the egyptian gallery will reopen  April 9, 2016.

IEAA Events - Spring 2016

• 13th Annual Legacy of Egypt Lecture, Dr. Stephen Vinson - March 15, 2016
• EGSA Public Lecture. Dr. Liz Cummins - March 18, 2016
• Public Lecture, Dr. James K. Hoffmeier - April 8, 2016
• Ancient Egypt Family Day - Spring 2016

The Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology, as part of its mandate as a Tennessee Center of Excellence, presents programs and educational events for the public. The IEAA brings world-renowned Egyptologists to the Mid-South for lectures and symposia. In addition, educational events are offered to schoolchildren and their families. Occasionally, the Institute also sponsors educational tours to Egypt.

The Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology provides trained graduate student docents for groups wishing a guided tour of the ancient Egyptian and African ethnographic exhibitions in the Art Museum of the University of Memphis. In addition, the Art Museum and the IEAA are sometimes able to provide guided tours of the Contemporary exhibitions at the Art Museum.

To schedule a tour once the museum reopens, contact the Art Museum at 901.678.2224.

Note: All groups are required to contact the Art Museum in advance and are strongly encouraged to schedule a docent-guided tour.

Events for Spring 2016

Stephen Vinson, PhD, is associate professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Egyptology at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. 

Dr. Vinson earned his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Maryland). His areas of specialization include ancient Egyptian language and literature, the history of Graeco-Roman Egypt, and ancient Egyptian transportation and trade, especially boats and ships.

Studies of the reception of the ancient Egyptian "First Tale of Setne Khaemwas" have typically focused on its resonance with Gothic and horror fiction, however the African-American reception of this and other ancient Egyptian literary works has hardly been touched upon, but is extensive. Drawing on the works of such African-American authors as Zora Neale Hurston, Ishmael Reed, and others, Dr. Vinson will highlight this little known aspect of the influence of ancient Egyptian works on African-American literature.

This free public event will take place on the campus of the University of Memphis.

Pay parking ($2/hr.) is available in the adjacent Zach Curlin Garage.

Click here for additional information concerning this lecture.

Liz Cummins, PhD, is adjunct professor at the University of Reno, Nevada.

Professor Cummins received her M.A. in Art History, concentration in Egyptian art, from the University of Memphis in 2003 and completed her doctorate at Emory University (Georgia) in 2013.  In 2007, Dr. Cummins was a Visiting Researcher at Leiden University in the Netherlands, followed by a year-long American Research Center in Egypt fellowship conducting research in Egypt for her dissertation.  Her areas of specialization include ancient Egyptian and Roman art. 

In her dissertation, "Word, Object, Image: The Bed as a Sign in New Kingdom Egyptian Art," Dr. Cummins examined the relationship between the bed and sexual activity, sleep, and death drawing on written and artistic sources from ancient Egypt.  She was featured on the History Channel documentary "Sex in the Ancient World-Egyptian Erotica," where she discussed iconography, art and texts related to sex, fertility, and divine birth imagery.

This free public event will take place on the campus of the University of Memphis.

Pay parking ($2/hr.) is available in the adjacent Zach Curlin Garage.

Sponsored by the Student Event Allocation Committee.