A.J.R. (Adam) Wiznura, MA

Education

2019 - present: PhD in Ancient History (University of Groningen)                        Working Title of Dissertation: "Connecting the Greeks: Festival Networks and Regional Identities in Thessaly"

2016 - 2018: MA in Classical Archaeology (University of Alberta)                            Thesis: "Negotiating Identities in Funerary Contexts: The Archaeology of Death in Hellenistic Demetrias (294-31 BC)"

2012 - 2016: BA with a double major in Anthropology and Classical Studies, with Distinction (University of Alberta)

Grants and Awards

2023: CRASIS Networks Scheme (for the Time and Temporalities Network)

2022: OIKOS National Graduate School in Classical Studies Travel Grant, Netherlands (for travel to present at the AIA Annual Meeting)

2021: NINO Conference Subsidy [for the conference Rooted Cities, Wandering Gods] (Netherlands Institute for the Near East) 

2021: Groningen University Fund [for the conference Rooted Cities, Wandering Gods] (University of Groningen)

2021: ICOG Conference Grant [for the conference Rooted Cities, Wandering Gods] (University of Groningen)

2021: Oscar Montelius Foundation EAA Registration Grant (European Association of Archaeologists)

2021: COVID-19 Microgrant (Classical Association of Canada)

2021: AIA Meeting Registration Grant (Archaeological Institute of America)

2019: Graduate Student Travel Grant (Archaeological Institute of America)

2018: Robert J. Buck Travel Award (for fieldwork at Ayios Vasilios, Greece)

2018: FGSR Graduate Travel Award (for fieldwork at Kastro Kallithea, Greece)

2017-2018: Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC)

2017-2018: Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship (University of Alberta)

2016-2017: Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship-Master’s (Government of Alberta)

2016-2017: WS Buchanan Scholarship (University of Alberta) 

2015: Roger S Smith Student Research Award (for research on 'Unguentaria' at Kastro Kallithea, Greece)

Fieldwork

2019 - present: Central Achaia Phthiotis Survey Project, Greece (University of Alberta, and the 15th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities)  Responsibilities: pottery specialist for all material, apothiki administrator, fieldwalker

2017 - 2018: Ayios Vasilios Survey Project, Greece (University of Groningen)  Responsibilities: ceramic specialist for the Classical and Hellenistic material

2014 - 2018: Kastro Kallithea Archaeological Project, Greece (University of Alberta, and the 15th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities)                Responsibilities: ceramic specialist for unguentaria and transport amphorae, finds processing, finds conservation

2016: Halos Excavations, Greece (University of Groningen, University of Amsterdam, and the 13th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities)              Responsibilities: excavator and artefact processing

Conferences/ Papers

09-2023: 29^th Annual European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting, (Belfast, Northern Ireland). Paper: Constructing Connected Contests. Opportunities and challenges in building an online database of Graeco-Roman athletes and festivals

07-2023: Celtic Conference in Classics (Coimbra, Portugal) Paper: (In)equality in Thessaly: Participation in Prominent Thessalian Festivals

04-2023: Distant Deities, Central Places: Reconsidering the “extra-urban” sanctuary Paper: Negotiating Sacred Space: Perceptions of Thessalian Extra-Urban Sanctuaries

01-2023: Annual AIA and SCS Joint Annual Meeting (New Orleans, USA). Paper: The Central Achaia Phthiotis Survey (CAPS), results of the 2020-2022 seasons

12-2022: More Than a Place of Worship: Complexity at Sacred Sites in the Ancient World (Uppsala, Sweden) Paper: Problematizing Sacred Space: The Thessalian Sanctuary of Athena Itonia

06-2022: Religious Networks in Antiquity: A topical workshop in The Connected Past series of events (Bergen, Norway)                                                                              Paper: Festival networks in the Hellenistic world - multiscalar analyses of connectivities

06-2022: 7th Archaeological Meeting of Thessaly and Central Greece 2018-2021: From Prehistory to the Later Periods (Volos, Greece)                                                Paper: Results of the 2019 and 2021 seasons of the Central Achaia Phthiotis Survey (CAPS) [Presented with Margriet Haagsma et al.]

05-2022: Classical Association of Canada Annual Meeting (London, Ontario).  Paper: The Sanctuary of Zeus Olympios on Agios Antonios (Mount Olympos) and Thessaly’s International Relationships

09-2021: The Connected Past: Artefactual Intelligence (Aarhus, Denmark).  Paper: Multi-scalar festival network agents in the Hellenistic and Roman world: Regions, Kingdoms, and Empire 

09-2021: 27th Annual European Association of Archaeologists Annual Meeting (Kiel, Germany)                                                                                                            Paper: Mountains of Memory: Triangulating landscape, cult and regional identity through Zeus

04-2021: U4/ Enlight Winter School: Nature and Culture in Antiquity (Athens online with Zoom).                                                                                                          Paper: Nature Shaping Identities: A Festival at Mount Pelion

05-2020: OIKOS Cultural Interactions in the Ancient World: Networking the Ancient World (Utrecht online with Zoom)                                                          Paper: Negotiating Regional Identities: Festival Networks in Hellenistic and Roman Thessaly – A Preliminary Study

04-2020: Ancient Sport and Festivals: Current Research at Groningen and Mannheim (University of Mannheim - online with Zoom)                                      Paper: Festivals and Regional Identity: The Case of Thessaly

12-2019: Symposium on Culture and Identity in the Late Hellenistic and Roman East (University of Groningen)                                                                          Paper: Connecting the Greeks: Sporting Festivals in the Ancient World

08-2019: Historicidagen conference (University of Groningen)                                      Paper: Pergamon – Cult, Landscape and Festivals: Formation of Regional Identity around Pergamon

01-2019: 120th Annual AIA and SCS Joint Annual Meeting (San Diego, CA)                  Paper: Disinterring Collective Identity in a Hellenistic Port City: The Burials from Hellenistic Demetrias

05-2018: The Courts of Philip II and Alexander the Great: Monarchy and Power in Ancient Macedonia Conference (University of Alberta)                                                 Paper: Global and Local Funerary Identities from a Macedonian Capital: the Case of Demetrias

01-2017: Canadian Institute in Greece Graduate Student Conference (University of Alberta)                                                                                                                                     Paper: The Ambiguity of the Status of the Penestai of Thessaly: An Analysis of the Sources

Organizational Experience

2021: Co-organizer for the international conference Rooted Cities, Wandering Gods: Inter-Urban Religious Interactions in the Ancient World at the University of Groningen                                                                                                                      Primary organizer with Tom Britton with other organizers being Christina Williamson, Onno van Nijf, and Lidewijde de Jong, in connection with the Max-Weber-Kolleg at the Universität Erfurt

2017: Co-organizer of the Bi-Annual Canadian Institute in Greece Graduate Student Conference at the University of Alberta (Keynote: Craig Hardiman)                              Co-organizer with Gino Canlas, in connection with the Canadian Institute in Greece

Museum Exhibits

21 August – 21 November 2020: “Sport in de Oudheid”. Online museum exhibit at the Noordelijk Scheepvaart Museum Groningen.                  https://www.noordelijkscheepvaartmuseum.nl/nl/tentoonstelling/sport-in-de-oudheid