Alexandria, Moustapha Pasha I

Professor Marjorie S. Venit specializes in the art and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world with an emphasis on the Greek center and its periphery considered both geographically and temporally. Particularly interested in the intersection of cultures and ethnicities, she has excavated at Tel Anafa, Israel, and Mendes, Egypt and is the author of Monumental Tombs of Ancient Alexandria: The Theater of the Dead and Greek Painted Pottery from Naukratis in Egyptian Museums. Her book projects have been supported by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kress Foundation, and the J.P Getty Trust. Among her other national awards are a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship and fellowships from the American Research Center in Egypt, the American Association of University Women, and the American Philosophical Society.

Venit's articles on Greek vases and Greek and Roman wall paintings consider the social, religious, economic, and political context and implications of the monuments. Her articles, many of which have been supported by Summer Research Grants from the University of Maryland Graduate Research Board, have appeared in the American Journal of Archaeology, Hesperia, Antike Kunst, and the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt and in other periodicals, festschrifts, and collections of scholarly papers (see Publications).

Professor Venit has twice been nominated for a University of Maryland Panhellenic Association Outstanding Teacher Award, and she has been the recipient ― in two consecutive years ― of the College of Arts and Humanities Student's Outstanding Teacher Award for Excellence in Teaching. She was also chosen by Mayita Dinos, formerly of "The Home Show" on The Family Channel, as her "Best Teacher." 

Professor Venit has served on the Executive Committee and the Admissions and Fellowship Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and has directed a Summer Session of the School. Currently she a member of the Committee on the Summer Sessions. She served four years as President of the Washington Society of the AIA and is currently its webmaster. She is also a circuit lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America. In addition, she serves on the Editorial Board for the publications of the American Research Center in Egypt.

Last modified: September 4, 2008