Researcher in Philosophy, Archaeology & Anthropology
Antonis works on philosophy and especially where it intersects archaeology and anthropology. He holds an HBSc in Forensic Anthropology from the University of Toronto, an MPhil in Human Evolutionary Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a DPhil in Archaeology from the University of Oxford. His doctoral dissertation set out to account for the prehistoric origins of the human mind, arguably one of the most remarkable products of evolution on this planet. As he sees it, prehistoric material culture was not so much a product as a scaffold for the development of symbolism, aesthetics, and selfhood. The monograph stemming from this research was published in the Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics under the title Early Body Ornaments and the Origins of Our Semiotic Mind.
Following his studies, Antonis worked as a postdoctoral research fellow on project HANDMADE, an Oxford-based study on the creative variety of gesture as we find it in pottery-making. As part of the project’s team, he had the chance to interview and film potters and ceramicists all across mainland Greece and the islands. Part of his research is therefore concerned with the ways in which gestures of making relate to novelty. In this regard, the serendipitous relationship between chance and wisdom is of particular interest to him.
Most recently, Antonis has been studying the philosophical ties between Deleuze and Peirce, while also teaching a variety of philosophy courses at Emory University, such as logic, epistemology, metaphysics, pragmatism, and bioethics. He believes that making the material relevant to the students’ own lives helps them flourish, effectively setting the stage for a better future.
