Research Interests
- Archaeology of Ancient Religion, Religious Convergence, and Syncretism
- Ancient Sicily: Greek and Punic Settlement
- Borderlands, Entanglement, Ethnicity
- Ancient Mobility and Contact
- Cultural Heritage: Ethics and Preservation
Education
BA, Italian and Art History, University of Washington
MA, Art History, University of Arizona
Bio
Mara McNiff came to the University of Texas in 2019 after receiving her BA in Italian Literature and Art History from the University of Washington and her MA in the study of Ancient Art and Archaeology from the University of Arizona. Mara has fostered her interest in the archaeology of ancient Mediterranean religion through excavations at the Catacombs of St. Lucy (2014 and 2015) and Selinunte (2022) in Sicily, as well as the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion (2018) and Ancient Corinth (2022 and 2023) in Greece.
During the 2021–2022 academic year, Mara participated in the Regular Member program at the American School of Classical Studied in Athens as a recipient of the John Williams White Fellowship. During the 2022–2023 academic year, Mara conducted research in Sicily and Greece as an associate member of the American School and recipient of the UT Graduate Continuing Fellowship. This year, Mara holds an assistant instructor position at UT, teaching a survey of art from the Renaissance to (Post) Modern periods.
Mara’s dissertation reconstructs the religious development and convergence between Greek and Punic settlements in Western Sicily between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE. Her dissertation is titled: “A Tale of Two Borderlands: Religious Development and Identity Negotiation Between Selinus and Motya”.