Founded in 1968, the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) hosts monthly illustrated lectures on diverse topics related to the study and practice of archaeology and art history, including the preservation of cultural heritage, Classical and Near Eastern archaeology, and underwater archaeology.

The Department of Classics and Archaeology is pleased to be affiliated with the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) and to help facilitate its programming. AIA lectures are free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend!

Our events this year will include a mixture of online and in-person events.

AIA Niagara online lectures will be held using MS Teams. Over the course of the year, a link will be added to each of the events listed below. If you would like to join us for an online event, please visit this page and click on the link associated with that event (about two weeks before the event). This link will take you to a registration form that will give you the MS Teams link needed in order to join the event. Please save the link in order to use on the day to join us. You will need to register for each online AIA event that you want to attend.

During the lectures, we ask that audience members mute their microphones and turn off their cameras. The moderator and speaker will hold Q&A time after each lecture. If you would like to ask a question, this can best be done by typing a question in the chat area.

In-person lectures and events are usually held in the Rankin Family Pavilion (RFP) 214/215, the International Centre (GLB), or Academic South (STH) 215 on the Brock University campus. Parking on weekends is free on campus. Note that campus paid parking is enforced on weekdays until 9 PM. Weekday parking passes can be purchased through HONK (Lot D is closest to RFP and STH; Lot Glenridge is closest to GLB).

The AIA Archaeology Hour is a monthly virtual lecture series hosted by the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). It offers free virtual lectures over Zoom on Wednesday evenings each month.
To see more about this year’s schedule and register, please visit https://www.archaeological.org/programs/public/lectures/archaeologyhour/

Please visit this page REGULARLY to see UPDATED DETAILS ON SOCIETY EVENTS.

Wednesday, September 17 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Tate Paulette
“Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-2025-26-beer-in-mesopotamia/ 

Sunday, October 5 @ 3:00 pm [RFP 214/215]
JOUKOWSKY LECTURER
Lisa Çakmak (Art Institute of Chicago)
“Archaeology and the Art Museum: How To Be an Archaeologically Informed Curator”
To register, click here.

Wednesday, October 22 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Justin Leidwanger
“Shipping Stone for Justinian’s Empire?”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-october-2025-shipping-stone-for-justinians-empire/

Sunday, October 26 @ 12-3 pm [Global Commons (GLB 104), International Centre]
INTERNATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY DAY
Archaeology Fair with Special Guest Carrie Atkins (University of Toronto)
This event is free and interactive for ages 7+. Snacks and beverages will be supplied.
To register click here.

Sunday, October 26 @ 2:00 pm [GLB 107, International Centre]
Carrie Atkins (University of Toronto)
A Book Talk with Carrie Atkins on Roman shipwrecks and luxury transport
To register for the book talk, please complete the Archaeology Fair registration form linked above.

Wednesday, November 12 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Alison Futrell
“The People’s Arena”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-november-2025-the-peoples-arena/ 

Sunday, November 16 @ 3:00 pm [RFP 214/215]
Tessa Little (Brock Alumna, EarthScope Consortium)
“Elephants and Identity on Roman Coins”
To register, click here.

Friday, January 23 @ 6:30 pm [Online: Teams]
Katherine Larson (Corning Glass Museum)
“Uqnû Kūri, Hyalos, Vitrum: The Materiality of Glass in the Ancient Mediterranean”
To register click here. 

Wednesday, January 28 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Danyelle Means
“NAGPRA as a Path to Healing and Reciprocity”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-january-2026-nagpra-as-a-path-to-healing-and-reciprocity/

Wednesday, February 11 @ 6:00 pm [St. Catharines Public Library: Merritt Branch, Pen Centre]
BLACK HISTORY MONTH LECTURE
Doug Perrelli (University at Buffalo)
“Public Archaeology and History of the Cataract House Hotel: The Underground Railroad at the Niagara River Borderlands”
To attend, please register here: https://events.myscpl.ca/event/3943089 

Wednesday, February 25 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Akin Ogundiran
“Metropolitan Walls of the Ọyọ Empire”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-february-2026-metropolitan-walls-of-the-oyo-empire/

Friday, March 20 @ 6:30 pm [RFP 214/215]
Cristiana Zaccagnino (Queens University)
“Not only divination. Birds in Etruria: a few case studies”
To register click here.

Wednesday, March 25 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Helen Green
“Dating Australia’s Oldest Rock Art”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-march-2026-dating-australias-oldest-rock-art/

Wednesday, April 22 @ 8:00 pm [Online: Zoom]
AIA ARCHAEOLOGY HOUR
Justin Dunnavant
“Ecology and Slavery in St. Croix”
To register, please visit the AIA website: https://www.archaeological.org/event/aia-archaeology-hour-april-2026-ecology-and-slavery-in-st-croix/

For further information email the Department of Classics and Archaeology at [email protected]; or find us on Facebook @AIANiagara.

Celebrating International Archaeology Day

The Niagara Peninsula Society has been involved in celebrating International Archaeology Day for the past few years with a variety of activities. This year, several undergraduate students from BUAS and graduate students enrolled in Archaeological Ethics (pictured above left) were at the downtown branch of the St Catharines Public Library to share their love of archaeology with the general public and discuss recent threats to cultural heritage from groups such as ISIL. Previous Archaeology Day celebrations have involved making (and tasting wine) in ceramic storage jars, displays at the St Catharines Farmers’ Market and hands-on discussions of artifacts in Brock’s Cypriote Museum. Brock has a long tradition of Cypriote archaeology; several lectures have been held to recognize the university’s association and in memory of Brock Classics professor and Cypriote archaeologist Danielle Parks who passed away tragically in 2007.

Fred Truckenbrodt Travel Grant for Students

The Niagara Peninsula Society established a travel grant for students to be awarded each year for three consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014) in memory of Fred Truckenbrodt, a long-time member of our society who was passionate about archaeology and travel in the Mediterranean and deeply committed to the AIA and its activities. The 2014 recipient of the award was Brian Abfal, an undergraduate major in Classics, who participated in Brock’s Archaeological Practicum (CLAS 3F75) in Gournia; he is pictured (above right) receiving his award from Dr. Angus Smith who led the practicum there in the summer of 2014.