Renée de Vries

After obtaining her Bachelor’s degree in Archaeology, Renée de Vries continued with two Master’s degrees, namely in Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts and then in Religion and Pluralism at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies. Her archaeological interest, especially in the early Roman period, soon taught her that religion offered an important angle to better understand this period. Studying and writing on Tacitus gave her the insight that around 64 CE (AD), the year of the great fire in Rome, for which Christians were blamed and subsequently persecuted, there seemed to have been a great deal of intolerance between Christians and the pagan followers of the Mythras cult. There was, however, also much mutual influence, as can be seen in the appearance of pagan motifs in early Christian art. In short, it was an interesting period which, according to Renée, can only be better understood through a broad interdisciplinary approach. This is what she wants to focus on in the immediate future. In addition to her studies, Renée has been active in various committees in the Bachur archaeological study association as well as for the interdisciplinary research platform CRASIS and she is a member of the editorial board of the Tijdschrift voor Mediterrane Archeologie (Dutch magazine for Mediterranean archaeology). Renée is also a student assistant for two lecturers from the Religion and Pluralism track. The considerable fieldwork experience that Renée has gained by participating in many excavations, both in the Netherlands and Italy, is also striking. Renée made an excellent pitch, during which she convincingly clarified the importance of interdisciplinarity.