Name: Effie Athanassopoulos
Program: Anthropology
Specialization: Archaeology
Courses you are teaching this year:
Every fall semester I teach ANTH/CLAS 252, World Archaeology, Global Heritage, a course that examines early complex societies in a comparative perspective. In a world marked by rapid globalization, the past and the present are interconnected. This course examines fundamental questions: What is heritage? Who owns the past? Do archaeological sites belong to specific people and countries or to humanity as a whole? What lessons can we learn from past societies’ rise and fall?
I also teach ANTH 431/831, Historical Archaeology: Current Issues. Historical Archaeology is a diverse field that examines the roots of the Modern world, a “global village” characterized by large-scale urbanization, industrial production, widespread literacy, long distance travel, and contacts between large numbers of people from different cultures.
In the spring semester, I will teach ANTH 304/804: Archaeological Collections Management, a course that focuses on the documentation and analysis of artifacts from historic sites in Nebraska. This experiential course provides students with practical, hands-on experience in artifact care, management, preservation and dissemination.
I also teach a course for the Department of Classics and Religious Studies, CLAS/HIST 315: The Medieval World: Byzantium. This course covers the long history and culture of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. It explores key dimensions of its political, economic and social developments, the role of Byzantium in world history and the Byzantine legacy in the Balkans.
What is your favorite course to teach and why?
I enjoy all of my courses. In particular, I enjoy the courses where I can incorporate an experiential component, working with artifacts, building digital collections and exhibits, and raising awareness of the importance of material culture. Several of my courses offer a hands-on approach, where students work with archaeological collections, to preserve them, analyze them, digitize them and share them with the academic community and the public.
How and/or why did you choose this field?
I grew up in Greece where archaeology surrounds you; you become aware of the history of the land and the accomplishments and struggles of past societies. I believe in the power of material culture, it has its own voice, a different voice that can tell us a lot about the past but also the present. Architectural remains, food ways, and personal artifacts are all reflections of identities; they provide unique insights into how individuals, households and communities express and “live” their daily lives and cultural traditions.
What are you currently researching?
One of my ongoing research projects is the UNL Campus Archaeology project, which studies archaeological collections from past excavations, carried out on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. These collections provide a glimpse into daily life within the developing urban landscape of Lincoln, Nebraska, at the turn of the 20th century. We are able to study this material because my colleague, Emeritus Anthropology Professor Peter Bleed, had the foresight to excavate areas of historic Lincoln and our campus that underwent development. Also, last year I participated in a salvage excavation at the Capitol Wellfield site, located between K, L, 17th and 18th Streets, which had several well-preserved subterranean features. As a result, now we have a new, large archaeological collection to study from a different neighborhood of historic Lincoln. The Lincoln Journal Star dedicated a front-page story to this effort:
https://journalstar.com/news/local/gin-bottles-in-the-cistern-history-unearthed-at-capitol-area/article_7f49c916-8ad2-5955-8a5e-ee36133ec606.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
Overall, the UNL Campus Archaeology project is a collaborative effort led by faculty, students and alumni. Most of this work is happening in the classroom and through graduate theses, senior theses, independent studies and UCARE projects. We are now building a digital archive, in collaboration with CDRH, the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. This professionally designed digital archive will make available the archaeological collections that we have studied so far. The archive will grow as we continue our work. This is a public archaeology project, which means that our research should be accessible to everyone. We hope that our classroom based collaborative research will enrich the history of Lincoln and contribute to local historic preservation efforts.
My second research project is overseas. For most of my career, I have worked in Greece, with landscape archaeology projects, studying the development of rural medieval communities. In 2016, I published a monograph titled “Landscape Archaeology and the Medieval Countryside: Results of the Nemea Valley Archaeological Project.” I am currently working on the publication of medieval archaeological collections from the excavations at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea, in southern Greece, carried out by the University of California, Berkeley. Doing research overseas means that these activities can take place only in the summer. To compensate for the intermittent access to the archaeological collections under study, I invested in learning 3D recording methods, such as laser scanning and photogrammetry, to create 3D models that represent accurate digital copies of the artifacts. Because these new tools are becoming common in archaeology, I have incorporated 3D skill building activities in my classes.
What are some ways students can be involved in your research?
The UNL Campus Archaeology project provides students with hands-on learning, to engage with archaeological collections and digital methods. Students learn about historic archaeology and its applications to our state and its capital city. The project also encourages collaborative student-based learning. Undergraduate and graduate students work to systematically inventory artifacts, learn the protocols for housing artifact collections, research and analyze various artifact categories, develop digital databases following professional standards, and learn 3D modeling methods to create models, thus facilitating student initiative and collaboration. Students can become involved through classwork, independent studies, and UCARE projects.
Why should students major in your field?
Anthropology and Archaeology are rewarding careers. Archaeologists work in many different settings, in federal and state government agencies, museums and historic sites, colleges and universities. Many companies have cultural resource management divisions that employ archaeologists. Professional national organizations such as the Society for American Archaeology, the Society for Historical Archaeology, the Archaeological Institute of America, and others, provide many good resources that discuss careers in archaeology. Here in Lincoln, we have a branch of the National Park Service, the Midwest Archaeological Center, whose mission is to study, interpret and preserve archeological resources within the National Park System. At the state level, we have the Nebraska State Archeology Office, which preserves, explores, and interprets Nebraska's archeological sites and other historic resources for the benefit of the public. These agencies provide volunteer and internship opportunities for our students.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work (hobbies, other interests)?
I enjoy hiking, biking, gardening, and yoga. I love travelling, but of course not this year, with the pandemic. I am also learning how to make pottery, since the study of ceramics is such an important part of archaeology.