Society for Ancient Studies

The NYU Society for Ancient Studies is a cross-departmental graduate student collaborative seeking to foster an interdisciplinary community of scholars with interests in the ancient world at New York University and the surrounding area. Our members include Ph.D. and M.A. students from Classics, Hebrew & Judaic Studies, ISAW, the IFA, and Comparative Literature. In seeking to cultivate a community of young scholars, we endeavor always to provide spaces to promote the ideas and voices of our graduate students.

We organize several events throughout the academic year in service of our mission. We host guest lectures by noted scholars, both from NYU and the region, with interdisciplinary interests in the study of antiquity; organize an annual graduate student invited lecture; an annual interdisciplinary undergraduate conference on the ancient world; and sponsor panel discussions featuring conversations between professors and graduate students.

We welcome anyone interested in ancient studies to join our mailing list and attend our events. If you are interested, email us at NYUniversitySAS@gmail.com, or reach out to us via Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Organizing Committee

Ricarda Meisl (Ph.D student, Classics) researches questions surrounding war, trauma and gender ideals in both textual evidence and material culture, focusing especially on Ancient Greece. She is furthermore interested in Greek drama as a representation of underlying social phenomena and its interaction with the audience.

Frances Merrill (Ph.D student, Classics) is interested in studying the tragedies of Seneca the Younger, but currently wants to try to get through her coursework and enjoy reading everything! She has participated in archaeological fieldwork as well, eventually focusing on Roman and Etruscan pottery.

Isaac Roszler (Ph.D student, Hebrew & Judaic Studies) studies Talmud and rabbinic literature. His current research focuses on jurisprudence and the history of Halakhah.

Rebecca Salem (Ph.D student, IFA) studies the art and archaeology of Greece and Rome with a particular interest in early architecture in the Western Mediterranean. She has experience both as an excavator and as a specialist in GIS and photogrammetry, and has done fieldwork at Clunia, the City of London, Segni, Pompeii, the Mazi Plain, Olympia, Gabii, Selinunte, and Samothrace.

Stephanie Savage (Ph.D. student, Classics) studies the art and archaeology of Greece and Rome with particular interest in the Peloponnese during the Archaic and Classical periods. She is interested in the intersection of warfare and the archaeological record, historiography, and Sparta. She has excavated for multiple seasons at the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia.

Poppy Steel Swayne (PhD student, Classics) is primarily interested in Greek tragedy and Greek and Roman New Comedy, as well as cognitive approaches to these and their ancient reception in Greek and Latin literature. She also has interests in Middle Egyptian and Akkadian.