KNOXVILLE — Aleydis Van de Moortel, associate professor of classics, will lead a discussion on her archaeological work from the prehistoric site of Mitrou, Greece, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Arts and Sciences Pregame Faculty Showcase. This week’s presentation takes place Saturday, Sept. 26, before the Vols home game against Ohio University. It begins at 5 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.
The presentation, “UT Digs Greece: New Light on the Bronze Age,” will examine Van de Moortel’s six years of field work. Van de Moortel and her team found evidence that reveals new information about the rise and fall of the Mycenaean civilization of Bronze-Age Greece.
“Early Mycenaean finds include monumental elite graves, a unique monumental funerary building, imported horse bridle equipment, evidence for the manufacture of ‘royal’ purple dye, as well as the earliest evidence for urban planning on the Greek mainland,” said Van de Moortel. “These finds are prompting me to rethink the chronology and nature of the development of Mycenaean palatial society.”
Van de Moortel is co-director of the archaeological excavation at Mitrou in Central Greece. The excavation is a collaborative project of UT and the Greek Archaeological Service. Her work is supported by the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Loeb Classical Library Foundation.
At UT she teaches courses on the archaeology and art of ancient Greece and Rome, ancient and medieval seafaring, and Latin. She organizes archaeological lectures and excursions for the wider public as a member of the local chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Her research and published work focuses on the rise of complex societies, the Bronze Age Aegean, Minoan pottery and ancient and medieval seafaring. She has conducted field work at sites in Greece, Crete, Israel, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
She has a “Candidaats” diploma in Classics from the Universitaire Faculteiten St. Ignatius, Antwerp, Belgium; a master’s degree in classics from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium; a master’s in nautical archaeology from Texas A & M; and a master’s and doctorate in classical and near eastern archaeology from Bryn Mawr College.
For 20 years, the Pregame Faculty Showcase has introduced football fans to some of UT Knoxville’s most exceptional faculty members.
Each showcase is a 30-minute presentation, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. Free and open to the public, the presentations are held two hours before kickoff in the University Center Ballroom.
The rest of the Showcase schedule is:
- Oct. 3 — Gregory Stuart, associate professor of psychology, will discuss the link between substance use and intimate partner violence.
- Oct. 10 — Cynthia Peterson, professor of biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology, will talk about her work to visualize human proteins too small to view even with the most powerful microscopes.
- Oct. 31 — Jed Diamond, UT’s head of acting in the theater department, will relate tales of UT alumni who are working actors.
- Nov. 7 (Homecoming) — Larry McKay, professor and head of the earth and planetary sciences department, will explain how geology and hydrology affect viruses and bacteria in groundwater and streams.
- Nov. 21 — Michael Lofaro, English professor, will look at “James Agee at 100: A Centennial Celebration.”
The showcases will be recorded and the webcast archive will be posted online at http://www.artsci.utk.edu/outreach/Pre_Game.asp.
The showcases are sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, WUOT 91.9 FM, the UT Alumni Association, UT Office of Alumni Affairs and the UT Athletics Program.
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C O N T A C T :
Beth Gladden, (865-974-9008, bgladden@utk.edu)