Talks examine ‘Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World’

Scholars will discuss femininity, gender and religion in ancient Greece, Egypt, Italy and Portugal through a spring lecture series at the University of Louisville.

The College of Arts and Sciences’ Liberal Studies Project and the Archaeological Institute of America’s Kentucky Society are sponsoring the free, public “Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World” lecture series on UofL’s Belknap Campus. The talks will begin at 6 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library. Here are the topics: Feb. 11 – “Life and the ‘Good Death’ at Torre de Palma, Portugal,” Mary Lucas Powell, University of Kentucky anthropology professor emeritus and former director/curator of UK’s W.S. Webb Museum of Anthropology. Powell studies the natural history of ancient diseases. (rescheduled from fall 2015). March 3 – “Mirror, Mirror: Reflections of Femininity,” Mireille Lee, Vanderbilt University art history assistant professor. Lee specializes in Greek art and archaeology and researches gender in ancient visual and material culture and studies. March 24 – “Protecting Young Women in Ancient Egypt: Gender in the Oracular Amuletic Decrees,” Terry Wilfong, University of Michigan Egyptology professor. He also is curator for the Graeco-Roman Egypt collection at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. March 31 – “Goddesses and Heroines in Light of Etruscan Society and Religion,” Daniele Maras, a member of Pontifical Roman Archaeological Academy who focuses on ancient religion and mythology and the changing cross-cultural relationships between them. For more information, contact John Hale at 502-852-2248 or john.hale@louisville.edu.