Tara Wells: Analyzing Stelae and Inscriptions in Athens and Delphi

Thanks to the CLST Department’s Research Travel Award, I was able to spend a significant portion of my summer in Greece, visiting sites and museums which are central to my dissertation research on migrant women in the ancient Greek world. In particular, the funding made it possible for me to travel and stay in Athens for about 6 weeks, giving me a solid homebase for my work. I was able to hold an Associate Membership at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, which gave me access to the school’s libraries and other facilities. Being based there also made it easy to get to museums within the city and to visit sites outside of Athens. Specifically, I had very productive visits to the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus, the Epigraphic Museum of Athens, and to the archaeological site and museum of Delphi. 

In the Piraeus museum, it was especially meaningful to spend time up-close with several funerary stelae I’d been writing about in my first chapter over the past year. I find it particularly useful and inspiring to see the stelae in the context of the museum, where I can consider the works alongside other artifacts and perhaps make connections I wouldn’t otherwise think to make. Similarly, at the Epigraphic Museum I was able to view a variety of inscriptions, which helped me to think from multiple angles about ways in which migrants were integrated into Greek, especially Athenian, society.

Beyond museum walls, I think the most enriching part of my research travel was a several-day trip up to the beautiful site of Delphi. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the site previously when traveling with a group of scholars, but it was a very different experience to be there on my own schedule, focused on my own research. A key aspect of my work aims to think about migrants’ own experiences and perspectives, as much as we possibly can with the evidence we have to work with. Thus, traveling to a site I’ve been writing about gave me a much deeper understanding of the potential feelings such an impressive site might impose upon its visitors.

Overall, being able to travel this summer for my own research was extremely enriching and provided experiences which I am certain will continue to be crucial in shaping my work. My travels would not have been possible without the support of this award and I thank the department for making such an opportunity possible.