UrbNet Centre retreat in Rome: Summary
UrbNet held its annual staff retreat in Rome in January 2018. Summary written by Student assistant Ditte Kvist Johnson and PhD student Line Egelund.
Summary written by Student assistant Ditte Kvist Johnson and PhD student Line Egelund.
The 24th–26th of January 2018, employees at UrbNet had the great pleasure of attending the annual retreat, held at the Danish Institute in Rome. The retreat was an opportune forum to have lively discussion on joint research themes, upcoming publications projects, current and future research news and strategies, and hold sub-project meetings throughout the stay. Furthermore, it was a great opportunity to being introduced to the new excavation of the Caesar’s Forum. The retreat was a combination of project presentations, on site presentations in Rome, and group discussions of the UrbNet agenda, and the final discussion was of the future directions of the research to be undertaken within UrbNet.
On the first day, the 24th of January, employees at UrbNet arrived at the Danish Institute and subsequently we attended a Walk & Talk around the Villa Borgehese, held by Rubina Raja, Professor and Centre Director. After the Walk & Talk, Professor and Centre Director Rubina Raja welcomed us. Following, the first presentations were given by PhD students Alex Peterson, Christian Svejgård Jørgensen, Hannah Dahlström, and Johan Sandvang Larsen, Postdoc Bente Philippsen and Assistant professor Christopher Dickinson.
The next day, the 25th of January, project presentations proceeded. PhD students Ema Bauzyte, Kirstine Haase, Kristine Thomsen, Mahir Hrnjic, Neeke Hammers, Olav Gundersen, Pernille Trant, and Nora Petersen gave presentations. In addition, Postdocs Sine Saxkjær, Trine Hass, and Vana Orfanou, and Assistant professors Federica Sulas, Luise Ørsted Brandt, Michael Blömer, and Tom Birch gave presentations. After the presentations, we discussed general questions such as how UrbNet and the UrbNet agenda are represented in the different research projects within the framework of the centre and in what ways ‘urban’ can be defined.
On the last day, the 26th of January, presentations on the excavation projects connected to UrbNet were given: Michael Blömer presented on the excavation at Doliche in Turkey and Søren M. Sindbæk (Professor MSO and Deputy Director) talked about the excavation at Ribe. Federica Sulas and Stephanie Wynne-Jones (Lecturer), both presented their work on the excavation on Zanzibar in Africa, while Sine Saxkjær, spoke of the new excavation of the Forum of Caesar in Rome. Lastly, Rubina Raja gave a presentation on the excavation at Jerash in Jordan. The day was concluded by a discussion of a new handbook and the final discussion of the future research directions. After the final discussions and meetings, we visited the Forum of Caesar, where Sine Saxkjær introduced the site.