Conference Recap: ISAW at AIA/SCS 2026

By Patrick J. Burns
01/20/2026

Several members of the ISAW research community traveled to San Francisco for the annual meetings of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) which took place at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square from January 7–10. A January tradition, the meetings welcome each new year with awards received, papers delivered, a reception hosted, and, this year for just our second time, books displayed. ISAW has its interconnected strengths in archaeology, critical interventions in classics, and digital humanities, and all were on offer at the conferences. This post provides a summary of those contributions to this year’s meeting.

For the ISAW Library in particular, the main news for this year’s meeting was the ISAW Monographs table at the Book Exhibit. With the help of graduate students Manolis Mavromatis and Lauren Malkoun, I worked the book table throughout the conference, promoting books such as O.Trim. 3 (Amheida VIII): Ostraka from Trimithis, Volume 3; Early Christianity at Amheida, A Fourth-Century Church: Volume 1; Ancient Western Asia beyond the Paradigm of Collapse and Regeneration (1200–900 BCE); and The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII. We also presented the digital version of 'Ain el-Gedida (Amheida IV): 2006-2008 Excavations of a Late Antique Site in Egypts Western Desert—our latest project aimed at applying best practices in digital scholarly publishing to archaeological reporting. (Showcasing the Amheida volumes was a particular pleasure, since I was texting updates about the bookstall to David Ratzan on site in the Dakhla oasis.) Lastly, we also had recent works from NYU Press’ Library of Arabic Literature, including The Turks and the Caliphal Army edited and translated by ISAW Professor Robert Hoyland.

There was reason for ISAW to celebrate at the SCS Plenary Session on Friday as Research Associate Candida Moss was recognized for her public-facing scholarship with the Society’s 2024 Mary-Kay Gamel Outreach Prize. This award recognizes her contribution to classics beyond academic audiences, as with her recent book for Little, Brown and Co., God’s Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible. This is exactly the kind of outreach we saw on display during Moss’ recent lecture on "Invisible Hands: The Hidden Labor Behind Ancient Texts and Libraries" for the ISAW Library Speaker Series. 

Of course, the main event at both meetings is the full slate of research sessions and panels. Here is a summary of contributions from the ISAW research community:

  • Braden W. Cordivari, “Omphalos Bowls at Iron Age Gordion: Individuality, Standardization, and Status” in the AIA’s Art Historical Approaches to the Study of Ancient West Asia and Egypt open session

  • Antonis Kotsonas and Christina Stefanou, “Lyktos Archeological Project (Crete): The Results of ISAW/NYU’s Fieldwork in 2024” in the AIA’s Crete session

  • Amanda C. Ball, “Hydriaphoroi at the Boundaries of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods” in the AIA’s Assessing the Sacred Significance of Figurative Terracottas colloquium

  • Sebastian Heath as a participant on the Still Defining Roman Art workshop panel

  • Patrick J. Burns, “Recovering 34 Billion Latin Words from AI Training Data: Or Philology’s Collaborative Demands at Computational Scale” in the SCS Digital Classics Association session on Collaboration in a Digital World: Expanding the Boundaries of Classical Studies

  • Divya Kumar-Dumas (and David Ratzan), “Reimagining Gardens of the Roman Empire: The Challenges and Possibilities of a Born-Digital Publication” also in the SCS DCA session, a presentation that discussed ISAW’s collaborative contributions to the Gardens of the Roman Empire project

  • Lylaah L. Bhalerao, “Blacked Out: Race, Black Studies and the Critical Hauntings of the Discipline Known as 'Classics'” in the SCS’ Navigating Critical Theory in Graduate Research session

Outside of the sessions, panels, and seminars, the community gathered on Friday evening for the annual reception sponsored by ISAW in coordination with NYU Classics and NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies. ISAW Director Greg Woolf was on hand for the reception to welcome conference-goers throughout the AIA and SCS with Mediterranean snacks and drinks.

The last time the AIA and SCS held their annual meetings in San Francisco was a decade ago. The 2016 meeting holds a special place for me in particular, since within months of returning home from that California trip, I defended my dissertation, earned my doctorate from Fordham University, and was hired as the Assistant Research Scholar, Digital and Special Projects at ISAW. I have attended every year since (including the COVID-years remote meetings) and will see everyone again next when the meetings are held in Boston from January 7–10, 2027, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place.