University News
Guest Lecturer to Present Archaeology as History Nov. 30
November 28, 2011
MACOMB, IL – "Archaeology as History: Current Evacuations of the Athenian Twilight" will be presented by Michael Laughy of Monmouth College at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 in Morgan Hall 109.
"For more than 1,000 years, Athens ranked among the most vibrant intellectual, social and economic centers of the ancient Mediterranean world. Beginning in the third century A.D., however, Athens was rocked by a series of barbarian sacks, marking a centuries-long period in which the fortunes, and the size, of the city ebbed and flowed," said Laughy. "The city began a period of slow recovery and expansion by the 10th century A.D., but by this time, in the words of the Archbishop of Athens, Michael Akominatos, 'the glory of Athens had utterly perished; one could see nothing, not even a faint symbol, by which to recognize the ancient city.'
"In this lecture, we will discuss some of the spectacular discoveries uncovered during recent excavations of Late Antique and Byzantine Athens, and how these excavations enrich our understanding of the ancient accounts of the Athenian twilight," added Laughy.
Laughy is an ACM Mellon Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow (classics) at Monmouth College. The two-year fellow awards, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, place new Ph.D.s in teaching and research residencies in Associated Colleges of the Midwest member colleges.
The lecture, open free to the public, is sponsored by Western's history honors society, Phi Alpha Theta, and the history department.
For more information, contact history Associate Professor Lee Brice, LL-Brice@wiu.edu.
Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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