Dr. Mary Hollinshead

Mary Hollinshead is a Classical archaeologist; she works on material from ancient Greece and Rome and earlier cultures located in the same Mediterranean region. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she studied at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, earned an M.A. at Harvard, and returned to Bryn Mawr for her Ph.D studies. She has excavated at sites in Italy, Cyprus and Greece, and now teaches ancient art and archaeology in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Rhode Island.

The Aegean Bronze Age has been a longtime interest, and Greek architecture is a major focus of her research; Mary’s article on Theran wall painting identified the style of an artist who worked in several different buildings at Akrotiri before the eruption. Her work on issues of Roman sculpture led to co-curating the exhibit “Rethinking the Romans” currently on display at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. Recent visits to sites researching her book on ancient monumental steps has reminded her how efficient sea travel can be compared to overland journeys.