We are delighted to announce that SASA Team Leader Jon Haberstroh has been appointed to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as an Assistant Professor-in Residence in Ancient World History! John has been an integral team member here at SASA and we wish him every success going forward!
John studied a B.A. in History with honors and a Classics minor at CSU Long Beach, before going right into an M.A. in History at CSU Long Beach. He then completed the UCLA Post-Baccalaureate Certificate program in Classics before going on to a Ph.D. in History at UC Riverside. He also spent a year in Greece as a Regular Member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In addition, he has completed his PhD, defending his dissertation successfully. The topic of his dissertation was "Local Panhellenism at the Ancient Greek Sanctuaries of the Northeast Peloponnese".
His research interests for the last decade have been on Panhellenism and ancient Greek identities. John’s dissertation focused on the sanctuaries of the northeast Peloponnese from a local perspective as a case study in problematizing the Panhellenic narrative that is so often used to describe these sites.
John is an avid researcher with much to take pride in - in particular, there are a few sections from various chapters of his dissertation that he hopes turn into journal articles at some point. One idea in particular from his introductory chapter on the history of the idea of Panhellenism aims to demonstrate the modern origins of Panhellenism and its connection to romanticized notions of modern nationalism. John is dedicated to reminding his audience that all modern scholarship is influenced by our times and biases, and thus reinforcing the need to be critical of the terms which we use to describe the ancient past to check our own biases.
As a professional, John is strongly geared toward teaching and increasing accessibility to ancient history. Since the early days of SASA, he has been the Access Team leader; this team creates various databases and materials to help the public engage in ancient studies. All these materials will be freely available when completed. John also led the very first SASA reading group in 2020, and has been a key fixture in them ever since. John has described the experience as “so rewarding” and enjoys the ability to “interact with so many great people from around the world in these groups”.
Going forward, John’s mission is to have his students learn about the ancient world and mature as critically-thinking individuals who care about the diverse world in which they live. The educational and outreach mission of SASA goes hand-in-hand with my professional objectives of making ancient history accessible and meaningful to everyone.
When asked how SASA had positively impacted his career, John noted that his “involvement with SASA has grown my personal and professional networks in ways that have sparked collaborations and encouraged me to keep going forward. With my new position at UNLV, I hope to bring SASA to the Las Vegas Valley and inspire new generations of historians and lovers of Ancient Studies.”
Congratulations again to John and all the positive wishes for the future. We thank John for his continued aid in propelling SASA to new heights!