Dr. Anna Boshnakova is a Professor of Anthropology at Sheridan College, where she teaches cultural and applied anthropology, anthropology of music, posthuman culture, visual narratives, visual culture, and creative studies within the Degree Breadth and General Education curriculum. Since joining Sheridan in 2009, she has developed and taught interdisciplinary courses that explore the intersections of culture, creativity, visual communication, music, philosophy, emerging technologies, and posthuman futures.

Dr. Boshnakova holds a Ph.D. in History of Philosophy with specialization in Anthropology of Antiquity (summa cum laude), an M.A. in Socio-Cultural Anthropology, and a B.A. in Cultural Studies. Prior to joining Sheridan, she served as Lecturer in the Department of History of Philosophy at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Senior Expert and Curator at the National Museum of History in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Visiting Researcher at the Universities of Heidelberg and Halle in Germany.

Her research is internationally recognized for its innovative interdisciplinary approach to reconstructing past cultural realities through the study of ethnographic collections, music-related archaeological artifacts, historical and epigraphic evidence, and visual narratives. Her areas of expertise include the anthropology of creativity, theory and history of culture, visual and material culture, philosophy of music, biomusicology, music archaeology, and posthuman studies.

Dr. Boshnakova’s scholarship focuses particularly on ancient Greek music culture, musical literacy, and the visual representation of sound and musical knowledge. Her recent research investigates how Attic vase painters encoded musical meaning through imagery, inscriptions, and representations of musical papyri. Among her scientific contributions is the identification of narrow horizontal bookrolls depicted in musical contexts as musical papyri associated with professional musicians and musical literacy. Her groundbreaking study, Attic Vases with Implied Melodies (Music in Art, 2024), proposes the first detailed classification of Attic vases containing visually implied melodies and argues that so-called “nonsense” inscriptions associated with musicians may represent non-linguistic systems connected to musical notation and performance traditions.

Her current interdisciplinary research explores the intersection between innovation in ancient cultures and the modern world. By connecting archaeology, anthropology, visual culture, music, creativity, and emerging technologies, Dr. Boshnakova examines how past systems of knowledge, artistic experimentation, communication, and cultural imagination continue to shape contemporary discussions surrounding innovation, artificial intelligence, digital culture, and posthuman futures.

Her scientific research is documented in two monographs, numerous scholarly articles, and textbook chapters published in the fields of anthropology, visual culture, music archaeology, and classical studies.

In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Boshnakova has participated in international conferences and scholarly collaborations in the fields of music archaeology, classical studies, anthropology, visual culture, and posthuman studies. She is a long-standing member of the International Study Group on Music Archaeology (ISGMA), MOISA – International Society for the Study of Greek and Roman Music and its Cultural Heritage, and the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS).

Selected Bibliography

Boshnakova A. 2024. "Attic Vases with Implied Melodies ", in: Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography, XLIX/1-2, 2024, Research Center for Music Iconography, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, pp. 37–86. 

http://www.musiciconography.org/parent-page/music-in-art-international-journal-for-music-iconography-xlix-2024/

Boshnakova, A. 2020. Experiencing Culture. In: J. Pulis and P. Angelini (Eds.), Social and Behavioural Sciences: Exploring Human Behavior and the Environment, TOPHAT.

Boshnakova, A. and J. Ginter. 2020. Introduction to Anthropology. In: J. Pulis and P. Angelini (Eds.), Social and Behavioural Sciences: Exploring Human Behavior and the Environment, TOPHAT, pp. 3-55.

Boshnakova, A. 2017. “Anthropological Analysis of 'Musical Records' on Late Archaic and Classical Vase Paintings”. In: R. Eichmann, L. Koch, Fang Jianjun (Hrsg.), Studien zur Musikarchäologie X, pp. 247 – 250.

Boshnakova, A. 2009. The World of Ancient Man: Ancient Greece. Prosveta: Sofia.

Boshnakova, A. 2008. "Reading Ancient Greek Music in Documents, Images, and Artifacts: On the Practical Application of Musical Archeology" In E. Hickmann, R. Eichmann, L. Koch, and A. Both (Hrsg.) Studien zur Musikarchäologie VII, pp. 337 – 345.

Boshnakova, A. 2007. "Hermeneutics of the Archaeological Artifact: Destruction and Reconstruction of the Lost Meaning" In K. Boshnakov (Ed.) Jubilaeus VI: The Ancient Heritage of the Black Sea, pp. 51-102.

Boshnakova, A. 2006. "Bittgesang für Apollo", Abenteuer Archäologie 3, pp. 32-33.

Boshnakova, A. 2005. "From the Visible to the Invisible – Musical Metaphysics from the 6th and 5th Centuries B.C." In: E. Hickmann, R. Eichmann (Hrshg.) Studien zur Musikarchäologie IV, (Orient-Archäologie 15), pp. 35-48.

Boshnakova, A. 2003. Aulos and Lyra: The Philosophy of Music in Ancient Hellas (Diss.). Publ. Comp. LIK: Sofia.