January 8-11, 2009, 140th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia


updated 5 August 2009


Final full program


Abstracts for the 2009 Annual Meeting


Podcasting and the Classics, a site organized for the special panel at the Annual Meeting


NEW: Pictures from the APA production of Thersites


Online Conference Registration: APA and AIA have extended the advance registration deadline to Friday, December 26, 2008. To avoid long lines on site in Philadelphia, preregister at http://www.accureg.com/aip09/regprod.html by December 26.


Housing Reservations: The main room block at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown has sold out; however, sleeping rooms are still available at the Loews Hotel, the official overflow hotel for the Annual Meeting, located just across the street from the Marriott. Special discounted hotel rates are valid for hotel reservations from January 2, 2009 through January 15, 2009 (based on availability) as follows:

  • SINGLE (one person): $124 per night
  • DOUBLE (two persons): $149 per night
  • TRIPLE (three persons): $174 per night
  • QUADRUPLE (four persons): $199 per night
  • To make a reservation at the Loews, either call 215-627-1200 or go to http://www.loewshotels.com/ and follow these instructions:
    • At the bottom left of reservations screen, select "Philadelphia" as your destination and enter your arrival and departure dates, number of rooms, and number of guests
    • click on the "More Search Options" link
    • Under "Partner Options" choose Group
    • Enter the group code: AIA051

Information on the program from the insert in the August 2008 Newsletter


The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau has created a microsite specifically for attendees of the 2009 APA Annual Meeting


The Annual Meeting Tours are now available for registration! Sign up today at: http://www.toursignup.com/AIA.


In addition to the tours listed below the Philadelphia Local Planning Committee of the AIA will offer exclusive Archaeological Tours in Philadelphia. AIA and APA members are welcome to attend. These tours will take place on:

  • Thursday, January 8, 2008 with an end time on or before 4:00p.m.
  • Saturday, January 10, 2008 with an end time on or before 4:00p.m.
  • Sunday, January 11, 2008 after 1:30p.m.

Complete tour information and pricing will be available online by November 14, 2008. Please visit us again soon!


The Tours currently scheduled and available for sign-up include:

  • The Philadelphia Story
    Thursday, January 8th - 12:30P - 3:30P
    The most comprehensive full-city tour, The Philadelphia Story, is a fully guided tour via deluxe transportation through four centuries of art, architecture and Philadelphia's growth to the 2nd largest city on the east coast.
    Get to know Philadelphia... 1776 to today!

  • Centuries of Beauty: A Cultural Philadelphia Experience
    Friday, January 9th - 9:30A - 1:30P
    This tour takes you on a journey through Philadelphia's cultural treasures. Board a deluxe transportation for a tour of outdoor sculpture, murals and architecture that make Philadelphia a cultural beauty including the Rodin Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

  • Taste of Philadelphia Markets Tour
    Friday, January 9th - 12:30P - 3:30P
    A Taste of Philadelphia will enchant and delight everyone as they sample their way through Philadelphia's food markets. This 3 hour fully-guided tour will include both deluxe transportation and walking - where guests can see and smell the colors and aromas of the markets.

  • Tippler's Tour of Pubs
    Saturday, January 10th - 6:30P - 9:00P
    Guests will board the deluxe transportation for an evening that is one part history, two parts fun! The group will wind their way through the streets of Old City enjoying drinks and a little sip of history at Colonial and modern day watering holes (a.k.a. taverns!). The tour's Colonial guide will share stories of tavern life in Colonial Philadelphia and introduce some traditional drinks from the period.
    Includes: Deluxe transportation and professionally trained tour guide. Price includes alcohol sampling.
    Significant walking; wear comfortable shoes. All-weather tour.

  • Treasures of the Barnes Foundation
    Sunday, January 11th - 9:00A - 2:00P includes lunch
    Deluxe transportation will take guests to the world-renowned Barnes Foundation. Established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to "promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts," and located in a twelve-acre arboretum, the Foundation is home to one of the world's largest collections of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early Modern paintings, with extensive holdings by Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Renoir and Modigliani.

  • AIA Local Planning Committee
    Archaeology into Architecture: Philadelphia Walking Tour
    Saturday, January 10, 10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
    Warm weather dress and walking shoes are encouraged.
    Cost: $ 30.00 per person (to register for this tour please email Andri Magdalena Cauldwell, AIA Conference & Meetings Manager). Limit: 20 people

The city of Philadelphia possesses some of the finest examples of American architecture. In spite of its modest Quaker origins, William Penn's City of Brotherly Love grew into a worldly metropolis with a deep understanding of European cultural legacy. Our tour guided by Kostis Kourelis will track archaeology's influence on architectural design from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Moving east to west, from Third to Broad Streets, we will study the development of styles (Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic, Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Modern, and Postmodern) with particular attention to the archaeological prototypes that influenced them. We will also discuss the archaeological history of Philadelphia itself, the creation of Independence National Historical Park in the 1950s and the National Constitution Center in the 2000s.


The guide for this tour is Kostis Kourelis, an archaeologist and architectural historian specializing in the medieval Mediterranean. Trained as an architect, Dr. Kourelis has a particular interest in the relationship between archaeology and architectural design during the 19th and 20th centuries. His fieldwork on domestic architecture and urbanism spans across Greece, Italy, Tunisia, and Ukraine. Articles on the Grand Tour, on Modernism's discovery of Byzantium, on the filmic representations of medieval architecture, and on the archaeology of global migration represent theoretical preoccupations that supplement Kourelis' archaeological positivism. Dr. Kourelis received his Ph.D. from the graduate group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World at the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at Clemson University, Swarthmore College, Arcadia University, SUNY New Paltz, and he is currently visiting Assistant Professor at Connecticut College.



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