Proposed “Colloquium Session” for AIA Annual Meeting

Boston, January 4-7, 2018

Archaeology from a distance: Dura-Europos in the new millennium

Organizers/discussants:

Dr. Jen Baird, Birkbeck College, University of London and Dr. Lisa Brody, Yale University Art Gallery

We invite proposals for papers (15-20 minutes each) presenting research on the site of Dura-Europos and its multicultural heritage. Identified almost a century ago, Dura on the Syrian Euphrates is one of the most extensively excavated urban sites of the Arsacid and Roman Near East. While the site has been heavily looted during the current conflict in Syria, there is tremendous potential for new research and analysis of the site and its archaeology, including that which builds on the archives and objects from Dura held in the collections of the Yale University Art Gallery.

This session aims to bring together international scholars working on Dura-Europos and we invite papers that investigate the site and address questions including:

What is the status of Dura in the 21st century? How might Dura inform our understanding of the Roman Empire and its interaction with eastern cultures? How can the Dura archives and collection at Yale facilitate reinterpretation of existing theories and assumptions regarding culture in the Roman East? What are the potentials and pitfalls of working with ‘legacy’ data, especially when the site is no longer accessible to Western scholars?

In order to participate, please submit an abstract (up to 400 words) to Jen Baird (j.baird@bbk.ac.uk) and Lisa Brody (lisa.brody@yale.edu) by February 24, 2017.  The abstracts are reviewed anonymously so attach a PDF or WORD document without your name and affiliation to your e-mail message.