Join Harvard Griffin GSAS Dean Emma Dench in Nafplio, Greece on Saturday, July 12, and Sunday, July 13, 2025, for a weekend of events, including tours of archeological sites and museums, a performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, a discussion on "Gods and Empire in Ancient Rome and Early China," from Dean Emma Dench and Harvard College Professor Michael Puett, and opportunities to connect with fellow alumni and other members of the Harvard community who will be in Nafplio at that time. The events are organized in partnership with Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece (CHS Greece), which is based in Nafplio.
The weekend begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, and concludes on Sunday evening. Registration is $175 per person and includes the following activities.
Saturday July 12, 2025
- Entrance ticket and tour of the Archeological Museum of Nafplio
- A guided tour of local archeological sites in Nafplio
- Dinner and talk by Anna Stavrakopoulou, PhD ’94, on Greek theatre and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus Festival
- Ticket to a performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
- Group transportation to and from the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
Sunday, July 13, 2025
- A guided morning tour of the archeological site and museum of Mycenae
- Group transportation to and from the archeological site and museum of Mycenae
- Entrance ticket and tour of the National Gallery of Greece – Nafplio Annex (optional)
- Conversation between Dean Emma Dench and Harvard College Professor Michael Puett on “Gods and Empire in Ancient Rome and Early China,” and a dinner reception at CHS Greece. This event will include members of the Harvard Club of Greece and Harvard students participating in the Harvard Summer School Program in Greece.
Is this trip right for me and my guest(s)?
You can expect a fair amount of walking (at least one mile per day) during many of the touring activities, with some sites involving walking over rough terrain or up a moderately steep slope or stairs. Some activities will involve walking/standing up to two hours, and many aspects of the weekend occur outdoors and are subject to the weather. We expect the weather in Greece in July to be between 86-102 °F (30-39 °C). Whenever possible, the outdoor activities will take place in the morning to avoid the heat of midday. Travelers should be in good overall health and be able to navigate stairs, walk along uneven terrain, and get on and off a tour bus with minimal to no assistance from a travel companion.
The evening at Epidaurus will be late, with the performance running from 9:00 p.m. to midnight and the expected return to Nafplio at approximately 12:30 a.m.
This is a general description of the trip. A detailed itinerary will be sent to all participants later this spring. Additionally, if registrants and guests take part in all activities, free time during the weekend will be limited.
Harvard Griffin GSAS highly recommends the purchase of trip insurance to cover unforeseen trip interruptions, cancellations, lost baggage, and emergency medical assistance and evacuation.
If you have questions about accessibility, please contact us at gsaa@fas.harvard.edu.
Registration Details
Harvard Griffin GSAS Alumni and Guests: $175 USD
Registration is limited to 40 alumni and guests and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. We strongly encourage you to register early to secure a spot as we do expect to reach capacity quickly.
Guests are responsible for their own travel to/from Nafplio, hotel accommodations, meals/snacks not listed above, ground transportation not listed above, and all incidentals.
Alumni are encouraged to book their hotel accommodations as soon as possible. A list of recommended hotels will be sent upon registration.
Speaker Biographies
Emma Dench
Emma Dench was born in York, grew up near Stratford-upon-Avon, and studied at Wadham College, Oxford (BA Hons Literae Humaniores), and at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford (DPhil in Ancient History). Before taking up a joint appointment in the departments of the Classics and of History at Harvard in January 2007, she taught classics and ancient history at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has been a Craven Fellow at the University of Oxford, a Rome Scholar and a Hugh Last Fellow at the British School of Rome, a Cotton Fellow, a Member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and a visiting professor of the Classics and of History at Harvard, and a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellow.
Dench is the author of From Barbarians to New Men: Greek, Roman, and Modern Perceptions of Peoples from the Central Apennines, Romulus’ Asylum: Roman Identities from the Age of Alexander to the Age of Hadrian, and “Imperialism and Culture in the Roman World” for the Cambridge University Press series Key Themes in Ancient History. Other current projects include a study of the retrospective writing of the Roman Republican past in classical antiquity.
While at Harvard, Dench received a Harvard College professorship in recognition of “outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching, mentoring, and advising,” a Marquand Award for Excellent Advising and Counseling, and an Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award.
Michael Puett
Michael Puett (普鸣) is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion and the Director of the Harvard University Asia Center. He is also a non-resident long-term fellow for programs in anthropological and historical sciences and the languages and civilizations of East Asia at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala.
Puett joined the Harvard faculty in 1994 after earning his M.A. (1987) and Ph.D. (1994) from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. His interests focus on the inter-relations between religion, anthropology, history, and philosophy. In his research, Puett aims to bring the study of China into larger historical and comparative frameworks. He has published many articles on early Chinese history (c. 1200 B.C. – c. 755 A.D.), and on classical Chinese ritual, social, and political theory.
Puett is the author of The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China (Stanford, 2001) and To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice, and Self-Divinization in Early China (Harvard, 2002), as well as the co-author, with Adam Seligman, Robert Weller, and Bennett Simon, of Ritual and its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity (Oxford, 2008). Puett has received multiple awards for his teaching and advising. In 2013 Puett was one of five named Harvard College Professors in recognition of his dedication to undergraduate education. Since 2012 his General Education course, “Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory,” has been the third most enrolled undergraduate course at Harvard.
Anna Stavrakopoulou
Anna Stavrakopoulou studied philology at the University of Crete and theatre at Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle (DEA, Institut d’Etudes Théâtrales) and at Harvard University (PhD, 1994). She taught at New York University, at the University of Bosporus in Istanbul (where she initiated courses on ancient and modern Greek, with the support of the Onassis Foundation) and at Harvard University (1996-1999). She served as deputy executive director of the Onassis Foundation (USA) (1999-2001) and taught as a visiting professor at Yale and the University of Crete (2001-2002). She has been teaching history and theory of theatre at the Drama Department (AUTH) since 2003. Furthermore, she is a founding member and part of the faculty team of the Harvard Summer Program in Greece (which has been in operation from 2002 to the present). She is also a founding member of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, having served as its associate director (2010-2018) and as a member of its board of directors for several years.
She has received grants from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, Ilex Foundation, and Bogliasco Foundation. Recently, she served as program director of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (2018-2021). She is currently a member of the International Ibsen Committee (2024-2028). She has published articles and books in Greek and English, on the shadow theater, theater translations and the reception of Ibsen in Greece; she is the author of The Reception of Ibsen in Greece: Gendered Perspectives and Translational Approaches, (Kapa Ekdotiki, Athens 2023) and her more recent coedited volume is Imagined Geographies in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Beyond, edited by Dimitri Kastritsis, Anna Stavrakopoulou and Angus Stewart (Center for Hellenic Studies, Distributed by HUP, 2023).
Join Harvard Griffin GSAS Dean Emma Dench in Nafplio, Greece on Saturday, July 12, and Sunday, July 13, 2025, for a weekend of events, including tours of archeological sites and museums, a performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, a discussion on "Gods and Empire in Ancient Rome and Early China," from Dean Emma Dench and Harvard College Professor Michael Puett, and opportunities to connect with fellow alumni and other members of the Harvard community who will be in Nafplio at that time. The events are organized in partnership with Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece (CHS Greece), which is based in Nafplio.
The weekend begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, and concludes on Sunday evening. Registration is $175 per person and includes the following activities.
Saturday July 12, 2025
- Entrance ticket and tour of the Archeological Museum of Nafplio
- A guided tour of local archeological sites in Nafplio
- Dinner and talk by Anna Stavrakopoulou, PhD ’94, on Greek theatre and the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus Festival
- Ticket to a performance at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
- Group transportation to and from the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus
Sunday, July 13, 2025
- A guided morning tour of the archeological site and museum of Mycenae
- Group transportation to and from the archeological site and museum of Mycenae
- Entrance ticket and tour of the National Gallery of Greece – Nafplio Annex (optional)
- Conversation between Dean Emma Dench and Harvard College Professor Michael Puett on “Gods and Empire in Ancient Rome and Early China,” and a dinner reception at CHS Greece. This event will include members of the Harvard Club of Greece and Harvard students participating in the Harvard Summer School Program in Greece.
Is this trip right for me and my guest(s)?
You can expect a fair amount of walking (at least one mile per day) during many of the touring activities, with some sites involving walking over rough terrain or up a moderately steep slope or stairs. Some activities will involve walking/standing up to two hours, and many aspects of the weekend occur outdoors and are subject to the weather. We expect the weather in Greece in July to be between 86-102 °F (30-39 °C). Whenever possible, the outdoor activities will take place in the morning to avoid the heat of midday. Travelers should be in good overall health and be able to navigate stairs, walk along uneven terrain, and get on and off a tour bus with minimal to no assistance from a travel companion.
The evening at Epidaurus will be late, with the performance running from 9:00 p.m. to midnight and the expected return to Nafplio at approximately 12:30 a.m.
This is a general description of the trip. A detailed itinerary will be sent to all participants later this spring. Additionally, if registrants and guests take part in all activities, free time during the weekend will be limited.
Harvard Griffin GSAS highly recommends the purchase of trip insurance to cover unforeseen trip interruptions, cancellations, lost baggage, and emergency medical assistance and evacuation.
If you have questions about accessibility, please contact us at gsaa@fas.harvard.edu.
Registration Details
Harvard Griffin GSAS Alumni and Guests: $175 USD
Registration is limited to 40 alumni and guests and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. We strongly encourage you to register early to secure a spot as we do expect to reach capacity quickly.
Guests are responsible for their own travel to/from Nafplio, hotel accommodations, meals/snacks not listed above, ground transportation not listed above, and all incidentals.
Alumni are encouraged to book their hotel accommodations as soon as possible. A list of recommended hotels will be sent upon registration.
Speaker Biographies
Emma Dench
Emma Dench was born in York, grew up near Stratford-upon-Avon, and studied at Wadham College, Oxford (BA Hons Literae Humaniores), and at St. Hugh’s College, Oxford (DPhil in Ancient History). Before taking up a joint appointment in the departments of the Classics and of History at Harvard in January 2007, she taught classics and ancient history at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has been a Craven Fellow at the University of Oxford, a Rome Scholar and a Hugh Last Fellow at the British School of Rome, a Cotton Fellow, a Member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and a visiting professor of the Classics and of History at Harvard, and a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellow.
Dench is the author of From Barbarians to New Men: Greek, Roman, and Modern Perceptions of Peoples from the Central Apennines, Romulus’ Asylum: Roman Identities from the Age of Alexander to the Age of Hadrian, and “Imperialism and Culture in the Roman World” for the Cambridge University Press series Key Themes in Ancient History. Other current projects include a study of the retrospective writing of the Roman Republican past in classical antiquity.
While at Harvard, Dench received a Harvard College professorship in recognition of “outstanding contributions to undergraduate teaching, mentoring, and advising,” a Marquand Award for Excellent Advising and Counseling, and an Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award.
Michael Puett
Michael Puett (普鸣) is the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion and the Director of the Harvard University Asia Center. He is also a non-resident long-term fellow for programs in anthropological and historical sciences and the languages and civilizations of East Asia at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala.
Puett joined the Harvard faculty in 1994 after earning his M.A. (1987) and Ph.D. (1994) from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. His interests focus on the inter-relations between religion, anthropology, history, and philosophy. In his research, Puett aims to bring the study of China into larger historical and comparative frameworks. He has published many articles on early Chinese history (c. 1200 B.C. – c. 755 A.D.), and on classical Chinese ritual, social, and political theory.
Puett is the author of The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China (Stanford, 2001) and To Become a God: Cosmology, Sacrifice, and Self-Divinization in Early China (Harvard, 2002), as well as the co-author, with Adam Seligman, Robert Weller, and Bennett Simon, of Ritual and its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity (Oxford, 2008). Puett has received multiple awards for his teaching and advising. In 2013 Puett was one of five named Harvard College Professors in recognition of his dedication to undergraduate education. Since 2012 his General Education course, “Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory,” has been the third most enrolled undergraduate course at Harvard.
Anna Stavrakopoulou
Anna Stavrakopoulou studied philology at the University of Crete and theatre at Université Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle (DEA, Institut d’Etudes Théâtrales) and at Harvard University (PhD, 1994). She taught at New York University, at the University of Bosporus in Istanbul (where she initiated courses on ancient and modern Greek, with the support of the Onassis Foundation) and at Harvard University (1996-1999). She served as deputy executive director of the Onassis Foundation (USA) (1999-2001) and taught as a visiting professor at Yale and the University of Crete (2001-2002). She has been teaching history and theory of theatre at the Drama Department (AUTH) since 2003. Furthermore, she is a founding member and part of the faculty team of the Harvard Summer Program in Greece (which has been in operation from 2002 to the present). She is also a founding member of Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, having served as its associate director (2010-2018) and as a member of its board of directors for several years.
She has received grants from the Greek State Scholarships Foundation, Ilex Foundation, and Bogliasco Foundation. Recently, she served as program director of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (2018-2021). She is currently a member of the International Ibsen Committee (2024-2028). She has published articles and books in Greek and English, on the shadow theater, theater translations and the reception of Ibsen in Greece; she is the author of The Reception of Ibsen in Greece: Gendered Perspectives and Translational Approaches, (Kapa Ekdotiki, Athens 2023) and her more recent coedited volume is Imagined Geographies in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Beyond, edited by Dimitri Kastritsis, Anna Stavrakopoulou and Angus Stewart (Center for Hellenic Studies, Distributed by HUP, 2023).