KNOXVILLE — The East Tennessee Society of the Archaeological Institute of America marks its 30th anniversary this month by launching a lecture series at the University of Tennessee.
The society will host a lecture by British writer and photographer Jane Taylor titled “Petra: Days of
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British writer/photographer Jane Taylor
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Glory, Days of Dust” at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 30, in UT’s Frank H. McClung Museum Auditorium.
Taylor, who has lived in Jordan since 1989, will discuss the ancient civilization of people known as the Nabataeans and present her prize-winning photographs of Petra’s beautiful rock-cut facades.
The presentation is based on her latest book, “Petra and the Lost Kingdom of the Nabataeans” (Harvard University Press, 2002), available at the University Bookstore and the McClung Museum shop.
“Our opening lecture on Petra and the Nabataeans will be especially fascinating. We hope it will draw lots of interest,” Dr. Aleydis Van de Moortel, the society’s secretary-treasurer and UT classics professor, said. “Jane Taylor is a popular author and photographer, and the site of Petra is extremely stunning.”
Taylor’s visit is co-sponsored by Johnson Bible College, Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, UT’s Departments of Classics and History, and the School of Art.
All lectures are free and open to the public. Other speakers and dates are:
Dr. Manolis Korres, Oct. 28, Polytechnic University in Athens, Greece, who will speak on his work directing restoration of the Parthenon in Greece;
Dr. Michael Kulikowski, UT history professor, who will speak Jan. 27 on Roman Spain;
Barbara Barletta, University of Florida, who will speak Feb. 24 on “The Western Greeks and Their Neighbors;”
Dr. Gerald Schroedl, UT anthropology profesor, who on March 25 will present “The Archaeology of Enslaved Africans at the Brimstone Hill Fortress, St. Kitts.”
The East Tennessee Society, based at UT, has about 60 members. Founders include Dr. William Bass, UT anthropology professor; Elaine Evans, curator of the McClung Museum; Dr. Harry C. Rutledge and Dr. Geraldine Gesell, UT classics professors; and George Palo, longtime Tennessee Valley Authority engineer and the society’s first president.
It is among more than 100 local chapters of the Archaeological Institute of America headquartered at Boston University.
The organization, open to anyone interested in archaeology, seeks to preserve archaeological resources, support research and publication, and sponsor tours and presentations.
AIA publishes the American Journal of Archaeology; Archaeology magazine; a children’s magazine called Dig; and the Archaeological Fieldwork Opportunities Bulletin.
For more information, visit the East Tennessee Society Web site at: http://web.utk.edu/~classics/aia/aia.html or contact Dr. Patricia Z. Carter, president and UT music professor, at (865) 974-7532, or Van de Moortel at (865) 974-8279.