Emily Wilson Named Honors Professor of the Year

October 2024

By Josh Zaffos

Anthropology Senior Instructor and Honors Professor Emily Wilson.

Emily Wilson, Ph.D., Anthropology Senior Instructor, has been named CSU Honors Professor of the Year for the 2024-25 academic year. As part of the recognition, Wilson will give the Honors Professor Lecture on Monday, November 4, 7-8 p.m., in the Lory Student Center Theatre on the topic, “Racism, Authoritarianism, and Whitewashing the Ancient Mediterranean World: How the Greeks and Romans Impact White Supremacy and How You Can Fight It.”

“The award means a ton since it is both student nominated and student chosen,” Wilson said. “I’ve had the great good fortune to teach a bunch of fun, engaged and engaging, and interested students over the years and it seems like the feeling is mostly mutual, which is extraordinarily gratifying, especially since most of the students are not Anthropology or History majors.”

Excelling on Campus, Online, and Abroad

Wilson teaches online sections of several Anthropology courses with a focus on classical archaeology and cultures. Wilson has also developed and co-leads several study-abroad classes, with Kristin Heineman of the Department of History, that bring students to Hadrian’s Wall in northern England and Pompeii in Italy to study at ancient archaeological sites before continuing coursework online.

“Being able to walk through the ruins of ancient Rome while learning about the history from an incredibly knowledgeable professor was just an amazing experience,” said Sydney Heller, ANTH: Biological BA 2026 and an Honors student, from Charleston, S.C. who has taken Wilson’s Honors seminar and study-abroad course on Pompeii and other courses.

Class group sitting on stone steps of an ancient Roman coliseum in Italy — Students and instructors in the study-abroad class, Pompeii in Italy: Life and Death of a Roman City, sitting on the stone steps of an ancient Roman coliseum in Italy during Winter 2024. (Image: Tianna Weiland)

As an Honors Professor, Wilson teaches two popular freshman seminars. A course on Pompeii explores every facet of the city from the eruption to how people buried their dead to how they seasoned their food – “Hint: fermented fish sauce,” said Wilson – to the gods they worshipped. Her other Honors seminar, Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll in the Ancient Mediterranean World, explores those three topics via case studies from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, while comparing our contemporary perceptions and relationships.

“One of my main goals as a professor is to bring the ancient world alive for the students and show them just how darned cool it was!” Wilson said, “And to do this by getting a bit unconventional.”

In the Pompeii Honors seminar, she has students sacrifice a prized possession emulating a Roman ritual to appease the gods. For her online Archaeology of Ancient Roman Food (ANTH 356), students try to bake Panis Quadratus, an ancient Roman bread.

“One thing that I love about Dr. Wilson’s teaching style is that she brings the content to you and has you immerse yourself in it, which is an amazing way to learn,” Heller said. “When we’re learning about symposia, we recreate the environment with snacks and poetry, and when learning about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, we watch a video re-creation of the events.

“Dr. Wilson is an amazing mentor as well,” Heller continued, “and always willing to help out her students.”