Paula Kay Lazrus

Paula Kay Lazrus is an archaeologist and native New Yorker who has been teaching Discover New York, history and Scientific Inquiry for a number of years. Her research interests range from the protection and conservation of antiquities to changing land-use patterns in Italy, where she has worked professionally for the last thirty years, and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software as a tool for better visualizing and understanding the past. This has lead her to experiment with visualizing historical census and map data for her DNY classes which help illuminate the cities physical and cultural changes over the years.

Dr. Lazrus has excavated and conducted field surveys in Rome, Sardinia, and southern Calabria, and she has written about the problems concerning the international trafficking in antiquities, and on settlement and land-use issues in ancient Italy. She is also very involved in the exciting and stimulating world of the Reacting to the Pastpedagogy which gives students a challenging way to take command of their studies through intense role playing activities organized around pivotal events in history and the documents and literature that surround them.

Dr. Lazrus has presented much of her work at professional conferences including that focusing on GIS and her work on the impact of Reacting to the Past pedagogy. She is currently vice president and president elect of the local New York Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and has been the chair of the Committee on Ethics for the Society for American Archaeology.