Educational Background
Ph.D., Boston University, Archaeology
M.A., Bryn Mawr College, Anthropology
B.A., University of Pennsylvania, Anthropology
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 Past pedagogy 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.