Online Lecture: The Spatial and Material Turn in Monastic Archaeology: A Retrospective
The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the next lecture in the 2025–2026 East of Byzantium lecture series.
The Spatial and Material Turn in Monastic Archaeology: A Retrospective
Tuesday, April 21, 2026 | 12:00 PM (EDT, UTC -4) | Zoom
Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, Brandeis University
Spatial readings of monuments and landscapes have fundamentally changed how archaeologists approach settlements and their relationship to the environment. On a more intimate scale, the evolution of materiality studies has further enriched how archaeologists interpret the creation, use, and disuse of objects within communities. In this lecture, I explore how the evolution of archaeological theory regarding space, placemaking, and the movement of things alters our understanding of the natural and cultural landscape associated with the early monastic movement in Egypt.
Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, Associate Professor, holds the Myra and Robert Kraft and Jacob Hiatt Chair in Christian Studies and has a joint appointment in the Departments of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University. She is an archaeologist and historian of ancient and early Byzantine Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean world (circa 300–1000 CE) with a specialization in the archaeology and history of monasticism.
Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture with any questions.
An East of Byzantium lecture. EAST OF BYZANTIUM is a partnership between the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University and the Mary Jaharis Center that explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine empire in the late antique and medieval periods.
