Saturday, March 7
3:30 pm EST
In-person only at the Penn Museum, Classroom L2
No registration required
Special Event: Annual Korsyn Lecture in honor of Felix J. Korsyn

Speaker: Prof. Rita Lucarelli, Associate Professor of Egyptology, Faculty Curator of Egyptology at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California Berkeley

Title: Re-Encountering Egypt: Museums and the Human Experience in the Age of AI

Abstract:
In an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, where images, texts, and even ancient cultures can be generated instantly, what role do museums still play in helping us understand the past? This lecture revisits Egypt as a case study to explore the enduring human value of museum experiences in a digital and AI-driven world.

Drawing on examples from Egyptian collections and exhibitions, the speaker’s own 3D and VR projects and student engagement with the ancient Egyptian collection of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology of UC Berkeley, the talk examines how museums create forms of knowledge and emotional connection that cannot be reduced to data or algorithms alone. While AI offers powerful new tools for access, reconstruction, and interpretation, it also raises important questions about authenticity, presence, and the meaning of cultural encounter.

By re-encountering Egypt through the physical, sensory, and social space of the museum, this lecture argues that museums remain vital sites where history is not only learned, but felt, questioned, and shared.

Speaker Bio:
Prof. Rita Lucarelli studied at the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” Italy, where she received her MA degree in Egyptology. She holds her Ph.D. from Leiden University, the Netherlands. Her Ph.D. thesis was published as The Book of the Dead of Gatseshen: Ancient Egyptian Funerary Religion in the 10th Century BC. She worked as a Research Scholar and a Lecturer at the Department of Egyptology of Bonn University, where she was part of the team of the “Book of the Dead Project”. She is currently an Associate Professor of Egyptology at UC Berkeley and Faculty Curator of Egyptology at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology of the University of California, Berkeley and Fellow of the Digital Humanities in Berkeley. Her specialty is the study of the ancient Egyptian magic and religion, and the reception history of ancient Egypt, in particular in Black Visual Arts and music.

She is presently working at a project aiming at realizing 3D models of ancient Egyptian coffins, the “Book of the Dead in 3D” and a VR App, “Return to the Tomb”, which recreate the tomb space where an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus is brought back, from the museum to the tomb. She is also completing a monograph on demonology in ancient Egypt entitled “Agents of punishment and protection: ancient Egyptian Demonology in the First Millenium BCE”. Rita Lucarelli is also involved in a teaching Higher Education in the San Quentin State Prison, in California.

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Lectures are FREE to ARCE Members, $7 for University of Pennsylvania Museum Members and UPenn Staff and Faculty, $5 for Students with ID, and $10 for the general public.
Light refreshments served starting at 3pm.

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The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1948 by a consortium of educational and cultural institutions to support research on all aspects of Egyptian history and culture, foster broader knowledge among the general public, and strengthen American-Egyptian cultural ties. The ARCE Pennsylvania Chapter (ARCE-PA) is the local branch of the national institution. We host monthly events including scholarly lectures, Egyptian-themed workshops, social events, and guided tours of the Penn Museum’s Egyptian galleries. For more information or to learn about the perks of membership, please send an e-mail to info@arce-pa.org, or visit our website at www.arce-pa.org.