Advanced PhD students are invited to submit an application by December 31, 2023 consisting of:

1. Cover letter explaining interest in the program;
2. CV;
3. 500-word abstract (in English) of a research paper related to the theme.

The theme of the 2024 PITHOS seminar is “Elite Cultures.”

Outstandingly lavish monuments and artifacts have been at the center of archaeological research from the time of early antiquarians, but these “masterpieces” were often treated in isolation, without critical attention to the social, cultural, and political systems in which they were produced. The 2024 PITHOS workshop focuses on the contextualization of material remains as products of and tools for connecting ancient elites and perpetuating their status. Some products of elite cultures are not always obvious, and there are risks to projecting modern criteria about value and prestige systems of ancient societies. This workshop will interrogate the reach of elite cultures and their social, economic, and artistic implications in both prehistoric and historic periods. Prospective participants are invited to submit abstracts that investigate elite cultures in the material remains of ancient Greece broadly, ranging from the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Topics may include (but are not limited to):

• The role of material culture in social differentiation, intra-elite competition, and personal prestige
• Burial practices, funerary extravagance, and the role of status in death
• Cult activity and religious expressions of individual prominence
• Public display, conspicuous consumption, and the different types of audiences for the performance of elite cultures
• Domestic luxuries and the private dimensions of elite cultures
• The role of elite cultures in shaping systems of aesthetics, including the interplay of art and elite literary cultures

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

Ioannina: Professor Vlachopoulos, [email protected]

Princeton: Professor Holzman, [email protected]

Thessaly: Professor Lolos, [email protected]

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