This talk is part of the ALLways Learning Series, which invites ALL members and members of our local community to join us for a free, casual lecture each Friday during the academic year (formerly Lunchtime Learning Series).

Abstract: The Mani peninsula is the literal (geographical) and metaphorical “end of the world”, since it occupies the southernmost point of mainland Greece and the mythical entrance to Hades, the ancient Greek underworld. Mani’s occupation history includes being home to the earliest hominid caves in Greece, the highest density of Byzantine churches, landscapes pockmarked by early modern tower-houses and intergenerational feuding, sanctuaries to the ancient gods, and the location where the Greek War of Independence began. I have been working in Mani since 2012, and this talk will introduce Mani, its liminality, and its storied past through three separate archaeological initiatives: the Diros Project (2012-2015), the CARTography Project (2018-2022), and the first season of the Southern Mani Archaeological Project, a SSHRC-funded survey that began in May 2025. 

Biography: I am a Classical Archaeologist specializing in the history and material culture of ancient Greece, Rome, and the broader Mediterranean world. I arrived at Acadia University in Fall 2019, after working at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. My PhD (Classics: Classical Archaeology) and MA (Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology) degrees are both from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. My BA degree (Classics & Religious Studies) is from McMaster University in Hamilton, ON.

My research is centered around archaeological exploration in southern Greece. I work in the Mani peninsula, just south of ancient Sparta, and am currently the co-director of The CARTography Project, a Digital Humanities mapping project in which we analyze and recreate the routes of early modern travellers. I am working on a book on the site of ancient Tainaron, the mythical entrance to the ancient Greek Underworld and the location of a famous sanctuary to Poseidon throughout classical antiquity. I am also interested in ancient and modern cultural identity, ancient religious space, the history of travel, archaeological survey, women in the ancient world, animals and nature in antiquity, landscape studies, and Digital Humanities. One of my projects that I'm most proud of is called Peopling the Past, and it produces free audio, video, and blog resources for learning about real people who lived in the ancient Mediterranean world; I host the Peopling the Past podcast, and we just finished airing our third season!