Becoming a classics major or minor means joining a diverse community of scholars interested in the ancient Mediterranean world. Because we are a relatively small department, there are ample opportunities for students to get to know each other and o interact with faculty members outside the classroom. The Humanities Building’s 4th floor, which we share with the Department of Philosophy, offers hallway nooks as well as the Classics/Philosophy Library as spaces for students to study, collaborate, write, or simply rest between classes.
Classics Club & Honor Society
The Classics Club organizes weekly Classics Tea and other social events such as movie screenings and trivia games.
UR is also home to the Beta Gamma chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the national honor society for classics. Each year, the department invites new members to be initiated, based on academic excellence and demonstrated interest in classical studies.
Conviviality
Classics students and faculty gather every Friday afternoon during the academic year for informal conversation over tea and snacks in the Classics/Philosophy Study on the 4th floor of the Humanities Building. Classes on Greek and Roman dining customs sometimes host banquets in the ancient, reclining style, with dishes made following actual ancient recipes.
Over the summers, classics students and faculty who are working on campus get together once a week for lunch at the dining hall to stay connected and discuss their various projects across different disciplines, from classics and archaeology to chemistry and psychology.
Classics Lecture Series
Each year the Department of Classical Studies brings noteworthy speakers and scholars to Richmond to present lectures or seminars. These events are free and open to the public. Students always benefit from gaining new perspectives and from interacting with these scholars.
Fall 2025/Spring 2026
Classical Studies Lecture Series
Bad Boys and Good Girls: “Simple” Characterization in Apollonius of Tyre
Presented by: Jacqueline Arthur-Montagne, Assistant Professor of Classics
University of Virginia
Thursday, November 6, 6:00pm
Jepson 109
What Do We Owe to Already-Looted Objects?
Presented by: Elizabeth Marlowe, Professor of Art History and Program Director, Museum Studies
Colgate University
Monday, February 9, 6:00pm
Jepson 118
15th Annual Stuart L. Wheeler Gallery of the Ancient World Open House and Lecture
Egyptian Coffin Construction
Presented by: Carrie Arbuckle MacLeod
University of Saskatchewan
Sunday, March 29, 3:00pm
Jepson 118
Open House following the lecture | Humanities Building 419, Ancient World Gallery
Fall 2025/Spring 2026
Lectures from the Archaeological Institute of America
Archaeology at Montpelier
Presented by: Dr. Matthew Reeves, Director of Archaeology & Landscape Restoration
Montpelier Archaeology
Thursday, October 16, 6:00pm
Jepson 118
Ceramic Production and Community at Archaic and
Classical Eleon in Central Greece
Presented by: Janelle Sadarananda, Assistant Teaching Professor
Skidmore College; UR ’13
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm
Jepson 109
Digging in Circles: Miami’s Prehistoric Legacy
AIA’s Martha Sharp Joukowsky Lectureship
Presented by: Robert S. Carr, Director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy
Thursday, April 16, 6:00pm
Jepson 118