Danielle Vander Horst M.A. ’19 fell hard for face pots, a type of ancient pottery found throughout the former Roman empire, when she first encountered them in a Cornell course. 

Credit: Provided

“They’re normal looking pots that some potter decided to slap a little anthropomorphic face onto,” said Vander Horst, undergraduate and graduate coordinator in the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I got one look at them and I thought, ‘these are awesome.’ They are so evocative and so unique.”

Romano-British face pots were the topic of her master’s thesis in the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies, and this year, Vander Horst published a chapter on them in the Archaeological Institute of America's annual peer-reviewed book series that expands on her thesis. In "Containing Yourself: Romano-British Face Pots as Proxy for Body and Self," Vander Horst argues that face pots in Britain reflect pre-Roman ideas about the body and human agency. 

Supported by her master’s thesis advisor Annetta Alexandridis, associate professor of history of art and visual studies (A&S), Vander Horst will begin a Cornell Ph.D. program in fall 2025 through the Employee Degree Program.

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.