Guest Lecturers

Dr WILLIAM ALLAN

William Allan is McConnell Laing Fellow in Greek and Latin languages and literature at University College, Oxford. He studied Classics at Edinburgh and Oxford Universities, and taught at Harvard University before taking up his current post.

William is particularly interested in archaic and classical Greek literature, and is the author of four books and numerous articles on Greek tragedy and early Greek epic poetry. He has lectured on several Mediterranean cruises in recent years, and looks forward to joining Voyages to Antiquity again in the autumn of 2012.

Major RODNEY G. BALDWIN

Major Rodney Baldwin served in the New Zealand Army for 15 years, resigning in 1978 to pursue a career in business. He was an artillery officer in South VietNam, serving with three Australian Artillery Regiments, and as a forward fire controller with two Australian Infantry Battalions, and an American Armoured Cavalry Regiment. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College of Australia and has a Masters degree from Harvard University, which he attended on a Harkness Fellowship. His military assignments include artillery command and training appointments, and command of the NZ Army Officer Cadet Training Unit. Duties included lecturing in Military History, Political Science, and Tactics. He has participated in tours of militarily historical sites in USA, Turkey, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, and Laos.

MARTIN BELL

Martin Bell is a former British war reporter and politician. He has worked in 18 war zones from Vietnam to Somalia. He was the BBC's chief Washington correspondent during the Reagan Presidency. From 1992 to 1995 he was BBC TV's principal reporter covering the Bosnian war, in which he was wounded. He entered the House of Commons in 1997 as the first elected Independent since 1951.

He campaigned against corruption and was described as 'a fully paid-up member of the awkward squad'. He is now a UNICEF Ambassador and an author of six books about war and politics, most recently a collection of light and dark verse, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'. His book on the Bosnian war, 'In Harm's Way', was republished in April 2012.

Prof MAGNUS T. BERNHARDSSON

Magnus T. Bernhardsson specializes in the modern Middle East, and is an Associate Professor of History at Williams College.

After earning his B.A. degree in theology and political science at the University of Iceland, he came to the United States and completed a Masters Degree in Religion from Yale Divinity School in 1992. After a year in Syria studying Arabic, he returned to Yale and finished a Ph.D in Middle Eastern History in 1999.

Author of several books and edited volumes including Reclaiming a Plundered Past. Archaeology and Nation Building in Modern Iraq (Texas, 2005).

When not lecturing or researching for his books, Magnus enjoys playing soccer with his children.

Dr. LORI BETTISON-VARGA

Lori Bettison-Varga became the eighth president of Scripps College in July 2009, and holds the W.M. Keck Foundation Presidential Chair. She is nationally recognized as an advocate for undergraduate research and women in science, and is an enthusiastic proponent of the liberal arts. Bettison-Varga’s leadership includes the presidency of the Council on Undergraduate Research (2006-07), executive board member of Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, board of directors of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, advisory board member of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, and a visionary delegate to Vision 2020, a national initiative to make equality a priority through shared leadership among women and men.

Prior to Scripps College, Bettison-Varga was provost and dean of faculty at Whitman College. She also served as associate dean for research and grants and chair of the Geology Department at The College of Wooster, and director of the Keck Geology Consortium. She has a PhD and MS in geology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in geology, with honors, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

ARMIDA LUCIANA BORDI

Armida Bordi, a former professor of Literature and History of civilisations, lives in Genoa, Italy. A three time Fulbright scholar to the US and the recipient of several British Council grants to British universities, Armida was a consultant and Italy’s representative to the Council of Europe in Scotland, Ireland, France and Austria where she trained both teachers and teacher-trainers. She also organised and coordinated cultural exchange programmes between Italy, the UK, the US and Spain.

She is now involved in lifelong learning programmes offering adult learners courses combining history and art with foreign languages.

After retirement Armida has also been devoting more time to on-board lecturing and has been a guest speaker on many different cruise lines, travelling to all the continents, including Antarctica. Her most recent cruises include the north of France and the Iberian Peninsula, the Black Sea, the Middle East, Greece, Turkey and the Arctic. Many of the presentations she prepared for her lectures are being shown at cultural institutions in Italy. A lover of travel and of different cultures, Armida likes exploring new places and she speaks Italian, English, Spanish, French, Greek and Portuguese.

Ass. Prof HARVEY BROADBENT

Harvey Broadbent is a well-known writer, lecturer, broadcaster, film and TV producer. He was born and educated in Manchester and graduated in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Manchester in 1974, following his interests in the region stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. He emigrated with his wife, Cindy and three children to Australia in 1975.

He is presently Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Modern History at Macquarie University, directing the Gallipoli Centenary Research Project, centred on Turkish military archives and contributing to the University’s Great India Project. He is the author of Gallipoli, The Fatal Shore, which marked the 90th anniversary of that campaign and a fluent speaker of Turkish. An experienced lecturer and study tour group leader. Formerly a producer and executive producer for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he won awards for several radio and TV productions.

Dr FRANCIS BROUN

Francis Broun came to Canada from Scotland in 1967. He has a B.A. from McGill and a Ph.D. from Princeton, both in art history. For fifteen years he worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), teaching courses and helping to organise Old Master exhibitions like the Dutch paintings from the Mauritshuis and the Holbein drawings from the Queen's Collection. He also accompanied AGO trips to Florence, London and the River Danube.

Since 1989 he has worked as a freelance lecturer, most regularly at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the Royal Conservatory of Music (where he was Head of the Humanities Department) and the Women's Art Association. In 2009 he was a semi-finalist in TVO's best Lecturer competition.

A guest lecturer on our Sicily is the Key cruise in May 2011, Dr Broun spoke on the art of Caravaggio, whose paintings Beheading of St John the Baptist, and St Jerome, are on display in the Co-Cathedral of St John, which we visit in Valletta.

Dr Broun will also be joining us in 2012 for our new itineraries in the Western Mediterranean.

MASSIMO CASARIN

Born in Venice in 1943, Massimo Casarin has devoted his life to celebrating and protecting the heritage of the city. In 1970, Massimo joined Ligabue, a company based in Venice specialising in maritime catering management and hospitality services, and today he is an active director of the Ligabue Studies and Research Center, an organization devoted to archeology, paleontology and natural sciences.

In 1977, Massimo was appointed by H.M. the King of Sweden as the Honorary Consul in Venice and Veneto district, in acknowledgement of the cultural and business ties he was able to establish between the two countries. In 2006 he was decorated officer first class of the Royal order of the Polar Star. Thanks to his efforts, the Swedish private committee “Pro-Venezia” became a member of the Save Venice International Committee and carried out significant restorations of monuments and other works of art.

ANN CLEMENTS

Ann Clements read history of Art and English at Manchester University, then was a researcher at the Whitworth Art Gallery and later for the Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art. She has been an associate lecturer for Surrey University, and has taught on day and summer schools and lectured at the V&A Museum, the National Trust and the Art Fund.

As a NADFAS lecturer, she has travelled widely in Britain, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and for 20 years was a magistrate.

With expertise in several centuries of European painting, she has created lectures of wide ranging interest, such as ‘Rivers in Art - how artists have responded to rivers over 5 centuries’, and ‘All the world’s a stage – how western painters have explored the world of entertainment’. She recently published a book, "The Bleak Midwinter", on artists’ responses to snow, subtitled "500 years of artistic shivering", which is also the title of one of her most popular lectures.

Dr RICHARD COOLER

Richard Cooler holds a PhD in the History of Southeast Asian Art and Architecture from Cornell University (1979) and has frequently lived, travelled and conducted academic research throughout Southeast Asia. His first encounter with Burma was in 1975 as a State Department Special Exchange Scholar during a year-long study of the ancient city of Pagan.

He taught for a year at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, as a Fulbright Scholar; served on the Official US Educational Delegation to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; spent several research sabbaticals in Singapore and has been a lecturer on around-the-world voyages as well as land tours to all countries in Southeast Asia. Since 2000, he has been a lecturer on 14 tours to Southeast Asia.

In 1986 he founded the Centre for Burma Studies at Northern Illinois University where he served as its director for 16 years and also established and served as the curator of the Burma Art Collection. He has published on a variety of art historical topics and his interests include bronze drums, sculpture, architectural techniques, betel-chewing paraphernalia, ceramics, textiles and religious practices.

Dr THECLA COOLER

Thecla Behrens Cooler expanded her childhood fascination with geography, science and the arts through extensive formal study, leading to productive travel and work abroad. Her lifelong commitment to music is reflected in a Masters Degree on aspects of European and Non-Western musical traditions. This interest led to completion of a Masters in Art History which includes a thesis analyzing the geology and chemical disposition of 11th century glazed sandstone Jataka plaques at Pagan, Burma.

During a year of living in Penang, Malaysia, she actively participated socially and professionally, in the Peranakan Culture of the Straits Chinese Community including founding a Youth Choir which performed at a public ceremony to welcome the Malaysian King to Penang, and studies with a Chinese Master of the Gucheng (lute). Dr. Cooler completed a Doctorate in Leadership and Educational Policy Studies with a Dissertation on how their blood transfusion methods fuelled the AIDS epidemic in India. She always enjoys meeting fellow travellers and sharing tales of worldwide cross cultural experiences.

Prof ROBIN CORMACK

Emeritus Professor Robin Cormack is the author of many publications on the art history and culture of the Mediterranean, particularly on the world of Byzantium. He teaches at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. His current books in progress are on Classicism and on St Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai. His most recent book Icons was published by the British Museum, and focuses on how to study this art form from the collection in the museum. Robin was also curator of the highly successful exhibition "Byzantine 330-1453" at the Royal Academy, London in 2008/9. For him Sicily is the key to exploring the meeting of the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, the Arabs and Western Europeans in an extraordinary mix of ideas.

Major General WILLIAM CREWS

Major General (Retired) Bill Crews served in the Australian Army for more than 37 years, retiring in 1999 from the position of Director, Defence Intelligence Organisation. Bill’s Army service included one year in Vietnam, a year in the UK, and two periods in the United States, the latter as an International Fellow at the US Army War College. He holds degrees in Civil Engineering and in Economics, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1996 for his military service.

Following his retirement from the Army, Bill served for three years as the Deputy Chief Executive of Engineers Australia. In 2004, he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of The Institution of Engineers, Australia.

CANON DR ANNE DAVISON

Anne has had a life-long interest in history and the religions of the world. This led to studying both topics for her first Degree and later for her Doctorate. She spent several years living in Africa and other overseas countries and this experience added to her interest in different cultures.

For many years she was Adviser in Inter Religious Relations for the Church of England. She was also Vice Moderator of the World Council of Churches in Geneva and has sat on numerous advisory bodies for Inter Religious Relations both overseas and in the United Kingdom. She is currently Visiting Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.

For several years Anne co-organised a Youth Exchange Programme for young Jews, Christians and Muslims between Jerusalem and East London and in recognition of her work in inter-religious relations was made a Lay Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral. She has also led numerous pilgrimages to Israel and Lebanon. She still travels widely and lectures regularly on cruise ships. Anne also gives illustrated talks around the United Kingdom.

Major General (Retired) MAURICE DODSON

General Dodson is a New Zealander who received his military education at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Australia. He graduated into the New Zealand Infantry in 1965 and served as a Platoon Commander with NZ Infantry in Malaysia from 1966 and in Vietnam in 1968. In Vietnam he was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry.

During his career General Dodson had a three year attachment to the Malaysian Army; Commanded a New Zealand Infantry Battalion and the New Zealand Officer Cadet School; was Deputy Commander of the New Zealand Force based in Singapore; and the New Zealand Defence Adviser Malaysia. From 1998 until his retirement in 2002 he was the Chief of General Staff NZ Army. He is a graduate of Massey University, NZ ( Bachelor of Business Studies), and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Prof STEVEN ELLIS

Steven Ellis, lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America, is a Roman archaeologist who is actively involved in the archaeological research and publication of urban and sacred sites in Italy and Greece.

In Italy, Professor Ellis directs the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia and co-directs the Pompeii Quadriporticus Project. An Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Cincinnati, he will soon follow-up his book on "The Making of Pompeii: Studies in the history and urban development of an ancient town" (2011) with interdisciplinary publications that illustrate the role that non-elites played in the shaping of ancient cities, social habits, and customs in antiquity; and on retailing in the Roman world. On our cruise from Rome to Venice, Professor Ellis plans to address such topics as going 'behind the scenes' in the latest discoveries at Pompeii, Roman journeys through south Italy, how to dig a city, and Dalmatian decadence.

EVELYN EVANS

Evelyn Evans was born in Shanghai and brought up in Hong Kong. After graduating, she worked as a copywriter for two of the world's largest Advertising Agencies - Leo Burnett and Ogilvy & Mather - in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines and Australia finishing her career in the Far East as a Creative Director. Evelyn is bi-lingual in Cantonese and is currently brushing up on her Mandarin skills at Bath University. She also speaks Thai and some Bahasa Malay.

Widely travelled, Evelyn grows orchids as a hobby and is interested in all things botanical although the flora and fauna of South East Asia is of particular interest.

Prof PERVEZ GHAURI

Pervez Ghauri was born in Lahore, Pakistan and as a child moved to Sweden, where he was educated. He completed his PhD at Uppsala University, Sweden, specialising in Marketing and International Business. He then worked at universities in Finland and Norway.

His career continued as Professor of Marketing and International Business at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. There, he was the Director for the International Business Programme for several years. From May 2001 to May 2008 he was head of department and Professor of International Business and Director for Centre for International Business Education and Research at the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK.

Currently, Pervez Ghauri is Professor of International Business at King's College, London. He is Editor of the Journal of World Business and in the past has run training programmes for many multi-national companies such as Airbus Industries, Ericsson and BP. Having travelled extensively in the Far East, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, India, Pakistan and Indonesia, he will be lecturing on the different cultures and customs of the countries visited.

RAY HALE

Having spent many years in the Private Sector as an Industrial Health and Safety consultant, Ray has finally had the opportunity to follow his passion.

He is now a wildlife lecturer, author, photographer and naturalist. He enjoys sharing his experiences so much that he now leads groups of naturalists, researchers and eco-tourists into the rainforests of Borneo in search of endangered wildlife. He gives illustrated lectures around the United Kingdom and has been invited to lecture on Malaysian wildlife by a number of organisations within Sabah.

His subjects include Rainforest Conservation, Saving Endangered Species, The History of Sabah, Rajah Brooke and the Head Hunters of Borneo. Although he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of wildlife in general, his main field of study has always been centred around arachnids and he is a recognised World authority on the large so called “bird eating tarantulas” as well as the large number of species of spiders of the United Kingdom. He belongs to a number of organisations including the British Arachnological Society and the British Tarantula Society of which he is a council member.

He has written a number of articles on arachnology and in 1998 he published the book “An Introduction to the Spiders of the Genus Haplopelma: A Study of the Tarantulas of South East Asia”. He is currently writing a field guide to the spiders of Malaysia. He has had a number of his photographs published in entomological and arachnological journals.

Now based in Sussex, he regularly runs courses for the Sussex Wildlife Trust, contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes as a consultant and undertakes entomological habitat surveys for landowners and local authorities. His studies have taken him to many destinations around the World which have given him the opportunity to share his enthusiasm for nature and conservation with adult education classes, industry personnel and students alike. Over the last twenty years he has delivered many presentations to events and audiences. He is passionate about reconnecting people with nature and the conservation of the Worlds endangered species all of which infuse his wildlife lectures.

DENISE HEYWOOD

Denise Heywood is a lecturer, author, journalist and photographer. She worked in Cambodia as a journalist for three years, and has also worked in France and America.

Now based in London, she is a lecturer for the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (NADFAS), for the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) on their post-graduate Asian Art Course and for Madingley Hall (University of Cambridge). She has lectured all over Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe for organisations such as The British Museum, The Art Fund, The Royal Society for Asian Affairs, Asia House, The National Trust, The Wallace Collection, Farnham Castle Centre for International Briefing, Asian Civilisations Museum Singapore and universities, museums, colleges, schools, art institutions, literary societies and travel organisations including the Royal Geographical Society.

She has written a book on the Buddhist temples of Laos, Ancient Luang Prabang, and her latest one is on Cambodian dance, Cambodian Dance Celebration of the Gods, with a foreword by Princess Buppha Devi, daughter of King Sihanouk.

She has led art tours to Southeast Asia and France for The Art Fund, The Royal Academy, The Scottish Royal Geographical Society, Asia House, Art Treasures Tours for Cox and Kings, Trustees of the Asian Art Museum San Francisco, Specialtours and British Museum Traveller.

Denise is a member of The Association of Southeast Asian Studies in the United Kingdom, Asia House, The Anglo-Indonesian Society, The Cambodian Society in the United Kingdom, La Societe des Amis de Champa and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Prof JAMES HIGGINBOTHAM

James Higginbotham, Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host, is Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a PhD in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan. His scholarly interests focus on ancient Greek and Roman colonies, as well as the social history of the late Roman Republic. Jim was a regular member of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and the recipient of several fellowships, including a Fulbright-Hays Research Grant to Italy and the Oscar Broneer Fellowship in Classical Archaeology at the American Academy in Rome.

In his capacity as Curator for Ancient Art, Jim oversees the collection of antiquities housed in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. He has lectured on many educational voyages in the Mediterranean and Black Seas since 2004, including "Sicily is the Key to Everything" aboard Aegean Odyssey in 2010.

Dr MICHAEL HIGGINS

Michael's interest in the Mediterranean started with a cruise at age 16 and continued as a geology student on many backpacking trips during his degree at Cambridge. In 1974 he set off from the UK to Canada for his PhD at McGill University and has worked there ever since, except for research sabbaticals overseas.

His co-authored book A Geological Companion to Greece and the Aegean, explores the geology of archeological sites, including aspects such as bedrock, building materials, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

His current book project is on geology and the ancient wonders of the world. In 2012 he will be joining us on our Light of Greece cruise, where we visit the sites of two of the ancient wonders: The Colossus of Rhodes, and The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

Dr ANGIE HOBBS

Angie Hobbs gained a First Class Honours Degree in Classics and a PhD in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. After a Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, Cambridge, she is now Associate Professor in Philosophy and Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. Her chief interests are in ancient philosophy and literature, ethics (both theoretical and applied) and political theory, and she has published widely in these areas, including Plato and the Hero (Cambridge University Press 2000; paperback 2006).

She contributes regularly to radio and TV programmes, newspaper articles and philosophy websites; she lectures and gives talks around the world. She also engages in a variety of public and political work in the U.K., promoting the role of philosophy in schools and adult education and advising on academic public engagement. She is currently writing a book on heroism, courage and fame and producing a new translation of, and commentary on, Plato’s Symposium, a vivid dramatic dialogue exploring different views on the origins, nature, aims and effects of erotic love.

Angie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Chair of the Trustees of the Institute of Art and Ideas and an Honorary Patron of The Philosophy Shop. Outside academia, Angie has many interests: walking, gardening, music, the theatre and many sports, especially cricket!

Prof DAVID HORNER

Professor David Horner is one of Australia’s leading historians. Currently Professor of Australian Defence History at the Australian National University (Australia’s top world-ranked university), he is Australia’s premier military historian with an international reputation for military history and strategic analysis, although his expertise also ranges across Australian and international history.

A graduate of the Royal Military College, he saw active service as an infantry officer in Vietnam in 1971. Later, from 1998 to 2002, as an Army Reserve colonel he was the first Head of the Australian Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre. With a doctorate in history from the Australian National University, he is the author or editor of 30 books on military history, strategy and defence, is general editor of the Australian Army’s Military History Series, and is the Official Historian of Australian Peacekeeping, Humanitarian and Post-Cold War Operations. In 2009 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to higher education in the area of Australian military history and heritage as a researcher, author and academic.

Dr MONICA M. JACKSON

Monica M. Jackson is a Research Associate in the Department of Archaeology and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London. She received her B.A. in Ancient History and Anthropology from the University of Queensland and her PhD in Classical Archaeology from The University of Sydney. Her particular area of research is ancient Hellenistic jewellery as archaeological evidence. Her published PhD thesis Hellenistic Gold Eros Jewellery: Technique, Style and Chronology, published by British Archaeological Reports in 2006 is considered the authoritative work in this area.

Monica has presented papers at prestigious venues both in Australia, England and America. Topics include jewellery and the luxury arts, issues concerning cultural heritage, as well as ancient Greek and Near Eastern art, history and religion. She has been involved in The University of Sydney archaeological excavations in Greece, Cyprus and further east. Her research has necessitated extensive travels through South Italy, Turkey, the Republic of Georgia and Bulgaria.

Dr. GERALD KUROGHLIAN

Gerry Kuroghlian’s interest in Greek Mythology began with a child’s book of Greek heroes and developed into a lifetime love. He received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Virginia, a M.A. in American Studies from Fairfield University and a Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies from the University of Illinois where he also researched and taught. The Westport Public Schools in Connecticut served as the site for his curricular development and instruction.

He has frequently lectured on mythic archetypal patterns found in American fiction and drama. On the maiden voyage of the Aegean Odyssey from Athens to Istanbul in 2010, Dr. Kuroghlian spoke on the roles of ancient Greek women in Homer’s THE ODYSSEY. Former Connecticut Teacher of the Year, Gerry Kuroghlian continues to share his love of classical mythology with wider audiences.

MAUREEN LIPMAN

Maureen Lipman was born on 10th May 1946 in Hull, Yorkshire, England. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and made her acting debut in "The Knack" in 1969. Since then, she has become one of Britain's best-loved theatre and television actresses. She was awarded the C.B.E. (Commander of the British Empire) in the 1999 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama and Maureen won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1985 (1984 season) for "See How They Run".

She also wrote a monthly column for Good Housekeeping magazine for over ten years and after her playwright husband's death in May 2004, she completed his autobiography By Jack Rosenthal, and played herself in her daughter's four-part adaptation of the book, Jack Rosenthal's Last Act on BBC Radio Four in July 2006. She currently writes for The Oldie and will be travelling with us on our autumn sailing "The Holy City of Byzantium".

Colonel GERALD M MCCORMACK

Colonel Gerald M McCormack retired from the Australian Army in 2000 after having served in operational, training and diplomatic appointments. He commanded tank troops in South Vietnam and Australia. His instructional appointments included Lecturer in History at Senior Officer Colleges. His diplomatic assignments were to Korea and Germany.

As well as Australia and Vietnam, he served in Europe, Korea and the South Pacific. He is a graduate of The Royal Military College and Joint Services Staff College, the British Staff College and the University of Queensland. His interests, other than rugby football, include nature, international affairs, reading and writing about historical events as well as travelling to their location and sharing the fun of so doing.

Dr THOMAS MANNACK

Dr Thomas Mannack studied Classical Archaeology, Ancient History and European Archaeology in Kiel, Heidelberg and Oxford and gained a first class doctorate at Kiel University. He has published books and papers in English and German on Greek sculpture, Greek pottery and the reception of ancient art. Dr. Mannack is an internationally known expert on Greek decorated pottery and Reader of Classical Iconography at the University of Oxford. He has taught Greek and Roman Art and Architecture in Oxford and lectured at Oxford and King's College, London, on Greek Sculpture, Classical Iconography, and Greek Vase-Painting.

He was selected to participate in a prestigious course on Athenian burial customs by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, and has been invited to present papers by many universities and academies including New York, Berlin, Tours, Brussels, Munich, Copenhagen, Vienna, Basel and Zurich.

TREVOR MOSTYN

Trevor Mostyn writes on The Middle East for several British national newspapers and lectures at universities and schools and on ships. He has lived in Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where he was deputy correspondent for the Financial Times. As Macmillan Publishers’ Middle East manager he travelled throughout the region for several years.

His sister married a Bengali reading Law at Oxford and in 1965 Trevor hitch-hiked to India to stay with them. In 1999 he returned to India to interview the Rajput maharajas for the Financial Times, and in the following year he took a private group for a trip around Rajastan, ending in celebrating Millennium night with the Maharaja of Jodhpur in his hilltop fortress. Since then he has travelled throughout Gujerat and the Himalayan region, stayed at the Dalai Lama's brother's guest-house in Dharamsala, and written for Prospect magazine on the plight of the Tibetans.

He has published eight books on The Middle East. After the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords he created and ran Med Media and Peace Media for the European Union and created a media blueprints for the UN (Media Palestine) and the EU (Gulf Media). His Egypt’s Belle Époque, Cairo and the Age of the Hedonists was re-published in English in 2006. His other books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa (ed.) and his autobiographical Coming of Age in the Middle East. His novel The Girl from Katamon, set in Israel/ Palestine, is published next year.

Prof WILLIAM MURRAY

William Murray, Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host, is on the faculty of the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he is the Stathis Professor of Greek History. Bill (Ph.D. in Ancient History, University of Pennsylvania) specializes in Greek and Roman naval history, ancient seafaring, and nautical archaeology. He has recently completed a book on naval power in the era of Alexander the Great and his successors (Oxford University Press).

Bill and his wife Suzanne (who will be joining him as a lecturer onboard) met as graduate students in Athens while attending the American School of Classical Studies. They have led a number of student study trips in Greece; and have lectured on tours in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and Croatia, including The Light of Greece aboard Aegean Odyssey in spring 2011.

Prof SUZANNE MURRAY

Suzanne Murray, Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host, is on the faculty of the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she is an Instructor in Ancient History and Classical Archaeology (Ph.D. in Ancient Art, University of Minnesota). Her teaching focuses on ancient civilizations and Greek art and archaeology, with a specialization in the Aegean Bronze Age.

Suzanne and her husband William (who will be joining her as a lecturer onboard) met as graduate students in Athens while attending the American School of Classical Studies. They have led a number of student study trips in Greece; and have lectured on tours in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and Croatia, including The Light of Greece aboard Aegean Odyssey in spring 2011.

Prof ILI NAGY

Ili (Helen) Nagy, lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America, recently retired from her position as Professor of Art History at the University of Puget Sound. She specializes in the art and archaeology of Greece and Rome, early Christian and Byzantine Art, and Etruscan archaeology.

Professor Nagy is a fellow and trustee of the American Academy in Rome, where she also held the position of Director of the Classical Summer School, and she has served as Professor-in-Charge at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome.

Professor Nagy has led previous tours to Egypt, Greece, and Roman Hungary and Austria; taught extensively on-site in Italy; and lectured to excellent reviews on several Mediterranean voyages since 2006, including this Aegean voyage in 2010.

Prof JENIFER NEILS

A professor of ancient art history and a classical archaeologist for thirty years, Archaeological Institute of America lecturer Jenifer Neils is an expert on the ancient Mediterranean. She holds the Ruth Coulter Heede Chair of Art History and Classics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and regularly teaches courses on the art and archaeology of the ancient world from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity.

As a field archaeologist Professor Neils has participated in excavations in Etruria and Sicily, Italy, as well as in northern Greece, and has published material from both Etruscan and Greek sites. She has also has written a dozen books ranging from the history of ceramics to the Parthenon. Her latest is The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Greece (2008). An indefatigable traveler, Professor Neils has served as study leader for over a dozen trips to ancient sites throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Dr MATTHEW NICHOLLS

Dr Matthew Nicholls read Greats (Literae Humaniores) at the University of Oxford, at St John's College and graduated with a double first. He began his graduate work there and was then elected to a Junior Research Fellowship at The Queen's College. His doctoral thesis was on Roman public libraries and he is now writing a book on that subject for Oxford University Press, as a lecturer at Reading University. His research interests include the buildings and cities of the Roman and Greek world, and he also has an interest in 3D computer reconstructions of ancient architecture.

Matthew been a consultant to the BBC TV programme Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections and appeared on BBC Radio 4 In Our Time in his quest to bring Classics to a wider audience. He spends part of each summer in Rome and enjoys travel throughout the sites of the ancient world and beyond.

Major General MIKE O'BRIEN

Major General Mike O'Brien graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1968 and later earned advanced qualifications in project management and a master’s degree in the UK. A specialist in logistic management and defence acquisition planning, he played a major role in logistic planning and supply management for Australia’s operational deployments to East Timor, Bougainville and elsewhere.

He is a graduate of the Australian Staff College, the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies, the Royal Military College of Science (UK), the University of New South Wales and Cranfield University (UK). He holds the decoration of Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC). He has been heavily involved in military history studies and management of military museums, wrote Conscripts and Regulars, 1995 and several military bibliographies, and acts as advisor to a number of WW II unit associations.

He is actively involved with the National Trust, the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and the Royal United Services Institute. Now retired, he owns a bookshop in Melbourne and pursues his broad interests in history.

Lady SUSETTE PALMER

Susette has a BA in Classical Civilisations from the Open University in conjunction with UCL and an MA in the same field, as well as a certificate in World Arts and Artefacts from Birkbeck in conjunction with the British Museum.

She is interested in Ancient Drama and in the history of 5th century Athens and Augustan Rome. She was Parliamentary Secretary to the late Lord Russell - the historian, author and Liberal Democrat Peer, Professor Conrad Russell.

She teaches knitting and has published a book ‘Cozy Gloves.’ She is a London Borough Councillor, particularly interested in Libraries, Parks and the Arts. Her husband Monroe was made a working Peer in the House of Lords this year so she acquired the title Lady Palmer of Childs Hill.

ELENI PETROUTSOU

Eleni studied foreign languages, History of Art and Archaeology in Athens, Greece. Since 1975 she has worked as a freelance lecturer/tour guide for major American and British Tour Operators, for groups of students from various American Universities, and also for distinguished guests of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She has been an associate lecturer for the Panorama Cultural Society based in Athens and a guest for a series of radio programmes for the National Radio Network. Fascinated by the Mediterranean cuisine, she has done research and lectured on “The History & Art of the Greek Cuisine Throughout the Centuries” as well as on “the ancient spice trade routes”.

Since 2001, she has been organising cultural journeys around the world, with an emphasis on the Middle East and the countries of SE Asia. Her travels have brought her to over 65 countries around the globe, but her great journey in History and Art still continues.

Prof JONATHAN PHILLIPS

Jonathan Phillips is Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of numerous books on the crusades, most recently Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades which was published by the Bodley Head to very positive reviews and selected as a ‘History Book of 2009’ by The Sunday Telegraph.

Phillips’ previous monograph The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom, was strongly praised by reviewers in Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, and his earlier The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople was shortlisted for the Hessell-Tiltman Literary Prize 2005.

His current research interests centre upon the involvement of the Italian cities of Pisa, Genoa and Venice in the crusades. This will lead to a monograph, associated articles, as well as an introduction to a translation of the texts of Caffaro of Genoa (with Martin Hall).

Over the last eighteen months Phillips has given invited conference papers and lectures in Damascus, Istanbul, Malta, St Louis USA, Cardiff, Denmark. Professor Phillips has appeared in numerous television and radio programmes, most recently on Channel 4's 'Back from the Dead: Crusaders' and BBC Radio 4’s 'Start the Week' to discuss Holy Warriors. He is currently filming a major 6 part series 'The Road from Christ to Constantine' which he will present. He was the consultant and an interviewee in Channel 4’s programme on the Crusades in 2009, in Boris Johnson’s BBC2 programme 'After Rome' (2008), and the consultant and lead presenter for the History Channel’s 'Crescent and the Cross' (2005). A co-editor of the academic journal, Crusades, he also co-chairs the Crusades and Eastern Mediterranean seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, London.

Photo © Erik van den Boom

BILL POWELL

Bill couldn't wait to leave school at 16 and become a Civil Servant. He eventually realised the error of his ways and started to study for accountancy, passing his final exams just before his fortieth birthday!

He joined Marks and Spencer Financial Services to head their Customer Services and became Chairman of the Consumer Credit Trade Association. He took early retirement and began a new career as a Tour Guide, escorting groups to destinations in different parts of the world. His specialities are Borneo, China and the USA. He has a particular passion for rock n' roll music and is a great fan of Elvis, having taken groups to Graceland many times.

When he is not travelling he likes to walk, cycle, go to the cinema and does voluntary work.

MICHAEL PYNE

Michael Pyne has been a teacher and lecturer of history and literature for over thirty years. He lectures in topics ranging from South East Asian History and Culture and Australian Colonial history to The Middle East Conflict. He is the author or co-author of seventeen books for high school students and adult readers. He has taught in a range of schools and universities in Australia. He is a graduate of the University of New South Wales (Master of Education) and the University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales (Master of Arts in History).

Michael has been able to mix his travel and work, organising and leading tours to France, Ireland, Great Britain, Italy, Malta, Greece, Turkey, Israel and Jordan and Eastern Europe and Russia, as well as Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and New Zealand. He has also travelled extensively in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He has enjoyed sharing his travel experiences with many people over these years from high school students to mature age university students. He has also been a guest lecturer on cruise ships in the Asia and Pacific regions.

Michael is married to Dianne and they have five adult children. Michael and Dianne live in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. His hobbies, besides writing and travel, include house restoration, restoring veteran cars and a love for cricket and football. He is also an avid reader and student of history of all ages and of international affairs.

Dr NIGEL RAMSAY

Nigel Ramsay, FSA, FRHistS, is primarily a medieval historian, but has wide cultural interests which include the arts, the history of monasteries, cathedrals and parish churches, the history of funerary monuments, heraldry, and the history of book-collecting.

He was born and brought up in Oxford, and educated at Cambridge University, where he wrote a PhD thesis on the history of the medieval legal profession. He has spent his career working for Canterbury Cathedral, the Dept of Manuscripts of the British Library and the Department of History at University College London.

He has advised TimeTeam; and, as an ardent Francophile, has spent time in Paris as a visiting professor at both the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the École Nationale des Chartes. In 2013 he will be guest curator of an exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC on the history of heraldry. He has written or edited books on medieval craftsmen, Canterbury and Ely Cathedrals, and English monasteries.

His latest book, published by the British Academy in 2009, is on the libraries of hospitals, schools and the legal, medical and heraldic professions in medieval England and Wales. His forthcoming book is about a Tudor herald, Robert Glover, who was active in the circle of Lord Burghley and moved in the world of Queen Elizabeth’s court.

TONY RENNELL

Tony Rennell is a highly-regarded British author, historian and journalist with an impressive string of books to his name on subjects as diverse as the death of Queen Victoria to the role of army medics in the modern wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also writes regularly on a wide range of issues for national newspapers, notably the hugely influential Daily Mail.

Always stylish, witty and provocative, he has built up a keen following among readers who appreciate his unique take on historical and literary matters - whether it be a fresh look at Shakespeare’s Richard III, Mrs Simpson or the painter JMW Turner or recounting every exciting twist and turn of a pitched battle by the SAS against impossible odds.

A Cambridge graduate from a time before today’s production-line approach to higher education, he then spent 30 years in Fleet Street, notably at The Sunday Times in its historic heydays under editors Harry Evans and Andrew Neil. He rose through the ranks from sub-editor to section editor to become the paper’s number three and joint deputy editor before moving to a similar position at the Mail on Sunday.

Twelve years ago, Tony decided to re-focus his career on writing. He has written six best-selling and critically-acclaimed books, all published by Penguin, as well as several hundred newspaper articles and features. His latest book, ‘Arnhem – The Battle for Survival’, was published in September 2011 and is due out in paperback in spring 2012.

For our cruise to the Black Sea, he plans to draw on his expertise in military medicine (as author of ‘Medic!’) to cast light on Florence Nightingale, the lady with the lamp, during the Crimean War and on his extensive knowledge of the Second World War to bring alive the historic events at Yalta in 1945, which played such a vital part in re-defining the modern world.

General Sir MICHAEL ROSE

Born in 1940 in Quetta, former British India, General Sir Michael Rose was educated at Cheltenham College, the Sorbonne and St Edmund Hall, Oxford (Politics, Philosophy and Economics). He is an honorary fellow of his College and in 1999 he was awarded an Hon D Litt by Nottingham University. He joined the Reserve in 1957 and was commissioned as a Regular Officer into the Coldstream Guards in 1964. Following attendance at the Staff College in 1973, he had a number of appointments which took him to the Middle and Far East. He also took part in the Falkland Islands conflict. General Rose was Commander of the UK Field Army, and Inspector General Territorial Army from April 1993 to January 1994 when he took command of the UN Protection Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In January 1995, he was appointed to the Army Board as Adjutant General.

Since he retired from the Army in September 1997, he has written and lectured extensively on peacekeeping and leadership to a wide variety of audiences around the world, which have included The Aspen Institute, The Business Wharton School, The Council for Foreign Relations and the National Press Club in Washington. He was a regular speaker on the National Security Course at the Maxwell School Syracuse University. His book about his experiences in Bosnia, 'Fighting for Peace, was published in Nov 1998 by Harvill Press London, and the paperback version was produced by Warner Books. His book ‘Washington’s War’, published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in April 2007 compares the American War of Independence with the US led war in Iraq. As well as writing articles for military and academic publications, General Rose has also been commissioned to write for a large number of newspapers including The New York Times, The Times, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph The Guardian and Daily Mail. His television appearances include Channel Four, 'Panorama', 'Breakfast with Frost' and 'Hardtalk'.

Dr. JOYCE SALISBURY

Joyce grew up in Brazil and Mexico, then moved to the States and obtained a PhD in Medieval History from Rutgers University in New Jersey. She was endlessly curious about what shapes people’s actions, and thus focused on the history of religion and aspects of social history, like the history of sexuality. Joyce was an award-winning teacher at the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. When she retired, she could indulge her twin passions of writing books and giving lectures all over the world.

Joyce is an author of more than ten books, including a best-selling western civilization textbook, "The West in the World", and other non-fiction books on history and religion, including "The Beast Within: Animals in the Middle Ages", "The Blood of Martyrs: Unintended Consequences of Ancient Violence" and the award-winning "Perpetua’s Passion: Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman". She is currently writing a biography of the Roman Empress Galla Placidia, weaving theology and daily life into the narrative.

Joyce has appeared on Public Television, Public Radio, and has circumnavigated the world twice teaching on Semester at Sea’s ship, the MV Explorer. She has also lectured on many commercial cruise ships.

Dr ROGER SCEATS

Roger Sceats has a degree in Modern History from Oxford and after the first half of his career lecturing at the university level in International affairs and History, has spent the second half in the law. He is in practice as a solicitor, with his own firm dealing mainly with regulatory and administrative matters.

But he maintains a substantial interest in the history and politics of western and central Europe (he is a fluent French speaker), in Russia and the Scandinavian countries. He has lectured on cruise ships visiting a number of countries, which has reinforced his view that only by learning something of their past can one understand the present.

On our Grand Tour in May, Roger is going to present lectures on the Kingdom of Arles and its successors, as well as on the Guelfs and the Ghibellines - factions which explain much about the power of Medieval Papacy and the history of Italy.

Dr. PETER J. SCHERTZ

Peter Schertz is the Jack and Mary Ann Frable Curator of Ancient Art at The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, VA and holds a PhD in Classical Art & Archaeology from the University Of Southern California. At VMFA he oversees the Ancient Art Department comprising Ancient Egypt, Near Eastern, Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Byzantine art. Prior to joining the museum, he was the Kress Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Art of the Ancient World at the MFA Boston.

Currently Peter is preparing to curate the traveling banner exhibition: “MUMMY: Secrets of the Tomb” with more than 100 artifacts from the British Museum for thousands of expected viewers. Additionally he is preparing to host an upcoming symposium titled: “The Caligula Project: The 3-D Imaging and Polychromy of the Richmond Caligula” involving international scholars and art reporters.

Dr ERIC SIDEBOTTOM

Eric was born and spent his childhood in the Peak District of Derbyshire. He was educated at Kirkham Grammar School, Lancashire, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he qualified in medicine in 1963. After junior posts at Barts he moved to Oxford to train in hospital pathology, but soon transferred to academic pathology, obtained a DPhil, and was appointed University Lecturer in Experimental Pathology in The Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, and as Fellow and Medical Tutor at Lincoln College.

In the early 1990s he spent five years as Assistant Director of Clinical Research at The Imperial Cancer Research Fund (now CRUK). This was followed by 10 years as a freelance Education and Research Consultant, working with The Wellcome Trust, The Department of Health, and various charities and universities.

Now, as a budding medical historian, his mission is to convince the uninitiated, preferably on cruise ships, that world history has been determined more by disease than by Kings, politicians, or wars. He regularly lectures on land and at sea and has recently published a guide book to Oxford’s Medical History, “Oxford Medicine: A Walk through Nine Centuries”.

Dr VICTOR SONKIN

Victor Sonkin received his PhD in Slavic languages and literature from Moscow State University. He has spent several years working for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands. He teaches a translation workshop jointly with his wife Dr Alexandra Borisenko at Moscow State University. The workshop has produced a number of critically acclaimed anthologies of British and American crime fiction, coupled with in-depth cultural and historical research.

Dr Sonkin has written on cultural and literary issues for The Moscow Times, Russia’s largest English-language publication, and a number of UK and US magazines and newspapers, including Times Literary Supplement. He has translated into Russian the work of acclaimed authors such as Paul Auster, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and Julian Barnes. He is working on a new Russian translation of The Aeneid.

His scholarly interests include history of Slavic nations and their contacts with other cultures, linguistics, Russian and Western European literature, and the legacy of Classical antiquity in modern times. His interest in Roman history and topography produced a popular topographical guide to ancient Rome, Here Was Rome, scheduled for publication in 2012.

Dr Sonkin has lectured widely on various cultural and linguistic issues at major universities of the world, including Edinburgh, Oxford, and Bergen.

Dr LAURA SWIFT

Laura Swift is Leverhulme Fellow at University College London, having previously taught at New College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Oxford. She works on Greek lyric poetry and drama, and has published two books and numerous articles on these topics.

Her current research is on the poet Archilochus, who in antiquity was considered a rival to Homer and Hesiod but whose work survives in fragmentary form. A major new poem by Archilochus has recently been discovered, which makes it an exciting time to be doing this project. She is also interested in the role of poetry in community life, and in the role of the chorus in Greek tragedy and society.

Dr CANDACE WEDDLE

Candace Weddle holds a Ph.D. in classical Art History from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, an M.A. in Medieval Art History from Tulane University in New Orleans, and a B.A. in Classics from Baylor University in her home state of Texas. As an archaeologist, she has joined teams at several sites including Classe (the Roman Imperial fleet harbor outside of Ravenna), a Neolithic site in the Transylvanian region of Romania, and Princeton University’s Euchaita/Avkat project in north-central Turkey.She was also a member of the Austrian Archaeological Institute’s team excavating the “Temple of Domitian” in the well-known city of Ephesus in Turkey. The recipient of a Fulbright grant and a residential fellowship from the Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, she spent a year in Istanbul conducting research and falling in love with that spectacular city.

She has traveled widely in Europe and the Middle East and has spoken on a variety of ancient and medieval topics at conferences and as an invited lecturer at universities in the U.S., the U.K., Turkey, and Indonesia. Her current primary research interest is the sensory experience of ancient life, especially the ways in which we can use archaeological and literary evidence to better understand the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and other sensations experienced by worshipers during ancient religious ceremonies.

Prof NANCY WILKIE

Nancy Wilkie, Archaeological Institute of America lecturer and host, is a distinguished archaeologist and professor who has lectured on numerous educational tours and cruises throughout the Mediterranean. Nancy is the William H. Laird Professor of Classics, Anthropology, and the Liberal Arts, and Co-Director of the Archaeology Concentration at Carleton College (Northfield, MN), where she has been on the faculty since 1974. She is also an Honorary President of the Archaeological Institute of America and on the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Nancy began her archaeological career in 1968 when she joined a pioneering program of survey and excavation in the region of the Palace of Nestor at Pylos in Greece. Since then Nancy has worked on archaeological projects in Greece, Egypt, and Nepal, and has authored more than 30 articles and co-edited three books on archaeology.

Prof BRIAN WILLIAMS

Brian is the Emeritus Professor of Geology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and holds professorial positions in four other UK universities. He is also a consultant to the Oil Industry and several small geological companies. He has made several TV appearances (in UK, USA and the Far East) and presented Radio programmes for the BBC. His studies have taken him to all corners of the globe which has given him the opportunity to share his enthusiasm for rocks and earth processes with adult education classes, industry personnel and students alike.

When he is not "geologizing", Brian is passionate about Rugby (he's Welsh !!); American Jazz, (Chaiman and Member of several societies); Literature and Film. He also loves to travel, which is fortunate as his wife lives in Holland with family also in Wales and Ireland, and he has to fit in visits to them, with his extensive research excursions to Europe, North America and Australia.

CHRISTOPHER WOOD

Chris Wood studied Art History at the University of Melbourne. In 1977, whilst teaching at LaTrobe University, he founded Australians Studying Abroad , Australia’s oldest cultural tour company. In addition to teaching both art history and cultural tourism theory at universities in Australia and the USA, Chris has been an advisor to all Australian State governments, the Australian Federal Government, UNESCO and the government of Fiji on cultural tourism policy. He has published books, chapters and articles on architectural history, general history, arts education and tourism theory, and notably wrote the commissioned heritage reports on Melbourne’s major architectural monuments - the Melbourne Town Hall and the State Library of Victoria. Chris is an avid photographer and his work has been published in over 250 books, magazines and newspapers in Australia and the USA. He has also contributed to ABC radio programs and documentary films, all relating to his vast experience in travelling and ‘reading’ the world around him. Chris has led tours to 45 countries in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and is looking forward to accompanying an ASA group on the Aegean Odyssey.