Upcoming Events
AIA - Stanford Society
The Frederick R. and Margaret B. Matson Lectureship for Near Eastern Archaeology and Archaeological Technology: "Making the Ice Age Virtual and Accessible: Using VR and Underwater Robotics to Teach Archaeology"
by Professor Ashley Lemke, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
How can we engage the next generation with archaeology? How can we bring ancient time periods and societies to life? As an underwater archaeologist researching submerged ancient sites, Dr. Lemke is familiar with the latest technology to explore deeper and further back in time - but how can you involve students and the public in these discoveries? Work with computer scientist has developed a virtual world of the ancient Great Lakes, where past environments, animals and archaeological sites can be investigated. You can enter this ancient world via virtual reality and better understand the past lifeways of people who lived there and hypothesize about where additional archaeological sites may be located. In addition, middle and high school students are often involved in building robots for competitions - but what if we took the robots out of the pool and used them for underwater archaeology? This talk will present case studies in bring VR and robotics to classrooms, museums, and beyond to introduce archaeology to a broader audience.
Anyone in our society (or anyone interested in our society) is welcome to join. You just need to register for our Zoom discussion.
Friday, February 6, 2026 at 7:00pm
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AIA Stanford Book Club: "The Aurelian Wall and the Refashioning of Imperial Rome AD 271-855"
by Hendrik Dey
This book explores the relationship between the city of Rome and the Aurelian Wall during the six centuries following its construction in the 270s AD, a period when the city changed and contracted almost beyond recognition, as it evolved from imperial capital into the spiritual center of Western Christendom. The Wall became the single most prominent feature in the urban landscape, a dominating presence which came bodily to incarnate the political, legal, administrative and religious boundaries of urbs Roma, even as it reshaped both the physical contours of the city as a whole and the mental geographies of ‘Rome’ that prevailed at home and throughout the known world. With the passage of time, the circuit took on a life of its own as the embodiment of Rome’s past greatness, a cultural and architectural legacy that dwarfed the quotidian realities of the post-imperial city as much as it shaped them.
Anyone in our society (or anyone interested in our society) is welcome to join. You just need to register for our Zoom discussion.
Friday, March 13, 2025 at 7:00pm
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