Dr. Victoria Austen is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois. She has researched the history of the Spurlock’s plaster cast collection through archival resources; she has also published two articles on the use of digital technologies within the classroom, and is one of the producers for Peopling the Past— a Digital Humanities initiative that hosts free, open-access resources for teaching and learning about the ancient world. As co-PI, she will be leading the development of contextualizing materials, conducting research about interaction with replicas, and engaging with stakeholder communities.  

Dr. Mary Ton is an Assistant Professor and Digital Humanities Librarian at the University of Illinois. She uses 3D printing to recreate nineteenth-century projection equipment to better understand the global history of early screen culture. Her approach to digital cultural heritage curation and engagement with global communities has been shaped by her contributions to Livingstone Online, One More Voice, and Archivo Mesoamericano. As PI, she will overseeing the project, developing 3D replication techniques, designing research studies with stakeholder communities, and managing project files. 

Dr. Elias Petrou is an Assistant Professor and Librarian for Classical, Medieval, and Modern Greek collections at the University of Illinois. His experience in Digital Humanities stems from his long-standing service and contributions to various digital projects, such as the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae. He has worked closely with the Greek Consulate in Chicago and the Greek community to support workshops on the Greek language and classical art, aimed at the Greek diaspora. As co-Principal Investigator (co-PI), he will lead community engagement initiatives, contribute to the development of contextualizing materials, conduct research on interaction with replicas, and develop grant proposals to sustain and expand the project in collaboration with local and international partners.

Christa Deacy-Quinn is the Senior Collections Manager at the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at the University of Illinois, where she leads the care and preservation of the collections. Christa's research and work at the museum focuses  on a people-centered approach in dealing with preventative conservation, integrated pest management, emergency training and preparedness, and redefining the museum field to combat a history of extraction. As part of Parthenon at Illinois, she will be overseeing the digitization of objects at the Spurlock, contributing her expertise in plaster cast making and preservation, and sharing her experience as the caretaker of the cast collection since 1991.