I’m a sixth year student in the Classical Studies PhD program. I received my BA in Classical Languages from UC Berkeley and also studied Classics at the University of Otago in New Zealand. My primary interests lie in Greek art and literature from the Archaic and Classical periods and the influence of Near Eastern culture upon Greek iconography and myth. I have excavated in Greece and Cyprus as well as worked with collections of papyri and pottery in the US and Greece. Such opportunities for close examination of artifacts have helped me to advance my understanding of the processes of production and the nuances of different styles and techniques of painters and potters. During the summers of 2012 through 2014, I was an intern in the ceramics departments of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. My current research focuses on white-ground lekythoi and the figure of mourning in 5th century Athens. I am particularly interested in the range of ways that grief is expressed via different types of mourners (e.g. young, old, male, female). Close examination of their body language and facial expressions, I argue, can help us gain a better understanding of contemporary Athenian conceptions and perceptions of death, dying and grief. Presently I am teaching Art Humanities, a part of Columbia’s Core Curriculum. Email Molly Allen.