Ideas

Explore firsthand accounts of research and questions posed by IAS scientists and scholars. From art history to string theory, from moral anthropology to the long-term fate of the universe, contributions span the last decade to the research of today.

Historical Studies

George F. Kennan: A Life between Worlds

A book by Frank Costigliola

The diplomat and historian George F. Kennan, Faculty (1956–74) in the School of Historical Studies, is the subject of a "clear-eyed, and compelling" biography written by Member (2009–10) and Director's Visitor (2011) Frank Costigliola.

Victor Wong British Museum Parthenon Marbles

Historical Studies

Current Challenges for Cultural Heritage in Greece

An interview with Angelos Chaniotis

For il manifesto, Valentina Porcheddu interviews Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, about the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.

Historical Studies

An Oblique Autobiography

A book by Yve-Alain Bois

Yve-Alain Bois, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies, has published An Oblique Autobiography, a collection of essays and reminiscences, with no place press.

Historical Studies

Casting a New Light on the History of Archaeological Research at IAS

By Abbey Ellis

The role of reproductions in facilitating the study of the ancient Mediterranean has long been recognized at IAS. Upon his appointment as the Institute’s first professor of Greek epigraphy in 1935, Benjamin D. Meritt petitioned then-Director Abraham...

Historical Studies

Q&A with Verena Krebs

Verena Krebs is an award-winning medieval historian working on Christian Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. She draws on archaeology, art, and written sources for her scholarship. At IAS, Krebs will work on her second monograph, “Africa Collecting Europe: Patronage and Power in Christian Ethiopia, 1468–1530", which will tease out an untold story about the assertion of power in a pre-colonial African kingdom.

Historical Studies

Animating the Antique: Sculptural Encounter in the Age of Aesthetic Theory

A book by Sarah Betzer

Animating the Antique: Sculptural Encounter in the Age of Aesthetic Theory, a pioneering work of eighteenth and nineteenth century art history, has been published by Penn State University Press. Sarah Betzer, a Member and former Visitor (2014–15, 2016) in the School of Historical Studies, wrote the book during her time at the Institute, culminating in the groundbreaking and widely-acclaimed text that spans a century-and-a-half and offers new account of the distinctively modern allure of the antique.

Historical Studies

Ancient Jury Duty Comes to Life at IAS

By Abbey Ellis

Pinakia, here shown as casts made of Plaster of Paris, were small bronze plates used in ancient Athens for the process of democratically selecting a group of citizens to serve on a jury. Athenian citizens would nominate themselves for jury duty, volunteering their bronze plates to be inserted into a kleroterion (a machine with rows of slots and a built-in lottery system).

Historical Studies

Alice’s Book: How the Nazis Stole My Grandmother’s Cookbook

A book by Karina Urbach

Past Visitor (2015–21) Karina Urbach’s book Alice’s Book: How the Nazis Stole My Grandmother’s Cookbook, originally published in German to wide acclaim,has been published in English, with a translation by Jamie Bulloch.

Historical Studies

HistoGenes

Patrick Geary is co-PI of the European Research Council funded research project HistoGenes, which uses a combination of genomic, archaeological, anthropological, and historical methods to study over six-thousand burial sites in the Carpathian Basin between the fifth and tenth centuries.

Historical Studies

Scholar Spotlight: Douglas Flowe

In this Scholar Spotlight we feature Douglas Flowe who is a Member in the School of Historical Studies. He discusses his work on incarceration and the influences he had in life to follow this path.