The Institutionalization of Classical Archaeology: Archaeology in Greece Between World War I and World War II

FAIN: FA-52724-06

Jack L. Davis
University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH 45220-2872)

This project constitutes one important component of a larger program of research that examines the roles of major academic institutions in the United States in promoting a Classical archaeology in the Mediterranean that has emphasized the primacy of the ancient Greek world, particularly those parts of it that lie within the boundaries of the modern Greek state, and that has privileged the study of urban elite culture over that of rural areas. Such attitudes towards Classical archaeology in the western academy reflect a long-standing commitment to the tenets of Hellenism ("the idealization of ancient Greece as the birthplace of a European spirit") and also to the national discourse of the modern Greek state.