Women’s Lives in Antiquity StoryMap

This project is the final result of the first independent study I conducted during my time at Skidmore College. Now, it was not a study conducted through the Classics department; however, it was conducted with classical studies in mind. I concocted this project with the help of my Anthropology Department advisor, Dr. Heather Hurst, with the goal of producing both a literature review and StoryMap discussing scholarship on the lives of women in antiquity from both ancient Rome and Pre-Columbian Central America.

As with many of the projects I have discussed in this portfolio, there were both successful and unsuccessful aspects of the project. What made this project unsuccessful was that my research on Pre-Columbian Central America was stifled by the closure of the Mesoamerican Art wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET). During this study I visited the MET with the purpose of spending quality time within both the Greek and Roman galleries as well as the Mesoamerican art gallery to gain a better idea of what each entailed. I was unable to do this, so at times I felt quite disconnected from the artifacts that I saw on my screen during my research, while I felt deeply connected to those I got to see in person. However, despite this challenge I was able to produce a well-crafted literature review (located in my Anthropology Portfolio) as well as an informational StoryMap for people to peruse, should they wish to learn more.

Overall, this project was an enlightening opportunity. It was the first time that I got to blend my two majors and minor into one large project. If I could redo this assignment, I would probably take a chance to access the MET’s Mesoamerican gallery when it opens in the Spring of 2025, and I would go back and revise my StoryMap to be more inclusive of those art pieces that I never got to see.