Karen Foster
Karen Polinger Foster (A.B. 1971, Mount Holyoke College; M.A. 1974, M.Phil. 1974, Ph.D. 1976, Yale University) specializes in the art and archaeology of the Bronze Age Aegean, with particular interests in interconnections with Egypt and the ancient Near East. She is the author of Aegean Faience of the Bronze Age (1979) and Minoan Ceramic Relief (1982). Her current major research project involves the final preparation of a book on the treatment of exotic flora and fauna in the art of the ancient Near East and Aegean, considered in the wider context of such material from classical to modern times.

She is the author of over twenty articles on various aspects of Bronze Age art and iconography, including several studies of the wall painting programs from Thera. She has recently completed a trilogy of articles dealing with volcanic imagery in art and literature, beginning with the Thera eruption and concluding with the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii. In addition, she has written over thirty book reviews and participates regularly in scholarly conferences, symposia, and panel discussions, here and abroad.

In 1999 she published The City of Rainbows: A Tale from Ancient Sumer, the first Sumerian folktale to be retold for children. The book is illustrated with the author's own cut-paper mosaics, based on actual works of Sumerian art.

Presently she is co-editing, with Robert Laffineur of the University of Liege, METRON: Measuring the Aegean Bronze Age, the proceedings of the 9th International Aegean Conference, held at Yale University in April 2002.

Her course offerings range from introductory surveys of the art of the ancient Near East and Aegean to seminars concentrating on specific issues and areas. In recent years, she has taught such undergraduate courses as "The Art of Ancient Palaces", "Buried Cities: Thera, Pompeii, and Herculaneum", and "Ancient Painting and Mosaics". Her graduate courses have dealt with Bronze Age interconnections.


Email: karen.foster@yale.edu