Check out my upcoming talks and papers.
I also accept invitations to speak at scholarly events, university classes, and public venues.
SAMPLE PRESENTATIONS
October 2020
Department of Theology, University of Oslo (Norway)
Ancient Attraction is a Digital Lecture Series on Beauty, Attractiveness and Sex Appeal in the Ancient Mediterranean World
“Goddesses as Exemplars for the Beauty and Power of Neo-Assyrian Queens”
The Neo-Assyrian queen stood above all other mortal women. She was a paragon of ideal beauty and imperial power, as expressed through her lavish adornment, personal throne room, monuments, and seals. Queens engaged in the political, military, economic, and religious affairs of the state. In so doing, they not only emulated the appearance (beauty) of the goddesses they venerated, but they also modeled divine characteristics and agency (power).
Watch a video of the talk
April 2019
University of Ghent, Belgium
Third Workshop on Gender, Methodology, and the Ancient Near East
“Images Divinely Sanctioned Neo-Assyrian Queenship at Nimrud’s Northwest Palace”
This iconographical study of Neo-Assyrian queenship at Nimrud’s Northwest Palace moves beyond the identification of individual figures, to a consideration of the visual representation of queenship as a divinely sanctioned royal office.
Watch a video of the talk
November 2018
American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) Annual Meeting (Denver)
“Neo-Assyrian Goddesses in Art and Myth: Eternal Models for the Mortal Queens of Nimrud”
This paper interprets goddesses as personifications of Neo-Assyrian ideals of feminine beauty across categories of age, and, as such, as eternal models for mortal queens. Watch a video of the talk
March 2013
Social Science and Cultural Studies Department, Pratt Institute (NYC)
“Feminine Beauty and Adornment in Ancient Mesopotamia Illuminated through Near Eastern Cultural Practices of the Twentieth-century to the Present”
In relation to ancient evidence, this paper particularly discusses my field research, conducted in 2003 and 2006, on traditional Syrian bridal costume and earlier ethnographic reports documenting regional values of feminine beauty. Watch a video of the talk