Veronica Kalas

Veronica Kalas is an art historian and archaeologist with special expertise in the ancient through Byzantine periods of Greece and the wider Mediterranean world. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in art history and archeology from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts and her B.A. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Currently she teaches traveling study abroad classes with the Hellenic American University based in Athens, Greece, where she also lives part time as a bi-lingual, bi-cultural Greek-American. Veronica has conducted field work in Greece, Turkey, and Tunisia and has collaborated with the World Monuments Fund on developing an innovative, online visitors’ app for archaeological sites. She has worked with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on the blockbuster exhibit ‘Take Me There Greece!’ and with the Metropolitan Museum of Art on another blockbuster exhibit The Glory of Byzantium. Her doctoral research focused on the art, architecture and society of Byzantine Cappadocia, a volcanic region located in central Turkey about which she has published extensively. Her work has been supported by the American Research Institute in Turkey, the Program in Hellenic Studies at Princeton University, and Dumbarton Oaks Research Libraries and Collections in Washington, D.C. Veronica has taught courses on a variety of topics in ancient through medieval art, including early Christian, Byzantine, and Medieval Art, ancient Greek and Roman art, and architectural history at the University of Michigan, Albion College, Wayne State University, and the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. She is very interested in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches to the history of art and archaeology. Veronica has enjoyed working on programs on Greece for both the History Channel and the Smithsonian Channel, lecturing to the public, and leading archeological study tours.

Ashley Elston

Ashley Elston is an art historian who specializes in religious art and architecture of the pre-and early modern Mediterranean, particularly Italy. She is Associate Professor of Art History and Director of Visual Arts at Berea College, where she teaches a variety of courses on European art from the ancient world to the 19th century. She discovered her love of Italian art and culture as an undergraduate working on a degree in history and medieval studies at St. Olaf College when she participated in a study abroad course in Rome. She went on to complete an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history at the University of Kansas. A Fulbright grant allowed her to live in Italy while conducting her doctoral research in churches, archives, and museums, and her work has also been supported by competitive grants from the Renaissance Society of America and the Southeastern College Art Conference. Ashley’s research interests focus on the history of ritual and religious art, the theological meanings and optical effects of different artistic materials, and American exhibitions of early modern art. She co-edited a book titled Hybridity in Early Modern Art and has published in Gesta (the journal of the International Center of Medieval Art) and a volume from Cambridge University Press on fifteenth-century Italian sculpture.

David Guinee

David A. Guinee teaches at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he is the Edwin Minar Professor of Classical Studies. He coordinates the Latin program at DePauw University and teaches courses in Latin and Greek at all levels and periods, with courses ranging from Homeric Greek to Late Antique and Medieval Latin, as well as a wide range of courses in Classics in translation, including Greek and Roman Mythology, Greek and Roman Law, Roman Civilization, the Age of Augustus, and the Legacies of Constantine. From 2009 to 2012 Dave served as DePauw's Faculty Development Coordinator. He earned his BA in Classical Languages at Carleton College and his PhD in Classical Philology at the University of Michigan. Dave's research is focused on Latin poetry, particularly epic after Vergil. He has been an active participant with the Center for Hellenic Studies' Sunoikisis project, developing collaborative inter-institution courses in Greek and Latin literature, and has been a CHS Sunoikisis Fellow for Curricular Development. He has led many student study tours through Italy and has lived in Rome and Siena, where he served as a Visiting Faculty member for the AHA International Study Program. In addition to Classics, Dave enjoys flyfishing and playing bluegrass 5-string banjo.

Bella Vivante

Bella Vivante, Professor Emerita of Classics, University of Arizona, has eagerly led college age and adult learners on many study tours through Turkey and Greece. She delights in repeatedly seeing the fantastic ancient to modern sites and artifacts herself and in sharing her enthusiasm with other interested learners. Her research focuses on ancient Greek poetry, especially Homer, ancient women's' ritual and cultural roles, and on the figure of Helen as icon of femininity and poetic creation in ancient Greek and modern poetry. Her publications include: "Helen in 20th c. Films," Daughters of Gaia: Women in the Ancient Mediterranean, and a translation of Euripides' Helen in Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides. Bella looks forward to sharing her love for the ancient world with its cultural artifacts and for the modern peoples and cultures encountered during her travels.

Andrew Becker

Dr. Andrew Becker (Andy) was born in Burma (now Myanmar), spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, and has continued to travel ever since (mostly Europe and Asia).  He has been lecturing in Italy since 1997, first as a professor teaching students abroad, then since 2015 with Smithsonian Journeys.  His degrees are from the University Michigan (BA), Cambridge University (BA/MA), and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Ph.D.). Andy teaches at Virginia Tech (with stints teaching in Switzerland and London), and has won numerous local and national awards for teaching.

Andy’s scholarly specialties are ancient: specifically the cultures, literatures, and languages of Ancient Rome (and Greece), as well as the constant, recurring re-engagement of many later civilizations with Ancient Rome (and Greece).

Allan Langdale

Allan Langdale grew up on Vancouver Island wondering what the rest of the world was like and has spent much of his adult life finding out. Allan is an art and architectural historian, photographer, filmmaker, and travel writer who received his Ph.D. in art history from UC Santa Barbara. He has taught courses in Italian Renaissance art, Greek, Roman, Byzantine (including Georgian and Armenian architecture), and Indian and Islamic art and architecture. He currently teaches art history at UC Santa Cruz as a lecturer.

Along with several articles, Allan wrote the definitive architectural field guide to the little-known region of Turkish Cyprus, In a Contested Realm (2012) and also made the award-winning documentary film The Stones of Famagusta: the Story of a Forgotten City (2008). His travel books include Palermo: Travels in the City of Happiness (2015) and The Hippodrome of Istanbul / Constantinople: An Illustrated Handbook of its History (2019).

A popular Smithsonian Expert, Allan has traveled extensively in the eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea region, the Middle East—including Jordan and Egypt—and India.