
We are happy to announce a new member of the AAI / Open Context team. Dr. Pınar Durgun joins us today in a new position as Curator for Digital Collections Interpretation and Public Engagement. Pınar is an archaeologist with a background in art history, anthropology, and cultural heritage. She received her PhD from Brown University and has been teaching for about a decade in universities, museums, and school classrooms about the ancient world using archaeological and museum collections. As a dedicated public scholar and educator, Pınar hopes to make information about the ancient world accessible, fun, and inclusive. In line with this goal, she creates and curates educational and digital content about the ancient world for museums, academic/educational organizations, and social media. Her research and teaching focuses on death and burial, ancient materials and makers, image and identity making, and ethics of museum collecting and display. Most recently she edited “An Educator’s Handbook for Teaching about the Ancient World.” In her role with the AAI / Open Context, Pınar will work with institutional partners to leverage digitized museum collections and related digital resources for public engagement, instruction, and lifelong learning.