Bonna Daix Wescoat

Bonna Daix Wescoat is the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Art History at Emory University, specializing in Ancient Greek art and architecture. She directs excavations at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, Greece, and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford University. Her research focuses on Hellenistic architectural trends, sacred spaces, and architectural sculpture, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between ritual, space, and experience in ancient sanctuaries.

Education:

• D.Phil., Oxford University, 1983 (Classical Art and Archaeology)
• M.Phil., Oxford University, 1979 (Classical Art and Archaeology)
• M.A., University of London, Institute of Archaeology, 1977 (Art and Archaeology of the Roman Empire)
• A.B., Smith College, 1976 (History of Art, magna cum laude)

Research Interests: Her work centers on the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace, exploring architectural innovation, sacred geography, and the integration of digital tools for archaeological analysis. She investigates the role of space and ritual in Hellenistic sanctuaries, with recent projects focusing on 3D modeling, marble provenance studies, and geospatial analysis of the site.

Grants & Awards:

• John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (2014)
• National Endowment for the Humanities Collaborative Research Grant (2015-2021)
• Getty Foundation Connecting Art Histories Program Grant (2018-2022)
• Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (Archaeological Institute of America, 2017)

Advising & Grants: Dr. Wescoat has advised numerous PhD students and secured significant funding for interdisciplinary projects, including digital archaeology initiatives and collaborative studies with institutions like Université Bordeaux-Montaigne and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Labs/Teams: She leads the American Excavations Samothrace project, coordinating teams in fieldwork, digital documentation, and international scholarly collaboration. Her research integrates geology, metrology, and material science to understand ancient building practices and environmental influences on sacred spaces.