Excavating Hellenistic Civilization
Born, Athens, Greece, 1963, Michael Cosmopoulos completed his undergraduate degree, University of Athens, graduating summa cum laude, 1985, and received his M.A. and Ph.D., Washington University, St. Louis, 1986 and 1989, respectively. He also studied at University of Sorbonne, Paris, and received from the Council of Europe a Diploma in Underwater Archaeology before immigrating to Canada, 1989, to take a teaching position, Department of Classics, University of Manitoba, where today he is Professor of Archaeology in the Departments of Classics and Anthropology. His research interests are the social, political, and cultural history of Greece from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. He has excavated at several ancient sites in Greece and Ukraine, including Mycenae, Pylos, Epidaurus, Ancient Corinth, Ithaca, Oropos, and Olbia. Director of the new excavations at the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis, Dr. Cosmopoulos is currently directing a new interdisciplinary archaeological project near Pylos, aiming at the origins of the federal system of government. In recognition of his teaching, the University of Manitoba awarded him a Merit of Excellence in Teaching, 1999. Director, Centre for Hellenic Civilization, University of Manitoba, Dr. Cosmopoulos is Vice President of the Archaeological Institute of Canada. He has also authored eight important books germane to his research interests and some sixty articles and papers in international journals in addition to addressing various national and international conferences on ancient Greek social, political, and cultural history. [Photo, courtesy Dr. Michael Cosmopoulos]