Between Worlds
The Port of Caesarea Maritima and the Roman to Medieval Near East
August 25 • Online @ 6:00p
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Joseph L. Rife
On the north coast of modern Israel, Caesarea Maritima flourished as a provincial capital, commercial center, and hotbed of religious conflict from the time of King Herod the Great to the time of King Louis IX. The eminent port city on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard between Alexandria and Antioch from the early Roman Empire to the Crusades. In his lecture, Prof. Rife will explore the archaeology and history of this uniquely important urban community. The story of this one city encapsulates the broader historical evolution of the region, from the negotiation between regional sovereignty and Roman imperialism to the advent and growth of Christianity and the eventual prosperity of the Islamic caliphates.
Dr. Rife received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is a member of the Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. He is a historian and archaeologist of the eastern Mediterranean world during the Roman Empire through Late Antiquity. For 25 years, he has conducted archaeological research in the Mediterranean basin and currently directs major excavations in southern Greece and northern Israel. In addition, Dr. Rife has held fellowships and endowed positions at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard, Cornell University, and the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.
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Media Sponsor
The Sheppy Dog Fund Lecture has been established to address the topics of art, religion, and history prior to the 19th century, and is funded by the Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, Advisor.
Sheppy Dog Fund Lectures
| 2020/2021 | |
|---|---|
The Greatest Bible Ever Written Kennicott no. 1, La Coruña, Spain, 1476 Guest Lecturer: Dr. Gary Rendsburg Hosted by FIA Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Tracee Glab Dr. Rendsburg presents a general background of Hebrew Bible manuscripts from before the age of printing and then focuses on the Kennicott Bible, its layout, format, biblical text, and beautiful illuminations. | Notre-Dame of Paris: In the Light of the Fire Guest Lecturer Dr. Lindsay Cook Hosted by FIA Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Tracee Glab In this illustrated talk, Dr. Lindsay S. Cook discusses the past, present, and likely future of the cathedral of Paris through its material remains, graphic traces, and digital doubles—including the laser scans produced of the building before and after the fire. |
To the House Without Exit Part Two: The Flowering of the Afterlife Guest Lecturer: Dr. Justin Sledge Dr. Sledge’s second lecture focuses on the flowering of the afterlife in the centuries forged by early Christianity, rabbinical Judaism, and Islam. Here the concept of heaven and hell is simultaneously organized yet continues to shift and evolve. | To the House Without Exit Part One: The Origins of the Afterlife Guest Lecturer: Dr. Justin Sledge Dr. Sledge introduces major historical moments and philosophical afterlife beliefs, exploring the early origins of the concept among the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Canaanites/Israelites, Greeks, and Persians. Do all cultures develop similar afterlives? |
The Silk Road Made Visible: Asian Influence on Medieval European Art Guest Lecturer: Dr. Mark Cruse This presentation discusses the influence of Asian art and materials on the design, production, and collecting of art in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Dr. Cruse examines the presence of Asian objects in European collections, and the ways in which contact with the East transformed manuscript illumination, monumental painting, sculpture, and other artistic media in Europe. | Houdini Guest Lecturer: Dr. Taylor Hagood The immigrant son of a Hungarian rabbi, Harry Houdini remains the most famous magician and greatest escape artist the world has known. From his fabulous escapes to his mysterious death, Houdini's life is itself a kind of grand magic illusion filled with a multitude of secrets and still-unsolved mysteries. |
Medieval Matters: Curating the Middle Ages at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Guest Lecturer: Dr. C. Griffith Mann This talk will explore the history of these two collections, and consider a selection of outstanding works of art that bring the medieval period compellingly to life. | A Discovery of Witchcraft: Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Magical Practice in Early Modern Europe Guest Lecturer: Dr. Justin Sledge It has been argued that the “witch craze”—stretching from roughly the mid-15th to the mid-17th centuries and claiming the lives of over 50,000 people, overwhelmingly women—was the first concerted and thus truly pan-European cultural undertaking since the eclipse of the western Roman Empire. |
| The Sheppy Dog Fund Lecture has been established to address the topics of art, religion, and history prior to the 19th century, and is funded by The Sheppy Dog Fund, Dr. Alan Klein, Advisor. | For more Sheppy Dog Fund lectures, click here. |
Exhibition Lectures
| 2020 | |
|---|---|
Men Laid Bare: Homosexual Bodies and Homophobic History Guest Curator: Eric Birkle This talk takes as its premise the double entendre of the phrase “to lay bare,” which is used to refer at once to the archetype of the nude in art history (or the idea of bodily exposure) and to reveal the extent to which homosexual subject matter and gay artists of the last century have been repressed and trivialized. | |
Alexis Rockman – Artist Talk Guest Lecturer: Alexis Rockman Artist Alexis Rockman will talk about the making of The Great Lakes Cycle, from his initial research trip around the lakes to the making of the work. This talk will be followed by a q-and-a with Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Tracee Glab. | Black Matters – Q & A Guest Lecturer: Matthew Owen Wead Artist Matthew Owen Wead and Tracee Glab, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, discuss Wead's exhibition Black Matters, featuring woodblock prints based on real individuals killed by police officers or armed vigilantes. |
