PhD students are invited to submit an application by January 30, 2026, consisting of:

• Cover letter explaining interest in the program;
• CV;
• 500-word abstract (in English) of a research paper related to the theme, to be presented in Greece and, once revised, in Princeton.

The theme of the 2026 PITHOS seminar is “Transitions and Turning Points in the Greek World: The Material Evidence."

Archaeologists and art historians are interested in documenting chronological phases and in understanding what happened and why at a specific point in time. Evaluating stratigraphy and establishing dating schemes are the starting place for many excavation and survey projects as well as for the study of visual and material culture of the ancient world. Some of the most compelling questions emerge from the next stage of analysis, when we consider how an assemblage of artifacts, a group of objects, a style, or a site changed from one moment to another. The 2026 PITHOS seminar aims to examine evidence from different sites, periods, and types of materials, so as to explore the pace and scope of change and its possible explanations. From conceptions of gradual evolution to manifestos of sudden revolution, from internal and passive developments to momentous turning points, a wide range of possibilities exist. We do not seek an overarching theory or model, but to consider how different case studies might illuminate one another and sharpen analyses. 

Topics may include:

·      stylistic, morphological, or iconographic changes in discrete aspects of material and visual culture

·      identification and explanation of turning points in a site or region

·     identification  and explanation of subtle yet significant transitions in a site or region

·      environmental, climactic, or demographic impacts on processes of change

·      comparison of differences in change across bodies of evidence from specific periods

·      assessment of the speed, scope, and impact of a well-known period of transition, using a concrete body of evidence

·      the possibilities and pitfalls of using social and political contexts to explain a specific change

·     evidence in the material record of resilience or reaction to military, political, and social upheavals

The application should be sent as a combined pdf to your university representative:

Ioannina: Professor Vlachopoulos, [email protected]
Princeton: Professor Arrington, [email protected]
Thessaly: Professor Lolos, [email protected]

Each application will be reviewed by a committee consisting of faculty from all three universities.