ÖMÜR HARMANŞAH
Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies
Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
and the Department of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies
Brown University
Box 1837 / 70 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: (401) 863-6411 / Fax: (401) 863-9423
E-mail: Omur_Harmansah@brown.edu
Web-site: http://proteus.brown.edu/harmansah/Home
Download the printer-friendly cv (pdf).
Also visit Research and Courses pages for downloads.
Less boring resume here.
RESEARCH INTERESTS See Brown Research Profile here.
Working in the field of archaeology, material culture and architectural history of the Ancient Near East, particularly Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia, my academic interests are increasingly being focused on the intersections of architectural space, bodily performance and collective memory. I am particularly influenced by the developing fields of material culture studies, anthropological theories of art, technology and agency, theories of space, place and landscape, phenomenological approaches to spatiality, as well as social archaeology. My future field projects as well as publication projects are likely to be shaped in those directions. Having been initially educated as an architect and architectural historian, I intend to contribute to archaeological theory and practice especially by pursuing issues of the production of social spaces in antiquity. Material culture approaches are particularly relevant in pursuing architectural technologies in ancient contexts as well as the circulation of architectural/craft knowledge.
An odd list of fields I see myself affiliated with:
- archaeology, material culture and architectural history of the Ancient Near East, particularly Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia;
- archaeological and architectural theory in general,
- theories of space, place and landscape; including cities and production of urban space, commemorative monuments and collective memory.
- cultural studies; material culture studies; technology and agency; production and circulation of artisanal knowledge;
- theories of representation, body and performance;
- architectural and topographic documentation/representation of archaeological landscapes and sites.
EDUCATION
See also Research page for links.
- 2005 PhD. in the History of Art. University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, USA), School of Arts and Sciences, Graduate Group in the History of Art.
- Dissertation title: “Spatial Narratives, Commemorative Practices and the Building Project: New Urban Foundations in Upper Syro-Mesopotamia During the Early Iron Age.” (Dissertation advisor: Prof. Holly Pittman).
- 1996 M.A. in the History of Architecture. Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey), Institute of Social Sciences, Graduate Group in the History of Architecture.
- Thesis title: “Drama, Marginality, Space: Architecture of Ritual Action in Archaic Greece; A Hellenistic Paradigm: Pergamum”. (Thesis supervisor: Prof. Suna Güven.)
- 1993 B.Arch in Architecture. Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey), Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture.
TEACHING POSITIONS
See also Courses page for syllabi downloads.
Fall 2007-onwards. Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies. Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World and the Department of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies, Brown University.
- ARCH1150 Urbanism in the Archaeological Record
- ARCH2300 The Rise (and Demise) of the State in the Near East
Fall 2006-Spring 2007. Visiting Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology and Art. Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
- AE0037 The Archaeology of Mesopotamia
- AE201 Architecture Body and Performance in the Ancient Near Eastern World
- AE120 Material Worlds: Art and Agency in the Near East and Africa
- AE120 City and the Festival: Cult Practices and Architectural Production in the Ancient Near East
Spring 2005-Spring 2006. Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History. Department of Art. Reed College, Portland, Oregon.
- Art 328 Commemorative Monuments and Cultural Representations: Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East
- Art/Anth 332. Contemporary Issues in Archaeological Theory: Interpreting Material Culture and Architectural Space
- Art /Anth 326. Material Worlds: Skilled Craftsmanship and Symbolic Technologies in Africa and the Near East
- Art 201. Introduction to Art History (3 sections)
- Art 336. Architecture and Memory: Modern Theories and Ancient Paradigms of Architectural Space between East and West
Spring 2003 Teaching Assistant. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Art History.
- ARTH.301-302. Empire and History: Assyria, Persia and Rome. Undergraduate Seminar. Instructor: Prof Holly Pittman.
Spring 2001 and Fall 2004 Instructor. University of Pennsylvania, Department of Art History, Philadelphia.
- ARTH.224. Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East. College of General Studies (CGS) survey-lecture course.
Spring 1998 Teaching and Research Assistant. Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey; Faculty of Architecture, Graduate Program in the History of Architecture.
- HA.625 Aesthetics and Criticism. Graduate seminar. Instructor: Prof. Jale N. Erzen.
Fall 1997 Visiting instructor. Osman Gazi University, Eskisehir, Turkey; Faculty of Architecture and Engineering, Department of Architecture.
- Mim.221 History of Architecture I: from prehistory to the Middle ages (lecture-survey course for the 2nd year undergraduate students of architecture).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK
See also Research page for links to field projects.
2002-2003 and 2007 Gordion/Yassıhöyük Archaeological Project. Excavations under the directory of G. Kenneth Sams. Dissertation fieldwork and research on Early Iron Age architectural techniques. Work continued in Summer 2007.
2001-2002 and 2007 Ayanıs Archaeological Project, Excavations under the directory of Altan Çilingiroglu, Paul Zimansky and Elizabeth Stone. Fieldwork on Urartian stone masonry. Ayanis Ethnoarchaeological Project
2001-2002 Dissertation fieldwork: Study of Middle Bronze, Late Bronze and Iron Age sites in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey and Northern Syria. Study of Syro-Hittite and Urartian stone monuments in Van, Gaziantep, and Ankara Anatolian Civilizations Museum (with research permit from Ministry of Culture, Turkish Republic).
1993-1999 Kerkenes Dağ Project, Turkey. Survey and Excavations under the directory of Geoffrey D. Summers. British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara and Middle East Technical University, Ankara. Worked as architectural assistant, especially on the survey of urban defensive system.
1994-1999 Ohio-State University Excavations at Isthmia, Greece; under the directory of Timothy E. Gregory. Worked as architectural assistant with Fikret K. Yegül on the architectural survey and documentation of the Roman Bath at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia near Ancient Corinth.
ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
1994-1995 Assistant architect. KA-BA Conservation of Historic Buildings and Architecture Ltd., Ankara.Fieldwork and design projects include: Restoration project for Ishak Pasha Palace, Dogubayazit, Turkey; Restoration project for the 16th century Çukur and Çengel Hans in Ankara Castle area, Turkey; Survey and renovation of the Ottoman Imperial Mint building complex in Topkapı Palace (Istanbul, Turkey) in preparation for Habitat II Exhibitions.
ACADEMIC HONORS, AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS
2005 Dorot Foundation Annual Meeting Travel Grant for Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, January 6-9, 2005.
2004 Dorot Foundation Annual Meeting Travel Grant for American Schools of Oriental Research Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, November 17-21, 2004.
2003 Carter Manny Citation of Special Recognition Award. Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, for the dissertation in progress.
2003 Dean’s Scholar, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania.
1999-2003 Kolb Fellowship; Louis J. Kolb Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
1997-1999 Williams Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Department of the History of Art.
1997 Prof. Dr. Mustafa N. Parlar Education and Research Foundation Thesis Award. Middle East Technical University (Ankara, Turkey).
1993 Architectural and Urban Planning Competition, 3rd Mension Award, for Ankara Kazikiçi Bostanları Central Business District Rehabilitation and Urban Planning Project, Greater Ankara Municipality. With Asli Süha Dönertas, Hilal Ünal and Siyami Türkkan.
1989-1993 Sabancı Foundation fellowship for undergraduate studies.
PUBLICATIONS
See Research page for downloads.
Forthcoming. May 2007. “Upright stones and building narratives: formation of a shared architectural practice in the ancient Near East” Ancient Near Eastern Art in Context: Studies in Honor of Irene J. Winter, Jack Cheng and Marian H. Feldman (eds.). Leiden: Brill Publishers.
2005. “Eski Yakın Dogu’da Ortostatlı yapıların Tektonik Estetigi ve Kültürel Baglamı: Bölgeler-arası Paylasılan Mimari bir Pratigin Olusumu,” in Eskiçag’ın Mekanları / Zamanları / Insanları: ODTÜ Mimarlık Tarihi Yüksek Lisans ve Doktora Programı Doktora Arastırmaları Sempozyumu III. 2-3 Haziran 2003, ODTÜ, Ankara. Lale Özgenel (ed.). Istanbul: Homer Kitabevi, 110-132.
2002. Mapping Augustan Rome, directed by Lothar Haselberger in collaboration with David G. Romano & edited by Elisha Dumser. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement Series No. 50: Portsmouth, RI, 2002. (Series of entries and map contributions)
1997. “Mekansal Hikayeler,” (Spatial Stories) Mimarlık 274 (1997) 22-25 (in Turkish).
1997 “A preliminary research on the building materials and the decay forms of the Taksiyarhis Church in Ayvalık (Kydonies),” in Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on the Conservation of Monuments in the Mediterranean, Rhodes 6-11 May 1997, vol 4: 415-35. (with Neriman Sahin, Dimitris Papasotiriu).
1996 “The Kerkenes Dag survey: An interim report,” Anatolian Studies 46 (1996) 200-234. (with G.D. Summers, F.E. Summers, N. Baturayoglu, E. McIntosh).
1996 “Ayvalık için bir Öndeyis” (Prolegomenon to the study of the city Ayvalık), Birikim 86/87 (1996) 140-143. (in Turkish with Aslı Tanrıkulu).
PRESENTATIONS
See Research page for downloads.
2006. “Spatial narratives: Social memory and architectural practice in Early Iron Age Karkamis” Presented at College Art Association 94th Annual Conference - Boston February 22-25, 2006: Art History Open Session: Western Asian Art, Chair: John Russell.
2005 “Upright stones and building narratives: architectural practice, artisanal knowledge and cultural representation in Upper Mesopotamia.” Lecture at the University of Pennylvania, Center for Ancient Studies; March 14, 2005. Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon; October 20, 2005.
2005 “Architectural aspects and cultural significance of raising orthostats in the Ancient Near East: formation of a shared architectural practice.” Presented at the Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, January 6-9, 2005, Boston, MA.
2004 “Source of the Tigris: royal rhetoric and commemorative monuments in the Upper Mesopotamian landscapes of the Early Iron Age.” Presented at the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) Annual Meeting, November 17-21, 2004, San Antonio, Texas.
2004 “The shepherd, the cattle-pen and the cedar forest: ideals of divine kingship, mythical city and fecund landscapes in early Mesopotamian literature.” Presented at “Suspending (Dis)Belief” Penn Graduate Humanities Forum 4th Annual Conference, March 27th, 2004.
2003 “New cities and commemorative landscapes in the Upper Mesopotamian Iron Age: between social practices and cultural representations” Dissertation Colloquium presented at the Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylviania; October 18, 2003.
2003 “The architectonic aesthetics and cultural context of orthostats in the architecture of the Ancient Near East: formation of an interregionally shared architectural practice” (in Turkish). Paper presented at Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey. PhD Research Symposium “Space, Time, and Society in Antiquity”, June 2-3, 2003.
2002 “The architecture of Late Assyrian palaces.” Two-session guest lecture for the graduate seminar ARTH 522. The Art of Empire: Palace reliefs of the Assyrian kings, at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of the History of Art, taught by Prof Holly Pittman; January 31, 2002.
2001 “New Foundations in the Ancient Near East: the Preliminary Results of Fieldwork in the Lake Van Basin, Eastern Turkey.” Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World Program Lunch Talk, University of Pennsylvania; November 16, 2001.
1999 “Limestone Hills of North Syria in Late Antiquity: Problems of Rural Decline", presented to the Second Graduate Symposium “Decline: All Good Things Must Come to an End?”, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College, October 15-16, 1999.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
1998- Society of Architectural Historians
2003- Archaeological Institute of America
2004- American Schools of Oriental Research
2004- College Art Association
2005- Deutsche Orient Gesellschaft
LANGUAGES
Modern: Turkish (main tongue), English (fluent), French and German (working-reading).
Ancient: Ancient Greek (preliminary), Akkadian (advanced).
