Object Lessons: Knowledge Organization and Antiquity in Institutional Teaching Collections across the Long Nineteenth Century (1750-1940)
Rome, Italy
April 8-11, 2026
Co-hosted by University of Texas at Austin, the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome, and the American Academy in Rome, this conference focuses on the evolution of teaching collections for classical studies and archaeology from about 1750 to 1940. Just as the advent of digital technologies and AI are currently reshaping our academic landscape, scholarship was profoundly reshaped by moments such as J.J. Winckelmann’s Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums and the formalization of the Ashmolean as an archaeological museum under Arthur Evans. Curiosity cabinets gave way to physical teaching collections consisting of casts of ancient gems or sculpture, coin cabinets, and a wide range of archaeological objects, usually comprising representative type-items of modest quality. Advances in material replication such as photographs, paper squeezes, and rubbings introduced new ways to disseminate knowledge of better-known artworks and artifacts. While supporting instruction in art history and archaeology, these collections also served as models for students in fine arts and architecture. As ideas about how to understand the premodern world changed, the organization, display, and use of these collections changed too, responding to art-historical paradigm shifts like Adolf Furtwängler’s reclassification of Winckelmann’s system for sculpture and gems and to new national and imperial political realities. This conference will bring together scholars from various backgrounds to explore such collections in the context of the broader intellectual history of the period and the epistemological and classificatory transformations it witnessed. We hope the contextualization of these collections will also inspire discussion of their ethical use in the future.
Although our center of focus is the classical world, we welcome contributions that discuss institutional teaching collections related to any aspect of antiquity, the middle ages, or archaeology. Some relevant topics may include:
- Intellectual currents that drove changes in institutional collections and their modes of presentation
- Individuals, collections, or institutions that drove changes at the regional, national, or international level
- Provenance and the social contexts of the acquisition of teaching collections
- How paradigm shifts or inflection points in approaches to antiquity transformed teaching collections
- How important historical or geopolitical events precipitated such paradigm shifts
- A historically informed biography of a specific collection that evolved with the times
- The role played by a new technology or genre in transmitting knowledge in new ways
We especially welcome presentations by Ph.D. students and early-career scholars. We hope to lay the foundations for an international community of practice, seeding collaborations that will raise awareness of these collections at their home institutions while engaging with new technological possibilities for their dissemination and classification. We intend to publish the papers delivered at this conference as an edited volume that will spark a larger conversation about the role of teaching collections for classical art and archaeology in both the past and the future.
This conference is co-sponsored by the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies in Rome, the American Academy in Rome, and the University of Texas at Austin. Sessions will be held both at the American Academy and the Swedish Institute. Speakers are invited to a tour of the American Academy in Rome’s antiquities; we also expect to include a tour of the collections at the French School in Rome. A welcome reception, one or two catered lunches, and a closing dinner will be provided. We are seeking funding to subsidize travel and accommodation costs for participants.
Submission Guidelines:
- Abstract length: 200 words
- Languages: English and Italian
- Deadline for submission: Friday, August 22nd
- Presentation format: Roughly 20-minute presentations, followed by discussion; format will be determined more precisely after we have a full roster of speakers
Please submit your abstract along with your name, your affiliation, and the title of your paper to Amber Kearns ([email protected]) by Friday, August 22nd.
We hope to inform all applicants by mid-September.
For further inquiries, please contact Amber Kearns (email above) or Rabun Taylor ([email protected]).
We look forward to your submissions and to an engaging conference!
