S. Thomas Parker
Professor
Ph.D., University of California, LA 1979
477 Withers Hall
Phone: 919-513-2223
Email: thomas_parker@ncsu.edu
FALL 09 OFFICE HOURS:
T 12:00-1:30, H 1:00-1:30
T-H 4:30-5:00 & by appointment
Research
Ancient Rome, Roman Aqaba Project (archaeology)
Personal Introduction
Professor Parker received his Ph.D. in history in 1979 from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has been a professor of history at NCSU since 1980. He has served on various archaeological expeditions in the Middle East since 1971. From 1979 to 1989 he directed the Limes Arabicus Project, which investigated the Roman frontier east of the Dead Sea. Since 1994 he has directed the Roman Aqaba Project, the excavation of a Roman port on the Red Sea in southern Jordan.
He has received many research grants and fellowships, including awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Geographic Society, and the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. His major publications include Romans and Saracens: A History of the Arabian Frontier (1986) and, as editor, The Roman Frontier in Central Jordan: Interim Report on the Limes Arabicus Project, 1980-1985 (1987). The final report on the Limes Arabicus Project is now in press at Dumbarton Oaks. He served as a coeditor of The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000). He has also published more than 100 articles and reviews. Since 1987 he has served as a trustee of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan and is now Second Vice President of the Board of Trustees.
His goal in teaching is to stress to students that "We are what we were", i.e. that today's world is the product of a long historical process. In teaching the ancient history of the western world, he underscores the fact that the economic, social, and political systems, as well as the values, philosophies, and religions practiced today all have their roots in ancient history. Such fundamentally important elements of our culture, such as all three of the world's great monotheistic religions, artistic traditions, language and literacy, and even the Western concept of democracy all derive from the ancient world. In 2003 he received the Lonnie and Carol Poole Award for Excellence in Teaching from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
