Kate Brown, associate professor of history, will give two distinguished off-campus lectures this fall.

The first will be a keynote lecture at the symposium “Diverse Landscapes of Ukraine: Celebrating Twenty Years of Ukrainian Independence.” The symposium will take place on the campus of the Pennsylvania State University on September 30 and October 1. Brown’s lecture, “When History and Biology Collide: Chornobyl and the Making of a Disaster,” will be the keynote lecture of the first day of the event.

Then, on October 13, Brown will give a lecture entitled “Irrevocable: The Life-Changing, Society-Altering Significance of Plutonium in the US and USSR” at the College of William and Mary. Her lecture is part of the Tyler Distinguished Lecture Series and sponsored by the Lyon G. Tyler Department of History.

For a second year in a row, ancient studies instructor Michael Lane has received a grant from the Institute for Aegean Prehistory. He will continue his research on Mycenaean land use through an intensive geo-physical survey in Boeotia, Greece.

His project, known as “Archaeological Reconnaissance of Uninvestigated Remains of Agriculture,” consists of extensive geophysical survey of the Mycenaean polder (dry land claimed from marshes) immediately around the stronghold, accompanied by collection of small finds from the ground surface in selected areas. In total, excavations are expected to last 5-10 years and inform presentations and articles in major archaeology conferences and journals.

Alumnus Wes Bittner ’08, ancient studies, will assist with geographic information system analysis.

Photo: Bittner assists Lane with a surveying project.