Bio

Giovanna Ceserani works on the classical tradition with an emphasis on the intellectual history of classical scholarship, historiography and archaeology from the eighteenth century onwards. She is interested in the role that Hellenism and Classics played in the shaping of modernity and, in turn, in how the questions we ask of the classical past originate in specific modern cultural, social and political contexts.

Her book Italy’s Lost Greece: Magna Graecia and the making of modern archaeology appeared from Oxofrd University Press in 2012. Her current book project concerns the emergence of modern histories of ancient Greece; she is now also writing on the transformations of antiquarianism in the eighteenth century and on modern travels to ancient lands. Her interest in travel is engaging new digital approaches with a focus on the Grand Tour for the Stanford digital humanities project Mapping the Republic of Letters (http://republicofletters.stanford.edu/)

Academic Appointments

  • Professor, Classics

Administrative Appointments

  • Director, Undergraduate Studies, Classics Department, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
  • New Directions Mellon Fellowship, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (2012 - 2013)
  • Associate Professor of Classics and, by courtesy, of History, Stanford University (2011 - Present)
  • Director, Undergraduate Studies, Classics Department, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
  • Autumn Faculty in residence, Stanford Bing Overseas program Florence Campus (2009 - 2009)
  • Assistant Professor of History, by Courtesy, Stanford University (2008 - 2011)
  • Internal Faculty Fellow Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
  • William H. and Frances Green Faculty Fellow, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
  • Assistant Professor of Classics, Stanford University (2003 - 2011)
  • Cotsen Fellow, Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, Princeton University (2000 - 2003)
  • Lecturer, Classics Department, Princeton University (2000 - 2003)
  • Post-doctoral director of research for Archives of European Archaeology, Institute National d'Histoire de I'Art, Paris (2000 - 2000)
  • Visiting lecturer, School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Birkbeck College, University College, London (2000 - 2000)
  • John Carter Brown Library Associate Fellowship, Brown University (1999 - 1999)

Honors & Awards

  • Internal Faculty Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center (2017-2018)
  • Roberta Bowman Denning Award, Stanford University (2016)
  • New Directions Mellon Fellowship, Mellon Foundation (2012-2015)
  • Internal Faculty Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center (2007-2008)
  • William H. and Frances Green Faculty Fellow, Stanford University (2007-2008)
  • Spring Visiting Scholar, Getty Research Institute (2006)
  • Cotsen Fellow in the Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, Princeton University (2000-2003)
  • Stanley J. Seeger Faculty Fellowship, Princeton University (2000 - 2001)
  • Research Fellowship, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris (2000)
  • Benefactors' Scholarship, St. John's College (1996 - 1999)
  • Studentship, British Academy (1996 - 1999)
  • Cambridge University European Trust Scholarship, University of Cambridge (1996 - 1997)
  • Fellowship for doctoral study abroad, Universita di Bologna (1995 - 1996)
  • Unnamed Classical Scholarship, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge (1995 - 1996)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Board Advisor, American Academy in Rome (2016 - Present)
  • Cesta Core Faculty and Graduate Certificate in DH Advisor, Stanford University (2016 - Present)
  • Member Committee on Academic Computing and Information Systems, Stanford University (2016 - Present)
  • Manuscript Reviewer, Oxford University Press (2015 - Present)
  • Manuscript Reviewer, Cambridge University Press (2013 - Present)
  • Grant Reviewer, Dutch Council for the Humanities (2013 - 2013)
  • Grant Reviewer, European Research Council (2013 - 2013)
  • Manuscript Reviewer, Journal of the History of Ideas (2012 - Present)
  • Grant Reviewer, Einstein Foundation Berlin (2012 - 2012)
  • Manuscript Reviewer, Pallgrave MacMillan (2012 - 2012)
  • Member, Serving on Stanford Classics Department Archaeology Search Committee, Stanford University (2011 - 2012)
  • Screener, Stanford Humanities Center Fellowships, Stanford University (2008)
  • Second reader of Latin general exam, Classics Department, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
  • Chair of oral exam, Department of History, Stanford University (2006)
  • Chair of oral exam, Department of French and Italian, Stanford University (2004)
  • Classics department Examiner, Classics Department graduates' foreign language exams in Italian, Stanford University (2004)
  • Member, Stanford Classics Department Undergraduate Studies Committee, Stanford University (2004 - 2006)
  • Member, Stanford Classics Department Latin Search Committee, Stanford University (2004 - 2005)
  • Second reader of Latin general exam, Classics Department, Stanford University (2004 - 2004)
  • Secretary, Classics Department Faculty Meetings, Stanford University (2003 - 2005)
  • First reader of Latin general exam, Classics Department, Stanford University (2003 - 2003)
  • Trench Supervisor, Paestum, Italy (1996 - 1996)
  • Student excavator, field survey team member, Rieti Project Italy (1992 - 1992)
  • Student Excavator, Etruscan at Fidenza, Italy (1990 - 1990)

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., University of Cambridge and St. John's College, Classics (2000)
  • Laurea, Universita di Bologna, Lettere Classiche (1994)

Contact

  • Academic
    ceserani@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: Classics Position: Professor
    • Classics Department
    • Main Quad Building 20
    • Stanford University
    • Stanford,  California  94305 

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 2145

Links

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Giovanna Ceserani works on the classical tradition with an emphasis on the intellectual history of classical scholarship, historiography and archaeology from the eighteenth century onwards. She is interested in the role that Hellenism and Classics played in the shaping of modernity and, in turn, in how the questions we ask of the classical past originate in specific modern cultural, social and political contexts.

Her book Italy’s Lost Greece: Magna Graecia and the making of modern archaeology appeared from Oxford University Press in 2012. She is currently working on eighteenth travel to Italy, both as a digital humanist--she is the director of the Stanford digital Grand Tour Project, which involves the study of thousands of travelers to Italy, and in writing a book on the joint 1760s travels to Sicily of two professors, one from Cambridge and the other from Naples, which she is reconstructing based on archival research. Her other current work concerns the emergence of modern histories of ancient Greece.

Projects

  • Grand Tour Project, Stanford University

    Location

    Italy

2024-25 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • British Travelers in Eighteenth-Century Italy: The Grand Tour and the Profession of Architecture AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Ceserani, G., Caviglia, G., Coleman, N., De Armond, T., Murray, S., Taylor-Poleskey, M. 2017; 122 (2): 425–50

    View details for DOI 10.1093/ahr/122.2.425

    View details for Web of Science ID 000402901500006

  • Historical Research in a Digital Age: Reflections from the Mapping the Republic of Letters Project AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Edelstein, D., Findlen, P., Ceserani, G., Winterer, C., Coleman, N. 2017; 122 (2): 400–424

    View details for DOI 10.1093/ahr/122.2.400

    View details for Web of Science ID 000402901500005

  • The provenance of Greek painted vases Disciplinary debates and modern identities in the early 19th century ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND MODERN IDENTITIES: A CRITICAL HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY GREECE Ceserani, G., Voutsaki, S., Cartledge, P. 2017: 24–40

    View details for Web of Science ID 000417812800003

  • Digital Humanities and Tourism History Journal of Tourism History Anderson, C., Ceserani, G., Donaldson, C. E., Gregory, I. N., Hall, M., Rosenbaum, A. T., Taylor, J. E. 2017; 9 (2-3): 246-269
  • Italy's Lost Greece: Magna Graecia and the making of modern archaeology Ceserani, G. Oxford University Press. 2012
  • Modern Histories of Ancient Greece: genealogies, contexts and eighteenth-century narrative histories The Western Time of Ancient History: Historiographical Encounters with the Greek and Roman Pasts Ceserani, G. edited by Lianeri, A. Cambridge University Press. 2011
  • Classical Culture for a Classical Country: Vicenzo Cuoco and the Greek past in modern Italy Classics and National Cultures Ceserani, G. edited by Stephens, S., Vasunia, P. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York. 2010: 59–77
  • 'Sicily', 'Magna Graecia' and 'Paestum' The Companion to the Classical Tradition Ceserani, G. edited by Grafton, A., Most, G., Settis, S. Harvard University Press. 2010
  • The provenance of Greek painted vases: disciplinary debates and modern identities in the early nineteenth century La procedencia de los jarrones pintados griegos: debates profesionales e identidades modernas a principios del siglo XIX Ceserani, G. edited by Bochetti, C. 2010: 93–112
  • Wilamowitz and stratigraphy in 1873: A case study in the history of archaeology's 'Great Divide' Archives, Ancestors, Practices. Archaeology in the Light of its History Ceserani, G. edited by Nordblach, J., Schlanger, N. 2008: 75–88
  • Narrative, interpretation, and plagiarism in Mr. Robertson's 1778 'History of Ancient Greece' JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS Ceserani, G. 2005; 66 (3): 413-436

    View details for Web of Science ID 000232934200005

  • Review of L. Polverini, Aspetti della storiografia di Ettore Pais Journal of Roman Studies Ceserani, G. 2005; 95: 245-247
  • Narrative, plagiarism and interpretation in Mr. William Robertson's 1778 History of Ancient Greece Journal of the History of Ideas Ceserani, G. 2005; 66 (3): 413-436
  • Response to Jeffrey Schnapp MODERNISM-MODERNITY Ceserani, G. 2004; 11 (1): 105-108

    View details for Web of Science ID 000220168300009

  • Comment on J. Schnapp's 'Titus Livy and the Corporativist City' Archaeologies of the Modern Ceserani, G. 2004; 11 (1): 105-108
  • Review of A. De Jorio, Gesture in Naples and Gesture in Classical Antiquity. A Translation of La mimica degli antichi investigata nel gestire napoletano with introduction and notes by Adam Kendon Bryn Mawr Classical Review Ceserani, G. 2003; 3 (34)
  • Review of A. De Jorio, Gesture in Naples and Gesture in Classical Antiquity. A Translation of La mimica degli antichi investigata nel gestire napoletano with introduction and notes by Adam Kendon Bryn Mawr Classical Review Ceserani, G. 2002; 3 (34)
  • Richard Berry Seager. Pioneer archaeologist and proper gentleman (Book Review) JOURNAL OF HELLENIC STUDIES Book Review Authored by: Ceserani, G. 2002; 122: 200-201

    View details for Web of Science ID 000179703000056

  • The charm of the Siren: the place of Sicily in historiography Ancient Sicily from Aeneas to Cicero Ceserani, G. edited by Smith, C., Serrati, J. Edinburgh University Press. 2000: 174–193
  • Comment on R. Bernbeck's The exhibition of architecture and the architecture of an exhibition Archaeological Dialogues Ceserani, G. 2000; 7 (2): 126-129
  • Notice sur Ia mise en place du reseau Area en France et avancement des recherches Nouvelles de l' Inha Ceserani, G. 2000; 3 (4): 15-16
  • Processi e modelli: l'archeologia di Colin Renfrew Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Ceserani, G. 2000; 11 (2): 363-410
  • Classical culture and idea of Rome in eighteenth-century England (Book Review) CLASSICAL REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Cesarani, G. 2000; 50 (1): 252-254

    View details for Web of Science ID 000086947600155