Yuwei Wei earned her BA in Anthropology from Stony Brook University and is currently pursuing a Master's degree at the University of Iowa. She specializes in Roman art history and archaeology, with a research focus on reconstructing the daily lives of non-elite populations as revealed through material culture.

In addition to her academic studies, she actively participates in field archaeology and prefers working with primary evidence directly recovered from excavation contexts.

Her fieldwork experience includes:

• Nakwaperit – Paleolithic site, Turkana Basin, Kenya
• Yangguanzhai – Yangshao culture site, Xi’an, China
• Chinortepa – Kushan Empire site, Uzun, Uzbekistan
• Angelokastro - Hellenistic Greek site, Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece

Art History Summer Scholar Research Program experience

This summer, thanks to the Summer Award sponsored by the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, I traveled to Italy and conducted research for my graduate qualifying paper. 

My paper discusses the relationship between the design and orientation in decoration within commercial buildings during the Roman Empire and their marketing function. Therefore, during my 22 days in Italy, I spent more than half of my time in Pompeii documenting the food establishments within the city.  

During the remaining time, I visited Paestum, Herculaneum, Campi Flegrei, Minturnae, Ostia, and Lucus Feroniae. These sites also preserve several commercial buildings from the ancient Roman or Greek, providing comparative perspective and reference materials for my studies. 

This summer opportunity provided me with information and details that could not be obtained through written sources alone.