Anastasia Christophilopoulou is the George D. and Margo Behrakis Chair, Art of Ancient Greece and Rome, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA); previously she worked for 14 years as Senior Curator for the Ancient Mediterranean and as Senior Assistant Keeper for Greece, Rome and Cyprus at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Anastasia trained in Classical Archaeology at the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge, where she completed her PhD in 2008. Anastasia’s core research interests are in the Archaeology of the Mediterranean, with emphasis on the cultures of the Mediterranean islands. She is particularly interested in questions of cultural identity, mobility and migration in antiquity. Over the course of her career in Cambridge she collaborated with colleagues at the Faculty of Classics on projects such as the ‘Codebreakers and Groundbreakers exhibition’ (Codebreakers and Groundbreakers | Faculty of Classics (cam.ac.uk)), her recent major project ‘Being an Islander’ (Being an Islander | A research and exhibition website for Being an Islander. (cam.ac.uk)) and currently the West Area of Samos Archaeological Project (West Area of Samos Archaeological Project (WASAP) | Faculty of Classics (cam.ac.uk)), an innovative archaeological survey project in Western Samos, under the permit of the Ministry of Culture, Greece. She has also led numerous initiatives on material culture interpretation and archaeological analysis and her other interests include various aspects of public engagement with the ancient world, anthropological perspectives to interpreting material culture, history of museum collections and issues of heritage responsibilities and provenance. Anastasia is a member of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a member of the management committee for the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies, and an affiliated fellow for the Center for Science and Policy (CSaP).
Anastasia has taught as a temporary lecturer in London (Birkbeck College) and has been a supervisor for Art and Archaeology in Cambridge since 2007. She currently advises doctoral students in Mediterranean Archaeology (University of Cambridge), and she is also a Tutor for Classical Art and Archaeology for University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education.
Her teaching style includes introducing students to the archaeological, historical, and sociological context of the material evidence examined during her lectures and seminars, paired with regular handling sessions and practical exercises with ancient objects. These allow students to experience ancient material cultures first hand, as well to develop academic and practical skills for their future professional orientations in the fields of archaeology, classics, and Museum studies.
