Loring Hall opened in 1929, and provides living quarters for up to 35 students and scholars as well as a dining hall and social spaces, open to all School members, resident and nonresident. For generations of American School members and fellows, Loring Hall has been the heart of the School —the place where the community of students and scholars gathers for meals, informal lectures, and traditional holidays. Development efforts are well underway for a project to renovate Loring Hall—to modernize the physical plant, install air conditioning, upgrade the electrical, plumbing and heating, add more bathrooms, increase the number of rooms, and provide small suites, suitable for married couples and senior scholars. Beyond that, however, the School envisions the creation of a new hub of student and faculty life, equipped with the most advanced technology and a place for students, faculty and visiting scholars to gather. There is a need to create quiet spaces for concentration and open space where people and ideas from various disciplines can come together.

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The School campus in Athens

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES BY THE NUMBERS

1881

190

year school founded

member InsTitutions

34 52 out of

9,769

AIA gold medals won by scholars affiliated with the school

kilometers traveled by students in a program year

over

191,161 artifacts discovered at agora excavations (EXCLUDING COINS)

109,000 700

130,000

books/periodicals IN OUR RESEARCH books, archives, manuscripts, and COLLECTION related to works of art covering greek culture about theworld american school of classical studies a 15 the ancient post-antiquity

For additional information, please contact: George T. Orfanakos, Executive Director 609-454-6823 • gorfanakos@ascsa.org

AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS 6-8 Charlton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540-5232 Telephone: 609-683-0800 Fax: 609-924-0578 54 Souidias Street, GR-106 76 Athens, Greece Telephone: +30-213-000-2400 Fax: +30-210-725-0584

www.ascsa.edu.gr

© 2017