Prof Jeremy Tanner

Research summary

My research incorporates sociological and anthropological approaches to art: development of the concept of expressive symbolism in Parsonian action theory, through synthesis with structuralism, pragmatism (Peirce, Mead) and ethology.  I also explore comparative approaches to ancient, especially Greek and Roman art: variation in processes of institutional and cultural differentiation in artistic systems (Greece, China, India, early modern Europe); comparative religious iconography and comparative approaches to portraiture.  My other research interests span art and archaeology: art as material culture; art and the representation of the past; tourism, heritage and the recycling of the classical past from the Renaissance to today.

Teaching summary

I am Degree Programme Co-ordinator for the Institute's MA Comparative Art and Archaeology

I currently teach courses on:

Greek art and architecture;

Roman art and architecture;

From Alexandria to Pompeii;

Rethinking 'Classical Art': sociological and anthropological approaches;

Art: interpretation and explanation

Education

University of Cambridge

PhD, | 1996

University of Pennsylvania

MA, Sociology | 1990

University of Cambridge

BA, Classical Tripos | 1987

Publications