Deanna Kiser-Go studied anthropology and ancient history at the University of Vermont, before spending several years as a contract archaeologist. She received her PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006—having specialized in Egyptian art and archaeology. After teaching Egyptian history at the University of Michigan, she returned to Berkeley to conduct various courses on ancient Egyptian civilization before accepting a lecturer position at the University of California, Los Angeles. Deanna has worked in Egypt on several occasions, including carrying out the fieldwork in private tombs that resulted in her dissertation on the iconography and style of Post-Amarna period art. From 2015-2025 she was employed in the (renamed) Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley as its staff adviser of MA and PhD students. She is delighted to return to teaching as a Lecturer in Egyptology, for courses on ancient Egyptian art, archaeology, and history.
Her research interests broadly include ancient art and artists, Mesopotamian archaeology, and cross-cultural contact in the ancient Mediterranean world. She is the co-editor with professor emeritus Carol A Redmount of a memorial volume for their colleague titled Weseretkau “Mighty of Kas”: Papers Submitted in Memory of Cathleen A. Keller (2023) and a case study in Clever Minds and Expert Hands. Egyptian Art and Artists in the New Kingdom (eds Gema Menéndez et al, 2025) that identifies the traits of individual artists.
