DISCOVER Tuscany and Umbria: Italy's Enchanting Hill Towns

Glenn R. Bugh is associate professor of Classical and Byzantine Studies at Virginia Tech.  He holds a PhD from the University of Maryland and has been a fellow at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens; the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.; and a research scholar at the Hellenic Institute for Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice, Italy.  Glenn served as the Summer Session Director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens in 2000 and 2011, and was the Whitehead Visiting Professor there in 2004–2005. Along with many articles, he has published two books, The Horsemen of Athens and The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World.   

Glenn has served as an expert on Smithsonian trips to Greece, Italy, the Adriatic, Turkey, and the Black Sea since 1984, and offered numerous seminars for Smithsonian Associates, including “A Tale of Two Cities: Athens and Rome.”  He frequently teaches at Virginia Tech’s Center for European Studies and Architecture in Switzerland and has lectured at a variety of academic institutions. Glenn was featured in an A&E documentary on the Roman emperor Caligula. He lived in Verona and Livorno as a boy.

Theresa Flanigan is a historian of late medieval and Renaissance art and architecture, primarily in Italy, where she lived and studied for several years, including as a fellow at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. While studying in Florence as an architecture student, she fell in love with Italian language, art, and culture and has immersed herself in researching, teaching, and sharing her knowledge about Italy ever since. She received a master’s in art history from Syracuse University’s Florence program, and a PhD from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.

Theresa is assistant professor and graduate coordinator of art history at Texas Tech University. She taught previously at the University at Albany (SUNY), New York University, Syracuse University, and elsewhere. She authored the book The Ponte Vecchio: Architecture, Politics, and Civic Identity in Late Medieval Florence, and co-edited Artistic Encounters in Trecento Italy. Theresa has also published on Florentine urban planning, emotional expression in Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Giotto’s paintings in Assisi and Padua, and on artworks by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, and others. Her current research explores the influence of medical science on early Renaissance naturalism. As an educator, Theresa has led numerous study abroad trips to Italy and lectured in museums and at historical sites in Texas, New York, and throughout Italy.

Rebecca K. Schindler is Professor of Classical Studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, IN. She teaches courses in Classical art and archaeology, Latin, Greek and Roman Mythology, and Classical literature. Rebecca has chaired the Department of Classical Studies at DePauw University and has served as the co-editor of the book reviews for The American Journal of Archaeology. Her research interests include the archaeology of Greek colonization in South Italy and Sicily, Greek religion, applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in archaeology, and the ethics of cultural heritage. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College in Classical and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology and her PhD from the University of Michigan in Classical Art and Archaeology. She has also studied at the American School for Classical Studies in Athens and worked as a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome. Rebecca's archaeological field experience includes projects in Tunisia, Cyprus, Turkey, and Italy. Since 2015 she has been working with Umbra Institute in Perugia on a field project at Castiglione del Lago on Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Italy. She is finishing a book on sanctuaries of Aphrodite in Italy and Sicily. She currently serves as the president of the Central Indiana Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and the co-PI of the Collaboratory for GIS and Mediterranean Archaeology. Outside of her professional life, Rebecca is passionate about Italian food and enjoys exploring traditional markets and learning new recipes.

Dr. Andrew Becker was born in Burma (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.  Andy is an associate professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at Virginia Tech (with stints teaching in Switzerland and London), and has won numerous local and national awards for teaching. He earned a BA from the University of Michigan, a master’s from Cambridge University, and a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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.

Pedar W. Foss is Professor of Classical Studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he has worked since 1999. As Dean of Academic Life from 2009-13, his duties included oversight of student advising, academic support, off-campus and service learning, and career services. As a teacher, he conducts courses in Latin, ancient history and literature, and art and archaeology. He received his B.A. in Chemistry and Classics from Gustavus Adolphus College, and his Ph.D. in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; he subsequently taught at the University of Cincinnati and at Stanford. Dr. Foss has edited for the Journal of Roman Archaeology, was co-editor of the book reviews for the American Journal of Archaeology, and co-edited the volume The World of Pompeii (Routledge 2007). He has now published Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius (Routledge 2022), a complete re-assessment of the AD 79 disaster.  His research centers on the relationships between ancient peoples and their landscapes. He has lived, led tours, and studied throughout the Mediterranean, working at such sites as Kavousi and Corinth (Greece), Carthage (Tunisia), Troy, Hacımusalar, and Çaltılar (Turkey), Pompeii, Rieti, and Castiglione del Lago (Italy). He maintains a professional blog at: http://quemdixerechaos.com.