Colleen Darnell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Colleen Darnell
Born
Colleen Marie Manassa

(1980-07-26) July 26, 1980 (age 43)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.[citation needed]
SpouseJohn Coleman Darnell
Academic background
EducationYale University (BA, MA, PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineEgyptologist
Sub-discipline
InstitutionsYale University
University of Hartford
Instagram information
Page
Years active2017–present
Followers227,000
(2022)

Colleen Darnell (/dɑːrˈnɛl/; born Colleen Marie Manassa; born July 26, 1980)[1][2][3] is an American Egyptologist, whose expertise includes Late Period uses of the Underworld Books, ancient Egyptian military history, the literature of New Kingdom Egypt, and Egyptian revival history.

Her research in Egyptian military history has led to the first recreation of the tactics of the Battle of Perire, c. 1208 BCE and one source says that her study The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah "replaces all other earlier studies of the key historical narratives relating Merneptah's war against the Libyans."[4] Her research on pharaoh Tutankhamun's military actions contributed to Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest in Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty (co-authored with John Coleman Darnell) and was featured in the historical section of the 2010 documentary "King Tut Unwrapped."[5]

In Egypt, she has made several archaeological discoveries as the director of the Moalla Survey Project, an ongoing archaeological project.[6]

Biography[edit]

Colleen Manassa studied for her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at Yale, gaining her B.A. in 2001 and Ph.D. 2005. In 2006 she joined the faculty as an assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies. She was promoted to associate professor in 2010.[7]

In January 2013, a scandal broke that Colleen Manassa and fellow professor John Darnell had been carrying out a long-running affair. Within the small Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) department, they were the only two faculty members in the even-smaller Egyptology program.[8] "Four individuals with close ties to the department" claimed the relationship was common knowledge within the department,[9] and Assyriology professor Benjamin Foster reported "the basic situation has been known for a very long time."[10] In divorce documents filed by Darnell's wife Deborah Darnell on November 5, 2012, she asserted that the affair began in 2000 when Manassa was an undergraduate student under Darnell's direct supervision.[3] On January 8, 2013, John Darnell admitted to the affair with his student and accepted a one-year suspension without pay.[11][12] Darnell also admitted to "participating in the review" of Manassa's hiring and attempting to cover up his multiple policy violations.[10] In August 2013 the university prohibited Darnell from holding an administrative position until 2023, and Manassa until 2018.[8][13]

She taught art history at the University of Hartford; she was listed as visiting professor there as early as 2015.[citation needed] She now teaches Art History at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Connecticut.[14]

Now married, John and Colleen live in Durham, Connecticut.

Egyptology[edit]

Archaeological work[edit]

In 2008, Darnell created the Moalla Survey Project, an archaeological survey expedition in Egypt (under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities) that has discovered several important new sites on the east bank of the Nile approximately 45 km south of Luxor, ranging in date from the late Predynastic period through the late Roman period.[6] In 2010, she discovered an extensive late Roman settlement with over a hundred distinct structures. Within the necropolis of Moalla, the Moalla Survey Project also discovered a Nubian Pan Grave cemetery (c. 1600 BCE).[15] In 2010, Darnell presented the first identification of Nubian (Pan Grave) pottery manufactured at the site of Umm Mawagir in Kharga Oasis.[16]

Museum work[edit]

As curator of the exhibition "Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs," Darnell assembled nearly one hundred objects ranging from ancient Egyptian objects to pieces that span two millennia of fascination with ancient Egypt.[17] Critics described the exhibition as “an ambitious... landmark exhibition”[18] with “careful curation."[19] The exhibition was accompanied by print catalog and online catalogs,[20] and included a driving tour of Connecticut Egyptian revival buildings.[21]

Vintage fashion[edit]

Darnell, as well as her husband, are known for their choice of clothes, remarked upon as early as 2007.[22] She has been interviewed by Racked,[23] the historical fashion podcast Dressed: The History of Fashion,[24] and Egypt Today.[25]

In 2017, Darnell launched an Instagram account with the username 'Vintage Egyptologist'. With few Egyptian workers appearing in the pictures, the account was critiqued by fellow Egyptologists for being "scholars who know these problematic histories choose to engage in the aesthetics of colonialism."[26]

Books[edit]

  • Darnell, John; Darnell, Colleen (2022). Egypt's Golden Couple: When Akhenaten and Nefertiti Were Gods on Earth. St. Martin's Publishing Group. ISBN 9781250272874.

References[edit]

  1. ^ @pastpreservers (July 26, 2017). "Wishing Egyptologist Dr Colleen Darnell a Happy Birthday!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Colleen M Manassa". Radaris.
  3. ^ a b Bass, Carole (January 17, 2013). "New details in Darnell suspension". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022.
  4. ^ Spalinger, Anthony (2005). War in Ancient Egypt. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford. p. 245.
  5. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (February 19, 2010). "Television Review | 'King Tut Unwrapped' CSI: Egypt, Complete With DNA Tests of Mummies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on Feb 24, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Yale Egyptological Institute in Egypt: Mo'alla Survey Project". Yale.edu. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  7. ^ "Colleen Manassa". Yale University, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations. Archived from the original on May 6, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Bass, Carole (August 28, 2013). "Scandal brings new punishments for Egyptology program". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Narea, Nicole; Zorthian, Julia (Jan 14, 2013). "Darnell suspended following affair with fellow professor, former student". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on April 25, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Bass, Carole (March–April 2013). "Professor suspended over affair with student". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022.
  11. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (February 1, 2013). "Yale staffer reported Darnell relationship". Yale Alumni Magazine. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022.
  12. ^ Lalwani, Nikita; Zorthian, Julia (Jan 10, 2013). "Darnell resigns as dept chair following relationship with student". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013.
  13. ^ Zorthian, Julia (Aug 28, 2013). "Egyptology program in hot water". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017.
  14. ^ "Colleen Manassa Darnell". Academia.edu.
  15. ^ Naser, C. (2012). Nomads at the Nile: Towards an Archaeology of Interaction, in H Barnard and K. Duistermaat (eds), The History of the Peoples of the Eastern Desert. Los Angeles.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. ^ Fortner-Muller, Irene, Pamela Rose. 1 Nubian Pottery from Egyptian Cultural Contexts of the Middle and Early New Kingdom Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Cairo, 1–12 December 2010. Vienna.
  17. ^ "Echoes of Egypt: Conjuring the Land of the Pharaohs". Yale Peabody Museum. 2013-04-13. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013.
  18. ^ Boros, Phyllis A.S. (April 4, 2013). "'Echoes' may resonate with just about everyone". Connecticut Post. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013.
  19. ^ Dohertyddoherty, Donna (2013-04-14). "Peabody Museum at Yale explores the 'Land of the Pharaohs'". New Haven Register. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016.
  20. ^ "Echoes of Egypt". Yale Peabody Museum. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  21. ^ "Walking and Driving Tour | Echoes of Egypt". Yale Peabody Museum. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
  22. ^ Killingsworth, Catherine (Dec 7, 2007). "Profile – Man, Myth, or Legend?". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on September 29, 2017.
  23. ^ This Egyptologist Wears Vintage Every Day | Dress The Part. Racked. Nov 29, 2017 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Cassidy Zachary and April Calahan (Sep 4, 2018). "Dress Like an Egyptian, an interview with Egyptologist Dr. Colleen Darnell". Dressed: The History of Fashion (Podcast).
  25. ^ Fathy, Maria (19 Nov 2018). "Lost In Time". Egypt Today. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018.
  26. ^ Blouin, Katherine; Hanna, Monica; Bond, Sarah E. (22 October 2020). "How Academics, Egyptologists, and Even Melania Trump Benefit From Colonialist Cosplay". Hyperallergic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colleen_Darnell&oldid=1217015511"