Office Phone: TBA
Office Location: NF334
E-mail: joanna.papayiannis@utoronto.ca
Office Hours and/or Leave Status: TBA
Degrees
PhD (Princeton University)
MA (Princeton University)
BA (University of Toronto)
Joanna Papayiannis is a Classical archaeologist, art historian and museum professional. Her principal areas of research include ancient Greek domestic architecture and the use of space, ancient foodways and technologies, and the material dimension of ancient Greek ritual. Joanna’s dissertation, “The Gynaikonitis: The (un)Gendered Greek House” (Princeton 2012) challenged the seclusion paradigm for women’s lives in ancient Greece by examining the archaeological evidence for women’s movements and activities within and without the home. Her current research considers the tactile, performative, and psychological intersections between ancient Greek cursing rituals and political procedures like ostracism. Her project, “Curses in Clay, Letters in Lead: Cursing Rituals and Political Ostracism in Ancient Athens,” was recently a part of Jackman Scholars-in-Residence (https://cursesinclay.wordpress.com/) and culminated in an exhibition at the E. J. Pratt Library. Joanna has worked as a field archaeologist in Greece and as a museum professional, such as at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These experiences have influenced her interest in crimes related to the art world and her participation in The Looting Lab (The Looting Lab | Jackman Humanities Institute). Joanna takes a material-centered and experiential approach to teaching the following courses: Approaches to Material Culture (MCS224H), Materiality of Magic (MCS226H), Themes in Material Culture: Art Crime (MCS444H), Materializing Cultural Identities (MCS328H), Innovators and their Ideas (VIC109H), The Secret Life of Things (VIC199H), Odysseys: The Search for Meaning (VIC105H), and The Body: An Exercise (CRE273H). Joanna currently serves as the Coordinator of the Program of Material Culture and Semiotics and as the Faculty Supervisor of the undergraduate journal Material Merge.
Recent Publications:
Papayiannis, Joanna. “Food and Cooking in the Ancient Mediterranean World.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Food Studies. Ed. Megan Elias. New York: Oxford University Press, 2025.