BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//UCLA Humanities - ECPv6.15.20//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:UCLA Humanities X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://humanities.ucla.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for UCLA Humanities REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20240310T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20241103T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20250309T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20251102T090000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT DTSTART:20260308T100000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:PST DTSTART:20261101T090000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250514T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250514T180000 DTSTAMP:20260423T231123 CREATED:20250213T074926Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250512T224844Z UID:2190705-1747238400-1747245600@humanities.ucla.edu SUMMARY:Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Wu Xin DESCRIPTION:Imperial Foundations of the Silk Road: Persian Roads and Han Walls\n \nWhile the Silk Road is often celebrated as a pivotal example of early globalization\, scholarship has primarily focused on the consequences of its connectivity\, neglecting the crucial question of its formation and operational logistics. This lecture re-examines the origins and mechanisms of this trans-Eurasian network during the latter half of the first millennium BCE. It posits that the imperial ambitions of the Achaemenid Persian and Han Chinese dynasties were fundamental in establishing this communication network. Specifically\, the Persian Royal Road facilitated movement from Central Asia to the Mediterranean\, while the Han dynasty’s extensive wall systems provided security and strategic control from Chang’an to Samarkand. This analysis\, drawn on archaeological discoveries from Central Asia and wester China\, argues that the combined infrastructural investments of these geographically and temporally distinct empires laid the groundwork for the roads that ultimately interconnected the ancient Eurasian world. \nAbout the Speaker  \nWu Xin received her undergraduate and master’s training at Beijing University\, focusing on Chinese archaeology and Central Asian Buddhist Art. She earned her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania\, specializing in the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East. Her dissertation\, titled “Central Asia in the Context of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (6th to 4th Centuries B.C.)\,” reflects her interest in the interactions between Central Asia and the Achaemenid imperial power. With extensive experience in archaeological projects\, Wu Xin directed the Kyzyltepa Project in Uzbekistan and is finalizing a monograph titled Persia and the East\, which presents her renewed scholarship on the relationships between Central Asia\, the Eurasian steppe\, and the Achaemenid Empire. Previously a professor in the Department of History at Fudan University in Shanghai\, Wu Xin currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. \n \n\n\nPourdavoud Lecture Series – Wu Xin\n\n \n\n\n\nName*\n\n \n \n First\n \n \n \n Last\n \n\nEmail*\n\n \n \n\nAffiliation*\n\n\n\n \n UCLA Student\n \n\n \n UCLA Faculty or Staff\n \n\n \n UCLA Alumnus/Alumna\n \n\n \n Non-UCLA Student\n \n\n \n Non-UCLA Faculty or Staff\n \n\n \n General Public\n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nAttending Online or In-Person?\n\n\n\n \n In-Person\n \n\n \n Online URL:https://humanities.ucla.edu/event/pourdavoud-lecture-series-wu-xin/ LOCATION:306 Royce Hall\, 10745 Dickson Plaza\, Los Angeles\, CA\, 90095\, United States CATEGORIES:Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://humanities.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Pourdavoud-Lecture-Series-Wu-Xin-web-7gg3Wl.tmp_.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250521T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250521T180000 DTSTAMP:20260423T231123 CREATED:20250512T224844Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250512T224844Z UID:2191545-1747843200-1747850400@humanities.ucla.edu SUMMARY:Pourdavoud Lecture Series: Gunvor Lindström DESCRIPTION:The Denavar Satyrs as Time Travelers: From Ancient Persia to Greece\, Rome\, and 20th Century Collections\n \nThe influence of Greco-Roman artistic traditions on the Parthian Empire (c. 250 BCE–225 CE) remains a subject of debate\, with little direct evidence attesting to their presence. One long-overlooked artifact that challenges this assumption is the recently reconstructed Denavar Vase\, a monumental stone bowl adorned with a satyr frieze in the Greek style. The reconstruction of this bowl—its fragments now dispersed across museums and collections on three continents—suggests that it once formed part of a local ruler’s palace décor\, reflecting a deep engagement with the visual language of the Roman elite. The second part of this lecture traces the biographies of these fragments since their discovery around 1914. It will follow the track of famous scholars and connoisseurs who incorporated the pieces into their collections\, and go on a varied journey through the art history and historiography of Hellenistic and Parthian art. This journey also explores 19th-century decorative arts and museum presentations\, ultimately navigating the political history from the First to the end of the Second World War. \nAbout the Speaker \n\n \nDr. Gunvor Lindström is a Classical Archaeologist with a deep engagement in neighboring disciplines. A leading expert on Hellenism in the Ancient East\, she has conducted extensive research across Central Asia\, Iran\, and Mesopotamia\, focusing on the Hellenistic and Parthian periods. Since 2004\, she has conceived and led several high-profile projects at the German Archaeological Institute’s Eurasia Department. Her work on Hellenistic and Kushan Bactria includes studies of votive practices\, notably the offerings from the famous Oxus Temple. She also discovered and excavated a Hellenistic sanctuary at Torbulok in modern Tajikistan (2013–2018)\, now a key reference point for Hellenistic Bactria. In recent years\, she has focused on Hellenistic art in Central Asia and Iran\, conducting the first systematic study of bronze and marble statues from Kale-e Chendar in Khuzestan (better known as Shami) and reconstructing a monumental bronze portrait statue of a Hellenistic ruler in the National Museum of Iran. \n\n\n\nPourdavoud Lecture Series – Gunvor Lindström\n\n \n\n\n\nName*\n\n \n \n First\n \n \n \n Last\n \n\nEmail*\n\n \n \n\nAffiliation*\n\n\n\n \n UCLA Student\n \n\n \n UCLA Faculty or Staff\n \n\n \n UCLA Alumnus/Alumna\n \n\n \n Non-UCLA Student\n \n\n \n Non-UCLA Faculty or Staff\n \n\n \n General Public\n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n\nAttending Online or In-Person?\n\n\n\n \n In-Person\n \n\n \n Online URL:https://humanities.ucla.edu/event/pourdavoud-lecture-series-gunvor-lindstrom/ LOCATION:306 Royce Hall\, 10745 Dickson Plaza\, Los Angeles\, CA\, 90095\, United States CATEGORIES:Lecture Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://humanities.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pourdavoud-Lecture-Series-Lindstroem-web-image-OcGkpI.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR