E.J.J. Roels (Evelien) MA
Onderzoeker - Oude en Middeleeuwse Geschiedenis
Onderzoeker - Radboud Institute for Culture and History
Erasmusplein 1
6525 HT NIJMEGEN
Postbus 9103
6500 HD NIJMEGEN
I’m a postdoctoral researcher in ancient Greek history, focusing on epigraphic and civic cultures in Greece and Asia Minor. Trained in the fields of both classical philology (University of Amsterdam, Durham University, 2008-12) and ancient history (Universität Heidelberg, 2013-5), my research is driven by an interest in the role of texts within ancient cultures, ancient cities and cityscapes, and cultural history.
In my dissertation written as a member of the SFB 933 Materiale Textkulturen at Heidelberg (2015-9), I have studied the epigraphic culture of Hellenistic and Imperial Asia Minor, focusing on epigraphic collections inscribed on the walls of public buildings such as temples. My main concern is to define what I call 'epigraphic thought': the shared ideas, values, and beliefs underlying the creation of publicly inscribed texts. The results of my dissertation project will be published at Steiner Verlag within the HABES series: The Writing on the Wall. Aspects of Epigraphic Culture in Hellenistic Asia Minor.
After finishing my PhD and before coming to the Radboud, I worked as a strategist and futurist for the local government in the Netherlands (2019-24). As a strategist, I contributed to developing and implementing long-term thinking within the organization, applying the tools of scenario planning and system thinking to prepare the organization for the future. If you think that working with the future is a strange career move for a classicist, just think about the uncertainty surrounding both the future and the ancient past, the scarcity of sources, and the often-contradictory information at the disposal of the investigator. Exactly.
At the Radboud, I will continue my interest in local communities, but then for the period of antiquity. My postdoc project, part of the research agenda of Anchoring Innovation and funded by the NWO, explores how religious change was anchored through acts of local place-making in Asia Minor and North Africa during Late Antiquity.