Boston Area Classics Calendar
December 2021
Shane Bobrycki (University of Vienna,
Austria)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Mon., Dec. 13, 5:15 p.m.
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (on Zoom, registration required)
"Plague, War, Migration, Climate Change, Sex, and the Demographic Riddle of the Early
Middle Ages
Zoom
registration<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__mit.zo…
Abstract: The medieval historian Marc Bloch wrote that the “fundamental characteristic” of
early medieval Europe (c. 500–1000 CE) was “the great and universal decline in population”
that opened the period. Many economic and social historians have agreed. Between the fifth
and the seventh centuries, cities and towns diminished by orders of magnitude; some
vanished entirely. Settlement density declined almost everywhere. Only gradually did
cities and populations recover, a process that gained speed only after 1000. Few question
that this demographic pattern had profound economic, social, and political consequences
for early medieval history. But historians are less sure why it happened in the first
place. What caused populations to drop off in the post-Roman West? Why did they remain low
for so long? Why did the demographic fate of the West differ from that of its “sibling
cultures” around the Mediterranean, the Byzantine and Islamic worlds? In this talk, I
reassess the usual suspects for early medieval European demographic history: epidemic
disease, endemic warfare, migration, climate change, and the reproductive choices of early
medieval families. I will argue that in each case we need to spend more time thinking
about the mechanics of causation.
MIT Ancient & Medieval Studies Colloquium Series
mit.zoom.us…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__mit.zo…
[Shane Bobrycki (University of Vienna, Austria)]
MFA Ancient Greek and Roman Free Admission Day in Celebration of the new Classical
Galleries<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar…
Sat., Dec. 18
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115
It’s a gift from the gods! Celebrate the opening of the MFA’s new galleries of ancient
Greek, Roman, and Byzantine art with free general admission on Saturday, December 18. This
celebratory day will include a series of talks by MFA staff in the galleries as well as
art making activities.
The new galleries of art of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine empire feature some of
the oldest works in the MFA’s collection telling new stories and reflecting our time
through the art of the past. With freshly imagined spaces that include natural light,
innovative displays, interactive experiences, and immersive evocations of an ancient Greek
temple and a Byzantine church, visitors of all ages can learn about the legacies of these
ancient cultures and understand their relevance today.
mfa.org…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__mfa.org_ev…
February 2022
Maurizio Bettini (University of
Siena)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?tr…
Wed., Feb. 2, 12 – 1:15 p.m.
Zoom
TBA
Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar: Civilizations of Ancient Greece and
Rome<https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/civilizations-ancient-gr…
Andrew Bauer (Stanford
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Feb. 8, 5:15 – 7 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, TBA, Cambridge, MA 02138
Lecture: TBA
Ancient Studies at Harvard Visitors
Series<https://ancientstudies.harvard.edu/visitors-series>
Nate Aschenbrenner and Jake Ransohoff (Harvard
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Mon., Feb. 28, 5 – 6:30 p.m.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, TBD
Book launch for the The Invention of Byzantium in Early Modern Europe.
John Duffy
Society<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/links/john-duffy-society>
March 2022
Patrick Finglass (University of
Bristol)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calendar?…
Fri., Mar. 18, 4 – 6 p.m.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 745 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 409, Boston, MA 02215
Topic TBA
Sponsored by the BU Center for the Humanities
Boston University: Myth & Religion In The Ancient
World<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.bu.edu_cl…
April 2022
Katherine Schwab, Fairfield
University<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calenda…
Tue., Apr. 5, 5 – 6 p.m.
AMHERST COLLEGE, Fayerweather Hall 115, Amherst, MA 01002
Schwab, an art historian and archaeologist, will speak about her most recent discoveries
in drawing the broken Parthenon metopes.
Sasha-Mae Eccleston (Brown
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Tue., Apr. 12, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
Zoom (HARVARD UNIVERSITY)
TBA
Mahindra Humanities Center Seminar: Civilizations of Ancient Greece and
Rome<https://mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu/civilizations-ancient-gr…
Rebecca Ammerman (Colgate
University)<https://classics.fas.harvard.edu/boston-area-classics-calend…
Thu., Apr. 21, 5 – 6 p.m.
AMHERST COLLEGE, Fayerweather Hall 115, Amherst, MA 01002
Ammerman, a classical archaeologist, will speak about votive imagery and the cult of the
nymphs at Metaponto.
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