Vicky Manolopoulou
Hannah Seeger Davis Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2019-2020 to 2020-2021
- DegreePh.D., Archaeology, Newcastle University, 2016DissertationProcessing Constantinople: Understanding the Role of Lite in Creating the Sacred Character of the LandscapeResearch ProjectByzantine Ecocriticism and Sacred Landscapes: Monastic and Lay Experiences of ritual in Late Antique and Byzantine Villages c.600 to c.1000
Vicky Manolopoulou specializes in the History and Archaeology of Byzantine landscapes. She studied History and Archaeology at the University of Athens after which she received a scholarship from the Holy Synod of Greece to study Byzantine Archaeology at Newcastle University (MA, PhD). Before joining Princeton she was a Lecturer in Byzantine History at King’s College London. Her research interests include topics on sacred landscapes, mobility, memory, emotion and digital approaches to Byzantine spaces. She has participated in various archaeological projects, public engagement and impact activities in the UK, Italy and Greece. She seats on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Classical Studies as an early career representative and is a member of the McCord Centre for Landscape (Newcastle University).
About the Research Project
Byzantine Ecocriticism and Sacred Landscapes: Monastic and Lay Experiences of ritual in Late Antique and Byzantine Villages c.600 to c.1000
This project re-evaluates human-environment interactions and ritual experience in Byzantium contributing conceptually and methodologically to the study of Byzantine landscapes and the environmental history of Byzantium. My aim is to understand how ritual was shaped by perceptions of nature, and how perceptions of nature were shaped by ritual. Through analysis of textual and material sources and the use of digital tools, I will study monastic and lay ritual experience in Late Antique and Byzantine villages illuminating aspects of everyday life outside major urban centers. Such an approach will enhance our understanding of the way people built links to place, their community and God.