March 25, 2025
To celebrate our 2025 Fellowship recipients, we contacted our winners to learn about their projects and and share their unique experiences in the world of archaeology. We’re thrilled to announce Allison Grenda, the winner of the prestigious Olivia James Traveling Fellowship for 2025!
Olivia James Traveling Fellowship Winner: Allison Grenda (University of Michigan)
The 2025 AIA Olivia James Traveling Fellow, PhD candidate Allison Grenda, will investigate how civic communities in the Byzantine Empire responded to violent destruction in their cities across the Eastern Mediterranean between the 4th-15th centuries C.E. Through three different areas of exploration, Grenda’s research aims to highlight how Byzantine civic communities used the rebuilding process to reimagine spaces for future use, indicating a culture that sought to position its cities for generations to come, whether functionally through the design of community-oriented public spaces to foster civic cohesion; geopolitically through visual references to Arab, Latin, and Armenian neighbors; or economically through the creation of lucrative pilgrimage destinations. By utilizing an understudied corpus of localized architecture, sculptures, archaeological remains, and historical source materials, Allison Grenda will explore alternatives to abandonment within the 6th to 9th centuries, visual representations of victory in the 10th to 11th centuries, and enterprises of Byzantines abroad and in exile through the 13th century. Ultimately, Grenda’s research and dissertation strives to redirect future studies of urban crisis across disciplines, geographies, and time periods, while also working to change long-enduring Western stereotypes about Byzantine art, culture, and everyday life.
How did you get your start in archaeology?
I’ve been interested in archaeology and the ancient world since I was a child but never thought I would be lucky enough to pursue it as a career! I was a Communications major and Art History minor in undergrad and intended to go into museum administration, but as I took more and more classes in art history and archaeology, I fell in love with research. I quickly became fascinated with the Byzantine period and what happened to cities after Rome apparently “fell.” (Heavy scare quotes there!) Since then, my research has explored how archaeological legacy data – in my case, often the discarded or overlooked Byzantine material that came out of an excavation focused on earlier Greek or Roman eras – can help us rethink old stereotypes about urban life in the Byzantine period. In my Master’s thesis, for instance, I examined legacy data from 7th-century C.E. Athens and found evidence that civic construction projects continued to be undertaken throughout this period, complicating traditional narratives which painted it as a “dark age.”
Where in the world has archaeology brought you (fieldwork, research, conference travel, etc.)?
I’ve excavated at the Roman forum of Grumentum in Basilicata, Italy, conducted research in Athens at the Agora and Gennadius Library, visited Byzantine monasteries in Thessaloniki and Meteora, and undertaken pre-dissertation exploratory research in Istanbul. I’ve also presented my work at conferences in Oxford, Leeds, Kalamazoo, and New York City.
What is one of the most memorable things that has happened to you in the field?
In 2023, I traveled to Crete to research late medieval rural churches for a forthcoming publication. First, my travel partner and I spent two days in a small village waiting for a tavern owner’s brother to return from a trip because he had accidentally taken the key to the church I had come to see (luckily, he did eventually return with it!). Later, when driving on a hilly dirt road to get to another church in the middle of the wilderness, we found a fallen tree blocking our path. Climbing through the limbs of the tree (in a knee-length skirt, no less), rounding a bend, and being rewarded with a view of the medieval church felt like stepping through a portal into another world. It was an experience I will never forget!
How has the AIA contributed to your success/professional goals?
When I was a first-year Master’s student, I attended the AIA Annual Meeting in my hometown of San Diego. It was incredibly inspiring to see the vast research possible in this field, and that conference made me even more certain I wanted to pursue doctoral work. Receiving the 2025-6 Olivia James Traveling Fellowship is therefore a true full-circle moment, and I’m so grateful to the AIA for enabling me to carry out crucial dissertation research over the next year.
Learn more about what Fellowship opportunities are available through the AIA.
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