Nicole M. Colosimo
Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College
Member of the Archaeological Institute of America

“No Need to See a Specialist: Divine Healing in the Ancient Greek World”

Numerous deities and heroes comprised the pantheons of ancient Greek cities and despite the tendency of many scholars to assign them various spheres of influence, these divine beings did not specialize in areas such as marriage, sexuality, war, or healing. This paper presents evidence from textual, epigraphical and archaeological material that indicates divine healing was a responsibility shared among many deities and heroes. Furthermore, these divine beings did not specialize in certain illnesses or maladies, nor in the respective gender of their worshippers, but instead ministered to a variety of concerns.

Shannon Steiner
Department of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College

“An Offering of God-Made Matter: Material Power and the Virgin Mary in Byzantine Enamel”

This paper explores images of the Virgin Mary from Byzantium rendered in cloisonné enamel and argues that Mary’s power in this medium lies the understanding of enameling as an alchemical process that manifested Byzantine power over matter. The medieval Greek term for enamel belongs to a larger vocabulary pertaining to chemistry and alchemy, and the word emphasizes the material transformation inherent in enamel from a liquid composed of crushed glass, pigments, and water to a brilliant, gem-like solid. If Byzantine enamel belonged to a tradition of alchemy, then representing the Virgin in this medium could signal that Byzantines understood Mary herself to wield alchemical power, transmuting divinity into the flesh of Christ.

Professor of History of Art
Eugenia Chase Guild Chair in the Humanities
Department of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College

“On maniera, Moral Choice and Truth”

Style, or what in the Renaissance could be called maniera, is at once the defining element in the visual arts, depending as it does on the choices artists make; yet it has its dangers, when style becomes mere repetition. These problems are considered in the writings of the critic and artist Giorgio Vasari and in the work of various earlier and later artists, from Cimabue and Giotto to Constable and Jackson Pollock.

“Means and Ends in Hitchcock’s Vertigo, or Kant You See?”

This paper offers an original reading of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Using the Kantian categorical imperative, also known as the principle of dignity, the plot is interpreted from the viewpoint of means and ends.  This theme of dignity and dignity violations is juxtaposed with discoveries about the choices of the names “Madeleine” and “Judy” and the two ends of the film.  The significance of the names is explored in relation to the novel on which the film was based and to a recently uncovered interest of Hitchcock.   Through a psychoanalyst’s attention to language and images, this essay explores means and ends from philosophical, psychological, and artistic perspectives.

Associate Professor of Spanish
Bryn Mawr College

“Restaging the 23-F: Transitional Memories in Spain”

The dominant historical account of the transformation of Spain from a dictatorship into a democracy is one of change and political success. The key political event that helped to forge this view was the failed coup d’état by Colonel Antonio Tejero on February 23, 1981. This attempt at a military uprising, when King Juan Carlos firmly stood by the constitutionally elected government, has been hailed as the culminating moment of the Transición and a clear demonstration of the arrival of democracy in the country. In this talk I explore how this narrative has been recently depicted in television and film questioning and reframing this story behind the triumph of democracy in Spain.

Adjunct Faculty
Film and Media Arts Department
Temple University

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