Lectures

Selected Lectures

Schedule of Lectures

4–7 January 2024
“Intertextuality between Compilation and Application: A Demotic Spell for Compulsion and the So-Called Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies,” 155^th Annual Meeting for the Society of Classical Studies.

15–18 November 2023
“New Papyri from the Bab el Gasus: Identifying Provenience and Prosopography of GM 84123,” Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Overseas Research.

18 July 2023
“Building the Pyramids: New Evidence from the Earliest Papyri and Scans of Secret Corridors.” The Clare.

27 June 2023
“The Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Bicentennial Retrospective.” Wilmette Public Library.

25 May 2023
“Assemblage Theory and Remix Culture in the Book of the Dead: A Case Study of Repeated Spells.” 10^th Annual Birmingham Egyptology Symposium.

22 May 2023
“The CEDAR Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead Project.” CEDAR Symposium. Co-presented with Beth Wang.

21 April 2023
“What Is a Spell? Defining and Redefining Transmission of Religious Literature over the Longue Durée.” 73^rd Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Minneapolis. Co-presented with Beth Wang.

24 February 2023
“Building the Pyramids.” Minooka Community High school.

7 February 2023
“The Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Bicentennial Retrospective.” Glencoe Public Library.

20 January 2023
“‘I Do Not Know the Number Thereof, but I Know the Place Where They Are’: Verbal Constructions in Ancient Egyptian Literary Texts.” Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

19 January 2023
“Un-reading and Re-reading Ancient Egyptian Religious Texts.” Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

3 November 2022
“The Decipherment of Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Bicentennial Retrospective.” The Admiral.

24 February 2022
“Measuring Time: The Ancient Egyptian Invention of the Clock.” The Clare.

12 February
“American Hieroglyphs: The Egyptian Revival in the United States.” The Admiral.

17 August 2021
“Measuring Time: The Ancient Egyptian Invention of the Clock.” The Admiral.

27 April 2021
“Fragmentary Remains: Books of the Dead at Williams College.” Williams College.

30 March 2021
“American Hieroglyphs: Egyptian Revival Architecture in the United States.” The Clare.

23 March 2021
“Egyptian Hieroglyphs and Their Decipherment.” The Clare.

16 March 2021
“Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance.” The Clare.

13 November 2020
“Persepolis from Above and Below: A Case Study in How Analogue and Digital Archives Have Shaped a City.” Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Session on Online Photo Archives as Tools for Archaeological Heritage Preservation and Engagement. Co-presented with Anne Flannery.

12 September 2020
“A Sepulchral Grand Tour: Exploring Egyptian and Classical Monuments at Graceland Cemetery.” ARCE Chicago Chapter, co-presented with Tasha Vorderstrasse.

8 September 2020
“Measuring Time: The Ancient Egyptian Invention of the Clock.” Arts@Graham, Graham School of the University of Chicago.

2 June 2020
“Measuring Time: The Ancient Egyptian Invention of the Clock.” Warrenville Public Library.

1 June 2020
“Awakening the Dead for Love: A Magical Spell to Induce Sexual Lust from Ancient Egypt.” The Admiral.

21 May 2020
“Awakening the Dead for Love: A Magical Spell to Induce Sexual Lust from Ancient Egypt.” The Clare.

10 February 2020
“Mystery Cults in Ancient Egypt.” Deerfield Public Library.

17 January 2020
“The Future of the Ancient Middle East.” The Friday Club at the Casino Club.

7 October 2019
“Hieroglyphic Printing Fonts and the Oriental Institute.” Oriental Institute Volunteer Day.

7 Septebmer 2019
“Body Brokers in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Life and Afterlife of Tutu and Her Mummy.” Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art.

7 August 2019
“Printing God’s Words with the Devil’s Infernal Machine: The Hieroglyphic Printing Font in the Oriental Institute.” The Admiral.

16 July 2019
“The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt: New Evidence for their Construction and Administration.” Glenside Public Library.

13 June 2019
“Egyptian Hieroglyphs from the Middle Ages to the Twenty-First Century.” Oriental Institute Breasted Society.

10 June 2019
“Writing, Literature, and Literacy in Ancient Egypt.” Oriental Institute Docent Training.

15 May 2019
Conflicts, Conspiracies, and Scandals in Ancient Egypt 3: “Robbing a Pharaoh: Worker’s Strikes, Village Scandals, and Tomb Plundering in Ancient Egypt.” The Clare.

29 April 2019
Conflicts, Conspiracies, and Scandals in Ancient Egypt 2: “Murdering a Pharaoh: Harem Conspiracies, Black Magic, and the Death of Ramses III.” The Clare.

15 April 2019
Conflicts, Conspiracies, and Scandals in Ancient Egypt 1: “Founding the Empire: The Exodus of the Hyksos and the Egyptian New Kingdom.” The Clare.

7 April 2019
“The Book of the Dead: Un-reading the Ancient Egyptian Scrolls.” Barrington White House.

2 March 2019
“Rediscovering Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance at the Newberry Library,” Oriental Institute Young Professionals.

17 February 2019
“‘Eternity is Yours as Lifetime’: Ancient Egyptian Conceptions of the Afterlife.” J. Paul Getty Museum, Beyond Death: Visualizing the Afterlife in the Ancient and Early modern World Symposium.

27 January 2019
“Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt,” River Forest Public Library.

27 December 2018
“Medicine and Magic in Ancient Egypt,” Geneva Public Library.

18 November 2018
“Teaching and Learning Anthropology Online,” A Roundtable at the 117^th  Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, California.

1 October 2018
“Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt.” The Clare.

18 September 2018
“The Earliest Illustrated Manuscripts in History: Reading and Writing the Ancient Egyptian Book.” Archaeological Institute of America, Rockford Chapter.

12 July 2018
“The Earliest Illustrated Manuscripts in History: Reading and Writing the Ancient Egyptian Book.” Prairie Trails Public Library.

7 June 2018
“Exhibits, from the Inside Out: Managing Exhibition Metadata with EMu’s Exhibition Objects Module.” Axiell Midwest Roadshow 2018.

1 February 2018
“Becoming God in Ancient Egypt.” Gallery Talk, Oriental Institute.

15 January 2018
“The Book of the Dead at the Oriental Institute.” The Claire.

5 December 2017
“The Book of the Dead at the Oriental Institute.” The Admiral.

4 November 2017
“Reviving the Book of the Dead: New Insights into Ancient Egyptian Religious Literature.” ARCE Chicago Chapter.

16 October 2017
“Book of the Dead.” Docent Training, Oriental Institute Museum.

1 October 2017
“Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt.” Members’ Preview.

1 June 2017
“Egypt under the Ptolemies and Romans.” Gallery Talk, Oriental Institute.

1 May 2017
“The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt.” Benedictine University Art Gallery.

12 April 2017
“Managing ‘Big Data’ Projects in the Humanities.” Oriental Institute Careers Program.

29 January 2017
“Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt.” River Forest Public Library.

24 January 2017
“Building the Pyramids.” The Admiral, January 24.

22 January 2017
“The Ancient Egyptian Collection of the Oriental Institute Museum.” Glencoe Public Library.

17 January 2017
“Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt.” Bartlett Public Library.

8 January 2017
“A New Fragment of a Demotic Papyrus from the Fayum in the Oriental Institute Museum (Papyrus OIM E19446).” Annual Meeting of the Society of Classical Studies (Paper Accepted, Presentation Canceled due to weather impacted travel conditions).

29 November 2016
“Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths and Religious Philosophies.” The Claire.

19 November 2016
“The Pragmatics of Interment: How the Placement of Funerary Papyri Embodied the Divine in Roman Egypt.” Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research. Chicago.

4 November 2016
“A New Manuscript of the Book of Caves (BD 168) and a Memphite Hymn to Osiris.” 42^nd Annual Symposium of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities.

24 October 2016
“Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt.” Aurora Public Library.

13 October 2016
“Building the Pyramids.” Lake Bluff Public Library.

13 September 2016
“The Ancient Egyptian Collection of the Oriental Institute Museum.” Wilmette Public Library.

7 September 2016
“Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt.” Bensenville Community Public Library.

31 August 2016
“Search Our Collections: Using the Oriental Institute Collections Online.” Inquiry & Discovery: Teaching through Primary Sources and Archaeology.

11 August 2016
“Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths and Religious Philosophies.” The Admiral, Chicago.

8 November 2015
“Demotic and Hieratic Scholia in Funerary Papyri and their Implications for the Manufacturing Process.” 41^st Annual Symposium of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities.

15 September 2015
“An ‘Integrated’ Database: What, Why, and How.” Presentation for the University of Cincinnati Department of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, at the Oriental Institute.

4 June 2015
“The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.” Gallery Talk, Oriental Institute.

15 March 2015
“From Beginning to End: Funerary Text Creation in Greco-Roman Egypt.” 225^th Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society, New Orleans.

4–6 September 2014        “Papyrus Rylands Hieratic 6: A Copy of the First and Second Books of Breathing,” From Egypt to Manchester: Unravelling the John Rylands Papyrus Collection. Manchester (withdrawn due to family emergency).

4 April 2014
“The Book of the Dead in Demotic: Scribal Strategies for Textual Transmission,” 65^th Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Portland.

4 January 2014
“Composing Demotic Funerary Texts: Textual Criticism, Orality, and Memory in the Demotic Funerary Papyri,” 145^th American Philological Association Annual Meeting, American Society of Papyrologists panel on “Culture and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt,” Chicago.

17 May 2013
“Migrating to the KE EMu Database Platform: Expectations and Results,” for the Kelsey Museum and University of Michigan, Chicago.

20 April 2013
“A Reception before Osiris: Illustrating Demotic Funerary Texts,” 64^th Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Cincinnati.

17 November 2012
“Accessing the Ancient Near East,” Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Chicago.

10 November 2012
“The Organization of the Sacred Animal Cults for the Ibis and the Falcon in Ancient Egypt,” Birds in Ancient Egypt Symposium, the Oriental Institute, Chicago.

11 June 2012
“‘Monstrous Shapes of Every Species:’ The Iconography of the Egyptian Divine World,” Oriental Institute, Chicago.

17 April 2012
“Demotic Votive Texts from an Ibis Sanctuary,” 63^rd Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Providence.

7 July 2011
“Roman Egypt,” Guest lecturer for Ancient Egyptian Language, Culture, and History, Oriental Institute/University of Chicago Graham School.

13 May 2011
“Ancient Egyptian Religious Literature,” Guest Lecturer for CLA 279-7: Cultural Crossroads in Antiquity.

1 April 2011
“Innovation and Tradition: The Placement of Funerary Papyri in Greco-Roman Egypt,” 62^nd Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Chicago.

7 July 2010
“Roman Egypt,” Guest lecturer for Ancient Egyptian Language, Culture, and History, Oriental Institute/University of Chicago Graham School.

27 March 2010
“Preserving the Past, Preserving the Future: The Research Archives of the Oriental Institute,” Research Endowment Campaign Completion Event.

17 October 2009
“Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths,” Creation Myth Mini-Series, Oriental Institute.

14 October 2009
“The Ptolemaic Economy,” Guest Lecturer for Economies of the Ancient Mediterranean, Wheaton College.

8 July 2009
“A Feast of Knowledge: Libraries and Archives, Past and Present,” Breasted Society Event, Oriental Institute.

6 December 2008
“Repelling the Enemies of Osiris: The Use of Magical Bricks in Ancient Egypt,” ARCE Chicago Chapter.

29 August 2008
“Oriental Institute Demotic Ostraca Online (O.I.D.O.O.),” X^th International Congress of Demotic Studies, Leuven, Belgium.

27 May 2008
“Did the Book of the Dead Die? The Funerary Literature of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt,” PORTUS: Liverpool Research Classics Seminars, University of Liverpool, UK.

5 January 2008
“Religious Significance of the Formulaic Demotic Funerary Texts from Roman Egypt,” 139^th American Philological Association Annual Meeting, American Society of Papyrologists panel on “Culture and Society in Graeco-Roman Egypt,” Chicago, IL.

30 July 2007
“Demotic Formulaic Funerary Texts from Roman Period Egypt in the Louvre,” XXVth International Conference of Papyrologists, Ann Arbor, MI.

9 September 2006
“King Tut: His Discovery, His Era, His Treasures,” Adler Planetarium, Chicago.

28 August 2006
“The Mysteries of King Tut,” Mon Ami Gabi, Oak Brook.

5 August 2006
“King Tut: His Discovery, His Era, His Treasures,” Adler Planetarium, Chicago.0

29 July 2006
“King Tut: His Discovery, His Era, His Treasures,” Adler Planetarium, Chicago.

2 April 2005
“Statements of Identification and the m of Predication,” 56^th Meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt, Annual Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts.