Sarah Mathiesen’s Summer Abroad: Teaching, Research, and Presentations

Doctoral candidate Sarah Mathiesen spent an exciting and productive summer with colleagues in Italy and Turkey, beginning with a teaching fellowship in Florence. Mathiesen and fellow doctoral candidate Nina Gonzalbez each taught in Florence for one summer session as recipients of the Florence Teaching Appointment offered by International Programs and the Department of Art History. Sarah’s class had a surprise special guest, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pictured right with the group on a visit to the Accademia.

Sarah next traveled to Cappadocia, Turkey, where she joined her advisor Dr. Lynn Jones and fellow students Caitlin Mims, Madison Gilmore-Duffey, and Emma Huston. The colleagues assisted Sarah with her fieldwork on-site at  Yılanlı Kilise in the Ihlara Valley. The group also traveled to Istanbul, and then on to Venice for the 24th International Congress of Byzantine Studies. FSU had a strong showing at this important event for Byzantine studies: Dr. Jones, four of her students (Sarah, Sonia Dixon, Caitlin Mims, and Madison Gilmore-Duffey), and FSU alumnus Dr. Brad Hostetler (PhD ’16, now Kenyon College), all presented papers.

More details about the group’s research and presentations this summer will follow in the next newsletter. Below, photos of the group in Turkey and the opening of the Congress of Byzantine Studies in the Teatro La Fenice opera house.