Jennifer Tobin, Associate Professor of History and Classics, University of Illinois-Chicago Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire in the latter half of the 4th century BCE resulted in an unprecedented Greco-Macedonian investigation of Africa, Central Asia and India. During the following centuries narratives created by explorers, traders and conquerors, reported on the wonders, […]

Dr. Laura Tedesco, Cultural Heritage Program Manager, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs The deculturization of Afghanistan, best known in our time from the Taliban’s devastation to the Buddhas of Bamiyan, has continued uninterrupted since 2001 through a sophisticated network of illegal excavations, the lucrative traffic in antiquities, urban development, […]

Dr. Regina Gee (Montana State University - Bozeman) This lecture explores the ancient history and modern re-emergence of two ancient Roman sites of the seaside town of Oplontis: Villa A (Villa Oplontis), a sprawling luxury villa with over one hundred surviving rooms, and “Oplontis B,” a commercial complex that contained apartments and an extensive wine […]

Dr. David Saunders, Getty Museum Over the last decade, the Antiquities department of the J. Paul Getty Museum has developed a fruitful and enduring partnership with the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli.  In addition to generous loans for special exhibitions, we have undertaken a series of collaborative conservation projects that have returned individual objects to […]

Ashley Morton (independent scholar) This lecture will discuss the results of recent archaeological surveys conducted in the Gondola Meadow and the Looff Carrousel areas before the new recreational rink and carrousel buildings were completed.  It will examine ongoing historical research into what is today Spokane's iconic public centerpiece, Riverfront Park, as the area transitioned from […]