On 13 October, Riccardo Stigliano attended two lectures at the University of Ottawa by Prof. Greg Woolf, a world-renowned scholar in Roman history and archaeology (Director of the Leon Levy Foundation and Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies at NYU’s ISAW). The first lecture, titled Women in Roman Society, explored how women’s roles and experiences were shaped by the rhythms of community life, from periods of abundance and celebration to times of hardship and uncertainty. The second lecture, Empire and the Gods: How the Romans Lost Control of Their Religion, examined how the strict priestly control over religious life under the Republic broke down into a religious free-for-all under the Empire, allowing foreign gods and new religious movements to spread widely.

On 27 October, Riccardo visited Prof. Woolf at NYU to discuss a passage of Procopius of Caesarea – the subject of his doctoral thesis – connected with a possible reference to the cult of Isis and Osiris in Late Antiquity. There, he benefited from Prof. Woolf’s expertise in Roman Religion and Society to deepen a specific part of his doctoral research, and he also visited and studied in the NYU library.

Furthermore, over the Columbus Day weekend (10–12 October), Riccardo visited Harvard University. He studied in the library and strengthened relationships with colleagues met at the international Summer School in Byzantine Studies in Vienna, saw the classics collection and one of the Gutenberg Bibles on display at Widener Library: Riccardo acted almost as an ambassador for the NeoLatin in the Modern World project, building bridges between Classics, Medieval Studies, and Early Modern Literature in Ancient Languages.