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Giovanni LovisettoVisiting Assistant Professor
Education
- Ph.D., Columbia University, 2024
- M.A., University of Pisa, 2018
- Graduate diploma, Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, 2018
- B.A., University of Pisa, 2016
Biography
Giovanni Lovisetto holds a B.A. in Classical Philology (2016) and an M.A. in Classical Archaeology (2018) from the University of Pisa, as well as a graduate diploma from Scuola Normale Superiore. He earned his Ph.D. in Classical Studies from Columbia University in 2024. His dissertation, Cultures of Bondage: Bodily Constraint in Ancient Greek Art, Literature, and Society, examines representations of physical subjugation in Greek visual and literary sources, interpreting the bound body as both a lived condition and a cultural construct shaped by embodiment, affect, and performance.
His research spans Greek art and architecture, classical archaeology, Mesopotamian art, and classical reception. His current book project analyzes how images of the bound body in texts and visual culture—across contexts such as prisons, theaters, courtrooms, and symposia—shaped ancient discourses on power, gender, and enslavement.
Giovanni is an active member of the archaeological team excavating at Selinunte (Italy), where he is working on a project examining the architectural, sensory, and religious functions of temple entrances in the Sicilian polis of Selinus, combining architectural analysis with digital reconstructions.
In 2022, he contributed to the exhibition She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia at The Morgan Library & Museum.
Giovanni is also a poet, and his first poetry collection, Scavi Urbani, was published in Italy in 2021
His research spans Greek art and architecture, classical archaeology, Mesopotamian art, and classical reception. His current book project analyzes how images of the bound body in texts and visual culture—across contexts such as prisons, theaters, courtrooms, and symposia—shaped ancient discourses on power, gender, and enslavement.
Giovanni is an active member of the archaeological team excavating at Selinunte (Italy), where he is working on a project examining the architectural, sensory, and religious functions of temple entrances in the Sicilian polis of Selinus, combining architectural analysis with digital reconstructions.
In 2022, he contributed to the exhibition She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia at The Morgan Library & Museum.
Giovanni is also a poet, and his first poetry collection, Scavi Urbani, was published in Italy in 2021
Selected Publications
(2022) “Goddesses Visualized in Early Dynastic Mesopotamia,” in S. Babcock, E. Tamur, Z. Bahrani (eds.), She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400–2000 B.C., New York City: Morgan Library and Museum: 24-41.
