Western Illinois University (WIU) history Prof. Lee Brice will pack his bags for a yearlong research project in Athens for the 2017-18 academic year, fully funded with a living allowance and stipend, the university announced recently.
Brice won the Elizabeth A. Whitehead Visiting Professorship at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (ASCSA), awarded annually to a senior scholar with a solid publishing and teaching record, the Archaeological Institute of America said on its website. The award includes airfare, board and a $35,000 grant.
"This is an extremely prestigious and important research fellowship in my field: ancient history," Brice said. "This is also an extremely competitive fellowship. Every year one or two scholars are chosen for the following year. The ASCSA is the oldest American foreign research center."
Brice said he will have access to excavation sites, records and artifacts in Athens and Corinth, as well as museums and libraries. His research concerns the currency used in ancient Corinth, specifically small-denomination silver drachmas — coins issued and circulated from the fourth to the second century B.C. He described the period as an era of political and economic change in Greece, adding that his work will explore mint activity and its relationship to and impact on the economy.
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