Prof. Joanna Papayiannis

Joanna Papayiannis is a Classical archaeologist, art historian and museum professional. Her principal areas of research include ancient Greek domestic architecture and the use of space, green buildings and sustainability, women and gender, and the agency of religious art. Joanna’s dissertation, “The Gynaikonitis: The (un)Gendered Greek House” (Princeton 2012) challenged the seclusion paradigm for women’s lives in ancient Greece by examining the literary and archaeological evidence for women’s movements and activities within and without the home. Her current project considers the agency of ancient Greek religious art and its psychological effects on viewers. Joanna has worked as a field archaeologist in Greece and as a museum professional, such as at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These experiences have shaped her material-centered and experiential approach to teaching in the Program of Material Culture and Semiotics. Joanna has taught Approaches to Material Culture (MCS224H), Themes in Material Culture: Art Crime (MCS444H), Materializing Cultural Identities (MCS328H), Innovators and their Ideas (VIC109H), The Secret Life of Things (VIC199H), and The Body: An Exercise (CRE273H). Joanna also teaches in the Museum Studies graduate program at the Faculty of Information and currently serves as the Coordinator of the Program of Material Culture and Semiotics.