The Ï㽶ÊÓƵ is pleased to announce a gift from Dr. Eric H. Cline, an alumnus of the School, Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Anthropology, and the former Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at George Washington University (GWU). Dr. Cline will name a room in Loring Hall in honor of his late wife, Dr. Diane Harris Cline, who was an outstanding scholar and passionate educator. This philanthropic gesture stands as a testament to her extraordinary accomplishments and enduring impact.

At the time of her passing, Diane Harris Cline was an emerita associate professor of history and classics at George Washington University. Originally trained as a Greek epigrapher, ancient Greek historian, and classical archaeologist, in her cross-disciplinary research she became an innovative pioneer in the digital humanities, applying social network analysis to study the social ties in ancient Greece. The author of nearly thirty peer-reviewed articles and two books, The Treasures of the Parthenon and Erechtheion (Oxford) and The Greeks: An Illustrated History (National Geographic), she was a two-time Fulbright Scholar and won three NEH awards for her research in Greece.

Dr. Harris Cline received her undergraduate degree in Classics from Stanford University (1983) and her Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology from Princeton University (1991). She taught at Portland State University, Fresno State University, and the University of Cincinnati before joining the faculty at George Washington University, where she taught a wide range of courses on Greek and Roman history, archaeology, mythology, literature, and culture. She won teaching awards at both the University of Cincinnati and at GWU, including the A.B. (Dolly) Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching (1999), the Columbian Prize for teaching and mentoring advanced undergraduate students (2017), the Morton A. Bender award for Excellence in Teaching (2018), and the Robert W. Kenny Prize for Innovation in Teaching (2021).

As for fellowships and external research awards, over the past five years, Harris Cline was co-principal investigator for an NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, a Fulbright Scholar in Greece at the University of Crete, a Fellow at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies, and participated in a summer Institute in Digital Textual Studies held at the National Humanities Center in Chapel Hill. Her summer residency at the National Humanities Center, Chapel Hill NC for 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.

Her association with the American School goes back more than 35 years: she participated in the 1982 Summer Session; had her first Fulbright as a graduate student at the school in 1987-88; held the Eugene Vanderpool and Doreen Spritzer fellowships from 1988-1990; and directed the 1997 Summer Session. She has been a Senior Associate Member and served  on the American School’s Managing Committee, representing George Washington University.

This past April, she gave her , looking back over her career. There, she describes fondly her American School Summer Session experience in 1982, her three years in Athens as a graduate student (1987-1990), leading Summer Session II in 1997, and her time on the Managing Committee.

 

About Dr. Eric H. Cline

Eric H. Cline first became involved with the American School as an Agora volunteer in 1982. In 1987, Cline returned as an Associate member on the Olivia James Travelling Fellowship from the Archaeological Institute of America and then again in 1989-90 as a Fulbright Fellow. He is perhaps best known, both to colleagues and the general public, for his book 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton, 2014; revised 2021), which has been translated into sixteen languages, including Italian, Dutch, Spanish, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Turkish, Russian, Polish, Chinese (both Simplified and Complex), Czech, Portuguese, Arabic, and Greek. A sequel, entitled After 1177 B.C.: The Survival of Civilizations, will be published in Spring 2024.

Naming Opportunities for Loring Hall

Naming opportunities for a variety of spaces in Loring Hall are still available. Donors can choose from a wide range of gift levels to name a room or area in honor of themselves, an American School scholar, or a family member, friend, or group. Click the link below to view the available spaces and options that remain. (LINK)


 

For any questions, please contact Nancy Savaides, Director of Stewardship and Engagement, at nsavaides@ascsa.org or 609-454-6810.