Georgia Landgraf
Why did you decide to pursue a graduate degree?
A graduate career was not something I thought I would necessarily pursue when I began my academic career. I was in a completely different area of study, struggling through my first year of a physics degree, and I had to sit myself down and really evaluate where I wanted to my life to go. I began taking classes in Classical Archaeology as I searched for a new major and fell in love with antiquity, archaeology and anthropology. I wanted to know more about people and the way they lived in various times and places. As I finished my undergraduate degree, graduate studies were the logical next step in being able to research the people of antiquity. In pursuing my MA in Classical Studies and in writing my resultant thesis, I realized that not only did I love archaeology, but I loved mulling over large research topics and finding the way the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
Why did you decide to study at UBC?
The decision to study at UBC was an easy one as I was looking for a PhD program. The Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies (AMNE) was the major draw for me. In a world where Classical Archaeology is critiqued as being stuck in ways of the past, AMNE seemed to be leading the charge in expanding Classics, making it more inclusive and actively attempting to marry it with other disciplines of archaeology. As these are major aspects of the discipline I am also concerned with encouraging, the community at UBC was extremely attractive to me. I was also impressed with the amenities and support the University offers to graduate students. As graduate studies can be very stressful and demanding it was nice to see that there were various programs and services in place to lessen some of my concerns. Finally, the location and its proximity to home was a large draw for me. Being able to live in an absolutely gorgeous city and study on a lovely campus is something I am very thankful for.
What is it specifically, that your program offers, that attracted you?
The department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies (AMNE) struck me as so interdisciplinary and as a group of people producing research that was interesting, topical and something I wanted to be a part of. In emailing a few of the current faculty in the department to get some idea of the working environment, it was immediately apparent to me that the culture in AMNE was collaborative and experimental — somewhere where I could think outside of the box or work with fringe theories in the discipline and be encouraged, coached and nurtured academically.
What was the best surprise about UBC or life in Vancouver?
I think the campus itself was an incredible surprise! Being nested within so much nature means I can find so many moments of peace within the chaos that grad school can provide. I’m able to take my laptop to the beach, the Rose Garden, or decompress with a run in Pacific Spirit Park. Upon passing my comprehensive exams, the first thing I did was take a stroll over the Nitobe Japanese garden to just have a moment of calm celebration.
What aspects of your life or career before now have best prepared you for your UBC graduate program?
The amount of time I’ve spent in collaborative positions in my career. Being able to take outside input, evaluate the way it fits into my projects, adapt and apply other viewpoints has been incredibly important. These interpersonal skills and a willingness to work with others have improved my success in my program exponentially.
What advice do you have for new graduate students?
I think my advice is mostly something non-academic: grad school flies by so quickly; take time to build a supportive community within your department and enjoy your time with them. It’s incredibly easy to get bogged down with deadlines and really isolate yourself by pouring yourself into your work. Budget your time to accommodate both work and enjoying the company of friends on campus.
Learn more about Georgia's research
My research interests lie in the study of art from the Greek world, with a general interest in the iconography of marginalized communities, specifically women of various statuses, in Archaic and Classical Athenian vase painting. My current research centres on the female Thracian community, a commonly enslaved population in the Athenian city-state, and how Athenian art communicated a general public opinion of these women. In particular, the scenes depicting these women emphasize either their raw "barbarian" strength or their great deal of care as nurses in Athens. I hope to knit the themes of these two scene types through the Athenian concern for their population in the Classical Period and the ability of the Thracian women to bestow their strength on the next generation of Athenians through wet-nursing, explaining the differing depictions of these women as well as the Athenian preference for Thracian wet nurses.