Jackie Dibiasie-Sammons
Associate Professor of Classics and Senior Fellow, North Residential College
Dr. DiBiasie-Sammons researches and teaches Roman archaeology and Latin language with a focus on ancient graffiti, inscriptions, and the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy. She is also the Senior Faculty Fellow of the Luckyday Residential College.
Research Interests
Dr. DiBiasie-Sammons investigates ancient graffiti from the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and her work applies modern technologies to visualize and read these ancient inscriptions. Recent work has focused on charcoal graffiti, which she studied using the field notebooks of one of the original excavators of ancient Herculaneum. Her ongoing book project analyzes the media in which ancient graffiti were written including charcoal, chalk and ochre to understand how ancient Pompeians thought about and used the spaces in which they lived.
Biography
Jacqueline DiBiasie-Sammons is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Senior Faculty Fellow of the Luckyday Residential College. Her research investigates ancient graffiti from the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Italy. Her current book project, which has been supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, analyzes the aesthetics and materials of ancient Roman graffiti. Jackie has also pioneered the application of several digital technologies to record and visualize these ancient messages. She received the 2021 Dr. Mike L. Edmonds New Scholar Award in Humanities from the College of Liberal Arts for her research. Jackie teaches courses in Latin language and archaeology. She especially loves introducing students to the wonders of learning a new language, especially first year students. She was awarded the Cora Lee Graham Award for Outstanding Teaching of Freshmen in 2022. Jackie also regularly takes students abroad to Italy. One of her greatest joys is sharing her work with students and bringing them to Pompeii to find their own messages from the past.
Publications
More of Dr. DiBiasie-Sammons' work:
“Ancient Graffiti” Oxford Classical Dictionary.
“Line-Drawings and the Study of Campanian Graffiti” Journal of Epigraphic Studies 4: 63-90.
Courses Taught
- CLC 107 Ancient Cities
- CLC 322 Roman Art and Archaeology
- CLC 323 Art & Archaeology of Pompeii
- CLC 326 Topics in Classics Abroad
- CLC 350 Ancient Archaeological Field Session
- CLC 360 Archaeological and Museum Ethics
- CLC 375 Digital Archaeology
- CLC 490 Classics Capstone Seminar
- LAT 101 Introduction to Latin I
- LAT 102 Introduction to Latin II
- LAT 344 Latin Epigraphy
Education
M.A. Classics, University of Texas at Austin (2011)
Ph.D. Classics, University of Texas at Austin (2015)