Classics and Archaeology is the study of the Greek and Roman worlds as we know them through art and archaeology, history, languages (Ancient Greek and Latin), literature, and mythology. We offer an exciting, interdisciplinary program led by award-winning teachers and researchers, in a department focused on supporting student success.

Our Classics program places a strong emphasis on understanding the Greek and Roman worlds through experiential learning. This can include recreating ancient artifacts with 3D printing, participating in a student conference, or curating an exhibit with our Cypriote Museum collection. Students can also earn credit through public-facing independent projects (Engaged Leadership in Classics), and travel in the Mediterranean as part of a study tour or archaeological excavation.

Every year we offer opportunities for course credit through travel in the Mediterranean. These experiential courses are taught by professors within the department who accompany their students abroad. The Archaeological Practicum focuses on training students in archaeological and conservation skills. Study Tours in Mediterranean Lands are centered on improving students’ cultural fluency and deepening their historical awareness. We offer numerous scholarships, bursaries and awards to help with financing student travel.

The Department of Classics and Archaeology offers more than a degree – we provide a community where students connect with each other through departmental life centered on encouraging student well-being and promoting student success. Student involvement in the department is strong and friendly. The Brock University Archaeological Society (BUAS), a student-run organization for all students of Classics and Archaeology, organises social events such as movie nights, barbeques, toga-bowling, and open-mic readings of favourite passages from ancient literature.

In addition to its academic program, the department is also host to the Archaeological Institute of America (Niagara Peninsula Society), where students and the public can learn about recent discoveries in archaeology and current issues in cultural heritage management through free lectures. The department also participates in the Ontario Student Classics Conference (OSCC), a competitive gathering of several hundred Ontario high school students and teachers devoted to promoting the study of Classics and Archaeology. Events include chariot races, contests in Latin and Greek, and numerous artistic displays including sculptures, models, and mosaics.

We hope to see you in our classes or at any of our many events over the course of the year!

Brock University’s Land Acknowledgment recognizes that “the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe peoples, many of whom continue to live and work here today. This territory is covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and is within the land protected by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Agreement. Today this gathering place is home to many First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples and acknowledging reminds us that our great standard of living is directly related to the resources and friendship of Indigenous people.”

As a commitment to the principles expressed by our Land Acknowledgment, the Department of Classics and Archaeology understands responsible cultural stewardship to be a keystone of our discipline. This means resisting a universalizing view that studying Classics is “studying ourselves” and addressing historical uses of the ancient world that promote particular groups over others.  It also asks us to consider the deep indigenous pasts and descendent communities of the lands we study.

In the Department of Classics and Archaeology, we recognize the diversity of languages, cultures, and people of the ancient Mediterranean. Our courses and research programs welcome such diversity and work to uncover lost voices and histories. By studying socio-cultural and political power structures of the ancient world, we become equipped to reflect on inequities and injustice in the present.

We recognize that the study and reconstruction of Classical antiquity has often played a part in promoting oppression, inequality, and prejudice, and so we assert that responsible study of the past has no place for hateful ideologies.  We also acknowledge that the study of Classics and Archaeology has been historically male, upper-class, eurocentric, colonialist, and white. We pledge to interrogate the unquestioned assumptions of such categories within scholarship but also work to make sure that this description is increasingly less true of the scholars who work within the discipline.

This is in accordance with Brock University’s 2025 Strategic Plan which includes fostering an equitable, inclusive, and accessible environment that welcomes diverse perspectives, identities, and lived experiences.

The Department is an institutional member of national and international organizations that support initiatives aimed at increasing equity and diversity within the field, including the Archaeological Institute of America, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Classical Association of Canada, Classical Association of the Mid-West and South, Canadian Institute in Greece, and the Society of Classical Studies.

The following groups offer dedicated resources for scholarship, mentorship, community, and action:

• Asian and Asian American Classical Caucus
• Classics and Social Justice
• Lambda Classical Caucus
• Society of Black Archaeologists 
• Women’s Classical Caucus
• Women’s Network of the Classical Association of Canada

These awards support diversity within the discipline:

• Anna Marguerite McCann Diversity Student Travel Grants (Archaeological Institute of America)
• BIPOC Scholarships for Fieldwork Participation (American Schools for Overseas Research)
• Black Trowel Collective Microgrants
• CAA Indigenous Scholarship and Equity and Diversity Scholarships (Canadian Archaeological Association)
• CIMS-CIG Student Travel Bursary (Canadian Institute in Greece)
• Deborah L. Nichols Meeting Access Grants (Society for American Archaeology)
• Frank M. Snowden Jr. Undergraduate Scholarships (Society for Classical Studies)
• The Helen Maria Chesnutt Scholarship for Equity in Classical Study (Classical Association of the North East)
• Historically Underrecognized Student Archaeology Scholarships
• Indigenous Advocacy Award (Ontario Archaeological Society)
• Mosaic Scholarship (Classical Association of Canada)
• Native American Scholarships (Society for American Archaeology)
• Rudolph Masciantonio CAMWS Diversity Award (Classical Association of the Middle West and South)
• The Rudolph Masciantonio Latin Teacher Grants to Support DEI Initiatives (Society for Classical Studies)
• The Sportula: Microgrants for Classics Students
• William Sanders Scarborough Fellowship (American School of Classical Studies in Athens)