Pharoah subject of lecture

The recent creation of the College of Humanities sparked the desire to showcase speakers  by offering an annual series sponsored by Paxton and Carolyn Howard.

Dr. Derek Davis, dean of the college, said, “You learn a lot in the traditional classroom setting, but lectures like this one are opportunities to learn more in a specialized area.”

On April 2, the university welcomed Dr. Karl Kilinski II, a professional archeologist and art history professor at Southern Methodist University.  He delivered a lecture titled “Was Pharaoh a Fool?” in which he examined Akhenaten, monotheism and the Armana period of Egypt. 

Davis said “(Kilinski) has a nice way of blending a lot of different things into lectures,” including religion, Egyptian history and culture, Greek history and culture and Greek religion. 

Paxton Howard brought Kilinski’s name to the top of the list when discussing possible speakers for the lecture.  Davis could not dispute the type of academic and worldly information Kilinski could present to the UMHB audience.

"This is a person who is a very accomplished scholar who has written many books. . . . He is an expert in the field,” Davis said, describing the lecture as a great opportunity to learn.

Kilinski came to the university with several degrees and experience under his belt.  He began a lifelong educational journey when first completing his undergraduate degree in anthropology from Indiana University and his M.A and Ph.D in classical art history and archaeology from the University of Missouri. 

He then took his thirst for learning to Athens, Greece, where he received additional schooling at the American School of Classical Studies. 

The international experience didn’t end there. He won research fellowships in Greece and England and served as a visiting professor at Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan, and DIS-University of Copenhagen. 

After devoting years to gaining education, experience and expertise, he began giving public lectures at museums and universities across Europe, Canada and the United States. 

Kilinski explained his passion for world travel combined with education by saying, “It’s a lot different when you’re standing, looking at the pyramids in Egypt rather than seeing slides of them.”

With this theory in mind, 30 years ago he created an educational touring business called Mediterranean Tours and Travel. He takes anyone interested in traveling internationally to learn about different cultures first hand. 

The business has taken tours to Greece, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt, Jordan, India, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Russia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Stamps on his passport are not all Kilinski collects. Several awards, honors and publications are also an his list of accomplishments. 

His scholarly articles have been printed in 14 different journals and he has authored several monographs.

Just at SMU alone, Kilinski has received five various awards and honors along with his current membership in the SMU Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

He said as a teacher that  he strives to be a good educator, and receiving the award brought him feelings of honor and fulfillment as he has made it his life’s goal to educate and inform.