Kim Bowes

Kim Bowes

Fellow: Awarded 2022
Field of Study: Classics

Competition: US & Canada

Kim Bowes is a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her current research addresses the economic histories of Roman working people and the poor. Kim uses archaeological and historical evidence to reveal the lived experience of the 90% – the majority of the ancient population who labored, from small farmers to artisans, enslaved and free. Her work not only seeks to restore the working majority to ancient history, but to reframe economic history around those who worked.

Kim is a field archaeologist and has co-directed projects around the Mediterranean, most recently the Roman Peasant Project in Italy. This project drew together specialists on ancient plants and animals, geology, archaeology and history to reveal the lives of Roman small farmers – their agriculture and housing, diet and trade.

Kim’s work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation. She was the 22nd Director of the American Academy in Rome.

Photo Credit: Kim Bowes

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