Department of Classical Studies

Department of Classical Studies

Our department strives to sustain an engaging environment that welcomes students from all backgrounds into the study of languages, material cultures, histories, and receptions of the ancient Mediterranean world with special emphasis on ancient Greek and Latin. In the department, students can explore the stories, experiences, identities, institutions, and thoughts of ancient Mediterranean people through an interdisciplinary mixture of art, archaeology, architecture, gender studies, history, language, linguistics, literary analysis, and mythology.

Our students engage in research on all aspects of antiquity with special opportunities to work in our archaeology lab or Ancient World Gallery, to study abroad, and to participate in interdepartmental projects. Graduates take their intellectual independence, cross-cultural awareness, and analytic skills out into the world for success in areas from academic graduate school to teaching, law, medicine, business, information technology and many others.

Major & MinorCourses

Ancient World Gallery

Ancient World Gallery

A teaching collection in the Department of Classical Studies, the Ancient World Gallery is a space for learning about and being inspired by the art and material culture of the ancient Mediterranean world.

First opened in North Court in 1979 by Classics professor Stuart Wheeler, the gallery houses antiquities that had been collected for the museum of Richmond College at the end of the 19th century, including the mummified remains and coffin of an Egyptian woman named Ti Ameny Net.

Filled with artifacts of ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Near Eastern cultures, the gallery invites visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the ancient Mediterranean world.

4th Floor, Humanities Building

Hours: 
During academic sessions: Mon-Fri: 10 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1:30-4:30 p.m.
or by appointment.

Closed during summer and winter breaks. 

Wheeler Lecture with Kara Cooney

13th Annual Stuart L. Wheeler Lecture

"When Women Ruled the World"

THURSDAY, MARCH 28

Open House 4-4:45 p.m. | Humanities Building 419, Ancient World Gallery

Lecture 5 p.m. | Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall

Presented by Kara Cooney, Professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA and Egytologist

A woman’s power in the ancient world (and perhaps even today) was always compromised from the outset, and this lecture will address the root causes of this social inequality. Given this social reality in the ancient world, how then did women negotiate their limited leadership roles? Were they able to rule “behind the throne” so to speak? How are we to find a woman’s power when it was so habitually cloaked by a man’s dominance? This lecture will address those questions and ask how much of this ancient reality still touches us today.

Student Research & Funding

Classics majors and minors have opportunities to pursue independent research relating to the Ancient World Gallery or any topic that interests them, through faculty-mentored summer research fellowships or independent study during the academic year.

The Department of Classical Studies offers the Gertrude Howland Summer Grant to support the participation of outstanding classics and archaeology students in non-credit experiential learning programs exploring the ancient cultures represented in the Ancient World Gallery. Research funds are also available through Summer Research Fellowships through the School of Arts & Sciences. 

Upcoming Events

Faculty Highlights

Dr. Elizabeth Baughan
Baughan Presented

Elizabeth Baughan, associate professor of classics and archaeology, presented "Repurposed furniture-top markers at African American cemeteries in Richmond, Virginia" at the Association for Gravestone Studies annual conference.

View Bio
Dr. Erika Zimmermann Damer
Zimmermann Damer Published

Erika Zimmermann Damer, associate professor of classical studies and women, gender & sexuality studies, published “What is a Future for Classics” in the American Book Review.

View Bio
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    Janelle vacuuming the surface of Ti. Mimi inspecting the right arm.
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Contact Us

Mailing Address:
Department of Classical Studies
University of Richmond
Humanities Building
106 UR Drive
Richmond, Virginia 23173

Phone: (804) 289-8736
Fax: (804) 287-6053

Department Chair:
Dr. Walter Stevenson
Academic Administrative Coordinator: Shelby DeWalle