Institute for the Study of the Ancient World explained

The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) is a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education at New York University. ISAW's mission is to cultivate comparative, connective investigations of the ancient world from the western Mediterranean to China.[1] Areas of specialty among ISAW's faculty include the Greco-Roman world, the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Central Asia and the Silk Road, East Asian art and archaeology, Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, ancient science, and digital humanities.[2]

ISAW was founded in 2006 with funding from the Leon Levy Foundation,[3] established to continue the philanthropic legacy of Leon Levy, co-founder of the Oppenheimer mutual funds. Long interested in ancient history, Levy in his final years, along with his wife Shelby White, began discussions about the creation of a path-breaking institute where advanced scholars would explore trade and cultural links among ancient civilizations. After Levy's death in 2003, one of the earliest initiatives of the Leon Levy Foundation, was the fulfillment of that plan. ISAW is a discrete entity within New York University, independent of any other school or department of the university, with its own endowment and its own board of trustees, and is housed in separate facilities in a historic six-story limestone on East 84th Street in Manhattan.[4]

Governance, faculty, and staff

The director of ISAW is Alexander Jones (classicist). He succeeded the founding director Roger Bagnall in September, 2016. Jennifer Chi was the founding exhibitions director and chief curator, who guided the visual arts program until 2018.[5] [6]

As of September 1, 2021, the following individuals served as ISAW faculty:[7]

As of September 1, 2021, Senior Staff Members included:[8]

ISAW's website describes its governance structure as follows:

Appointments and academic programs of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World are under the jurisdiction of its faculty, which achieved independent status in fall, 2010, and which is led by the director. The director reports to the provost and president of New York University. In addition, the institute has its own Director's Council. Its chair is the institute's founder, Shelby White. The council plays a crucial role in ensuring that ISAW fulfills its mission and has the means necessary to do so. It provides essential advice to the director on strategic directions and public programming, and its members are vital ambassadors for ISAW in enlarging the public reached by its work.

Academic programs

ISAW's graduate program offers a PhD in the Study of the Ancient World.[9]

ISAW offers hosts visiting research scholars conducting postdoctoral research. There are three types of appointment for visiting scholars:[10]

Scholars in all three categories are expected to be in residence at ISAW for the duration of their appointment and to participate in the intellectual life of the community, including presenting a public lecture.

Exhibitions

In order to support its mission of communicating information about antiquity to the public, ISAW organizes public exhibitions. Past exhibitions include:[11]

Most exhibitions have been accompanied by illustrated catalogs, many of which are co-published by ISAW and Princeton University Press.

Library

ISAW houses a research library of approximately 40,000 non-circulating print volumes.[16] The ISAW Library is a branch library of the NYU Division of Libraries, with facilities located on four floors of ISAW's facilities on East 84th Street. The library is open to members of the ISAW and NYU communities, as well as to scholars from other institutions who can demonstrate a need to access materials in the collection for their research.

Particular areas of strength in the ISAW Library's print collection include Greek and Roman material culture and history, Papyrology, Egyptology, Mesopotamian Archaeology and Assyriology, Central Asia and Iran, and Early China.

The library is engaged in providing access and support for new and emerging forms of digital scholarship, scholarly communication, and pedagogy in ancient studies.[17] The library's digital initiatives include the Ancient World Digital Library (AWDL) and a joint project with ISAW Digital Programs to help catalog the online and open access resources.[18]

Publications

ISAW has produced or sponsored both print and electronic publications related to the ancient world.[19] These include:

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: About ISAW . Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . 5 February 2010 . 2018-03-13.
  2. Web site: ISAW Faculty . Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . 20 December 2016 . 2018-03-13.
  3. News: N.Y.U. and Columbia to Receive $200 Million Gifts for Research - NYTimes.com . . 2006-03-21 . 2016-02-20.
  4. News: New York University Gets $200 Mln for Ancient Studies (Update3) . Patrick Cole . Bloomberg News . 2018-03-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131152/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aFTWRsVQhuFo&refer=culture-redirectoldpage . 2006-03-21 . April 2, 2015 . mdy-all .
  5. Web site: NYU Hires Renowned Classicist From Columbia U. to Lead New Institute . The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2007-04-05 . 2016-02-20.
  6. News: Alexander Jones Appointed Director of ISAW . Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . 2017-08-15 . 2018-03-13.
  7. Web site: ISAW Faculty. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. 20 December 2016 . 13 March 2018.
  8. Web site: Staff. Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. 12 January 2011 . 13 March 2018.
  9. Web site: Doctoral Program in the Ancient World — Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . Isaw.nyu.edu . 5 February 2010 . 2016-02-20.
  10. Web site: Visiting Research Scholar Program — Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . Isaw.nyu.edu . 5 February 2010 . 2016-02-20.
  11. Web site: Exhibitions at ISAW . Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . 2014-06-16 . 2018-03-13.
  12. Web site: Golden Graves of Ancient Vani. WNYC. February 20, 2016.
  13. Reviewed by John Noble Wilford: "A Lost European Culture, Pulled From Obscurity", The New York Times, Published: November 30, 2009.
  14. Web site: Masters of Math, From Old Babylon. November 27, 2010. The New York Times. February 20, 2016.
  15. Web site: Before Pythagoras: The Culture of Old Babylonian Mathematics. February 20, 2016.
  16. Web site: Using the ISAW Library — Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . Isaw.nyu.edu . 5 August 2015 . 2016-02-20.
  17. Web site: Finding Resources — Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . Isaw.nyu.edu . 5 August 2015 . 2016-02-20.
  18. Web site: AWOL – The Ancient World Online . Ancientworldonline.blogspot.com . 2016-02-20.
  19. Web site: Publications at ISAW — Institute for the Study of the Ancient World . Isaw.nyu.edu . 2016-02-20.

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