Global Antiquity Strives for Collaborative Interdisciplinary Research on Ancient Worlds

Urbano Monti’s planisphere, digitally reconstructed from 60 sheets, hand-drawn in Milan, Italy in 1587, is one of the oldest world maps

Global Antiquity is a new endeavor to link multiple faculty, department and research units at UCLA to make the study of ancient worlds more accessible, inclusive, and germane.

David Schaberg, professor of classical Chinese poetry and thought announced its foundation, writing  “under the leadership of Rahim Shayegan and the Faculty Governance Board, Global Antiquity will marshal the intellectual capital of UCLA and its institutional partners in Los Angeles to be at the forefront of studies in global antiquity, while offering opportunities for public engagement with this breadth of knowledge and resources.”

The Faculty Governance Board includes several members of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology: Kara Cooney, professor of Egyptian art and architecture; Lothar von Falkenhausen, professor of Chinese archaeology and art history; Li Min, associate professor of Chinese archaeology; Stella Nair, associate professor of indigenous arts of the Americas; William Schniedewind, professor of biblical studies and northwest Semitic languages; and Glenn Wharton, chair of the UCLA/Getty Conservation Program.

In addition to Shayegan, professor in Iranian studies, and Schaberg, the Board also includes Torquil Duthie, associate professor of pre-modern Japanese literature; Chris Johanson, associate professor in classics and digital humanities; and Kathryn Morgan, chair of Classics and professor of classical Greek literature and Greek intellectual history.

Along with original research, Global Antiquity will create new courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate level to raise awareness and appreciation of the common global heritage of humanity and to facilitate faculty applications for institutional grants to help cement the status of UCLA as a global leader in the humanities. According to Schaberg’s announcement, “our endeavor will add visibility to one of several areas in which the humanities at UCLA excel with opportunities for more faculty and students to find a collaborative interdisciplinary research home, a goal that we strive to fulfill for all members of the academic community.” He concluded “I am grateful to professor Shayegan and the Global Antiquity Faculty Governance Board for all the careful thought and effort they have given over the last two academic years to create a compelling shared vision for interdisciplinary scholarship on the ancient worlds. Together with our communities and our students, we have much to learn and much to teach.”