Curators

ISAW’s curatorial team for the Institute’s presentation of the exhibition.

Jennifer Y. Chi

Exhibitions Director and Chief Curator

Jennifer Y. Chi, who joined ISAW in 2007, established and leads the Institute’s exhibition program. Dr. Chi was curator of ISAW’s inaugural exhibition, Wine, Worship, and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani (2008), co-curator of The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley 5000–3500 BC (2009), and co-editor of the accompanying catalogues for both. A specialist in Roman imperial sculpture, she was a fellow of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1999–2000. She also organized nationally touring exhibitions in her previous position as curator of the White-Levy Collection. Dr. Chi is currently organizing future exhibitions for ISAW, including one devoted to the ancient nomadic culture of Kazakhstan, opening at ISAW in spring 2012. She is also a member of the sculpture publication team at the renowned classical site of Aphrodisias, in Turkey, where she is currently researching a series of late antique sculptures.

Jennifer Chi holds a Master of Studies from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Peter D. De Staebler

Assistant Curator, ISAW; Exhibition Co-curator

Peter D. De Staebler, who has been assistant curator at ISAW since 2011, is a field archaeologist with 20 years of experience in Greece, Italy and Turkey, including 14 years at the NYU Excavations at Aphrodisias, in Turkey. Dr. De Staebler’s primary research interest is Roman architecture and urban development, especially changes between the High Imperial period and Late Antiquity. His dissertation investigated the City Wall at Aphrodisias, and he is the assistant director of the NYU’s Aphrodisias Regional Survey Project.

Peter D. De Staebler holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.

Sebastian Heath

Clinical Assistant Professor of Ancient Studies, ISAW; Exhibition Co-Curator

Sebastian Heath, who joined ISAW a Clinical Assistant Professor of Ancient Studies in 2010, specializes in digital humanities, as well as ancient numismatics and Roman pottery. Professor Heath has worked as a field archaeologist in many countries around the Mediterranean, including Greece, Israel, and Turkey. Current research includes joint publication of the Roman pottery from the Lower City at Troy, in Turkey. In addition to contributions to edited volumes, his authored and co-authored articles have appeared in the American Journal of Archaeology, American Journal of Numismatics, and Hesperia. Since 2008, Dr. Heath is a Research Scientist at the American Numismatic Society and has served as the Vice President for Professional Responsibilities of the Archaeological Institute of America.

Sebastian Heath received his Ph.D from the University of Michigan.

Yale University Art Gallery's curatorial team for the McMullen Museum presentation of the exhibition.

Lisa R. Brody

Associate Curator of Ancient Art, Yale University Art Gallery

Lisa R. Brody has been associate curator of ancient art at the Yale University Art Gallery since 2007. Dr. Brody has excavated in Portugal, Greece, and Turkey, and has taught art history and classical archaeology for many years. Her publications include Aphrodisias III: The Aphrodite of Aphrodisias (2007) and numerous articles and reviews. In addition to co-curating Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity, Dr. Brody was co-editor of the publication that accompanied the exhibition. She is currently organizing a new thematic gallery on Dura-Europos for the Yale University Art Gallery, to open in December 2012, as well as a special exhibition, Around the Periphery: Crossroads of Culture in the Roman Provinces, scheduled to open at the Gallery in fall 2014

Lisa Brody holds a PhD from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.

Gail L. Hoffman

Assistant Professor of Classical Studies, Boston College

Gail L. Hoffman has been a professor at Boston College since 2001, having taught at Yale University from 1990 to 2001. Dr. Hoffman has excavated in the U.S., Italy, and Greece (where she was also a Fulbright scholar) and has been a fellow at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies. Her publications include: Imports and Immigrants: Near East Contacts with Iron Age Crete (1997), and “Painted Ladies: Early Cycladic II Mourning Figures?” AJA 106 (2002), as well as other articles and reviews. She is at work on a book, Imitations and Adaptations: Early Greek Transformations of Near East Art, and an article about the mobility of craftsmen during the first millennium BCE. Dr. Hoffman was co-curator and co-editor with Lisa Brody of the exhibition Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity and its accompanying publication of scholarly essays.

Gail Hoffman received her PhD from The University of Michigan.