Dr. Mary Evelyn Farrior

Biography

Mary-Evelyn Farrior's research utilizes material culture to investigate the lived experiences of marginalized communities within the Roman urban landscape. She earned her doctorate from Columbia University in 2024, focusing her dissertation on foreign communities in the Greek epigraphic records of imperial Rome. By treating inscriptions as texts that were utilized alongside archaeological objects, she examined how Greek functioned as a tool for communication and community-building among immigrant populations in a predominantly Latin environment. Farrior developed a novel framework for comparatively analyzing foreign communities and their cultures within the physical environment of the city, using GIS software to map provenance. Her dissertation work was supported by the American Academy in Rome, where she was a Rome Prize Fellow in Ancient Studies in 2024. She previously studied Classics at Brown University (BA, 2014) and Classical Studies at Tulane University (MA, 2016). In addition to her doctoral studies, she currently serves as the Excavation Supervisor for the Pompeii I.14 Project, which investigates the margins of Roman urban life and the experiences of marginalized residents. Farrior has participated in various projects in Italy and has co-authored reports that were published in the Rivista di Studi Pompeiani E-Journal. Her research interests include archaeological methodologies and the chronological and geographic contexts of her studies, which have included excavations in Peru. Recently, she held the Stavros Niarchos Fellowship at the Classical Art Museum in Boston, where she assisted in managing the museum's extensive collection of ancient objects and contributed to the development of the exhibition "Power People: Art Democracy".

Research Interests

Experience