Profile

Brian Smith has a bachelor's degree in anthropology and archaeology from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and has excavated in India, Thailand, and Egypt where he worked with the joint University of Pennsylvania/Yale/Institute of Fine Arts, New York. Brian received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, and concluded at the University of Chicago in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the Oriental Institute with a Master’s degree in Egyptology.

He teaches courses in ancient Nilotic cultures, Near Eastern Civilizations, and ancient social history at the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies. He is also currently teaching “The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Nubia” at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California through virtual platforms.

His interests are in socio-economic interpretations of material culture (particularly ceramics), art historical styles (painting, sculpture, architecture), and religious ideology as reflected in the behavioral systems observed in the archaeological record. Along with his husband, he also has two cats, Tigris and Euphrates.