The Egyptology Graduate School Association (EGSA) will host a student-led symposium about current research on ancient Egypt from 12:30 to 3 p.m. on Friday, February 21 at the Shelby Room in the University Center.

This event will feature research from Egyptology students from both the history and art programs.

“Students from both programs were given the opportunity to participate in this colloquium,” said Dr. Patricia Podzorski, curator of Egyptian art with the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology at The University of Memphis. “We have somewhere between 6 to 8 students currently scheduled to present their research at this time.”

Podzorski will cap off the event with a keynote lecture at 3 p.m.

“I asked the participating students what topic would be of interest and they settled on something museum-based, which is appropriate given what I do,” said Podzorski. “My lecture is titled ‘The Object is Inquiry, Inquiry is the Object’ and I’d like to talk a little bit about how we as researchers use objects as a starting point for scientific inquiry into the past. We’ll cover some of the various methods we’ve used for that and illustrate with some of my own work that I’ve done for museum collections.”

Podzorski’s first foray into Egyptology began with an examination of human skeletal remains from pre-dynastic Egypt. This research shaped Podzorski’s Masters thesis and eventually came to be the focus of an exhibition at the Anthropology Museum at The University of Berkley.

“The students who are giving presentations are expected to approach this as a major scholarly meeting, which can always be an intimidating prospect,” said Podzorski. “This is an opportunity for them to practice their presentation skills and offer their own findings in front of a not-so-scary audience, although their professors will be present.”