APPLY TO MESSIAH

David Pettegrew

David Pettegrew, professor of history and archaeology

Professor of History and Archaeology

Areas of Interest: Greek and Roman History, Late Antiquity, Early Christianity, Historical Archaeology, Digital Public Humanities

Office: 266 Boyer Hall
Phone: 717-796-1800 x 2738
Email: dpettegrew@messiah.edu

Webpage / Blog
C.V.

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., History, The Ohio State University
  • M.A., History, The Ohio State University
  • B.A., Anthropology and Greek, Wright State University

Biography

David Pettegrew is a scholar of the ancient Mediterranean world who studies the transformation of local society, culture, and religion in the later centuries of the Roman era. He is a passionate teacher in the subjects of Greek and Roman history, late antiquity, archaeology, and early Christianity. As a field archaeologist, he undertakes research in Greece, Cyprus, and central Pennsylvania. His current projects include publishing an archaeological survey near Isthmia, Greece and writing an introduction to the archaeology of early Christianity. Pettegrew is also active in digital and public humanities activities on campus and can often be found in the Beatrice Howe Humanities Lab collaborating with students on a range of public history projects.

Courses 

  • Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations
  • Ancient Greece
  • Ancient Rome
  • Late Antiquity
  • The Early Church
  • Historical Archaeology
  • Digital History 
  • Public Humanities Projects 
  • Archaeology of Greece (delivered on-site in Greece)

Current Projects

  • Corinthian Countrysides: Data and Analysis from the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey, The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota, in final revision.
  • Archaeologies of the Early Christian World: History, Practice, Vision, Oxford University Press, in preparation.
  • Pyla-Koutsopetria II: Excavation at an Ancient Coastal Town, with M. Hadjicosti, W.R. Caraher and R.S. Moore, and with contributions by M. Andrioti, D. DeForest, P.N. Kardulias, S. Lepinski, D. Nakassis, B.R. Olson, and D. Reese, under final preparation.

Books and Edited Works

Recent Papers and Publications

  • "From Corinthian Twilight to the Busy Countryside: Remaking the Landscapes, Monuments, and Religion of the Late Antique Corinthia,” with William Caraher. In Korinth II: Das römische Korinth, edited by C. Auffarth in collaboration with S. Krauter, 365–390. Civitatum Orbis MEditerranei Studia, Vol. 7. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024.
  • “Raising Washingtonia: Rediscovering Greece’s Earliest Refugee Settlement,” with K. Kourelis, A. Sarvis, N. Poulopoulos, A. Shehigian, and K. Ganey. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Chicago, January 2024.
  • "Mapping Washingtonia, Greece's First Refugee Settlement,” with Albert Sarvis, Kostis Kourelis, Alex Shehigian, Brooke Rhodes, and Keli Ganey. Presentation at Central Pennsylvania GIS Day, Harrisburg, October 2023.
  • "Reconciling the Past in Pennsylvania’s Capital Region: Place-Based Storytelling from the Digital Harrisburg Initiative." Presentation at Pennsylvania Historical Association Conference, Camp Hill, October 2023.
  • “Dura-Europos and the Domus Ecclesiae: Revisiting the Archaeology of Syria’s Oldest House-Church.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Overseas Research, Boston, November 2022.
  • “The Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey: Datasets of an intensive pedestrian survey and regional study of the eastern Corinthia, Greece,” with T.E. Gregory, D.J. Pullen, R. Rothaus, and T.F. Tartaron. Released: 2021-06-04. Open Context. http://opencontext.org/projects/bc71c724-eb1e-47d6-9d45-b586ddafdcfe
  • “Life in Abandonment: The Case of Lakka Skoutara, Corinthia,” with W.R. Caraher, in Deserted Villages: Perspectives from the Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Rebecca Seifried and Deborah Brown. Grand Forks: The Digital Press of the University of North Dakota, 2021.
  • “The Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey: A Tour of the Legacy Data in Open Context,” Presentation for the 40th International Mediterranean Survey Conference (Virtual), 2021.
  • “Washingtonia: An American Refugee Camp in Revolutionary Greece,” with K. Kourelis, in T. Papademetriou and N. Ganson (eds.), The Greek Revolution (1821-1829) through American Eyes. A Bicentennial Traveling and Online Exhibition, 2021.
  • “The Christianized Landscapes of Early Byzantine Corinth,” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, Washington, D.C., January 2020.
  • “The Archaeology of Early Christianity: The History, Methods, and State of a Field,” with W.R. Caraher. In The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Archaeology, edited by D.K. Pettegrew, W.R. Caraher, and T.W. Davis. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Public History Projects and Activities