Facilities and Resources

The department possesses collections of study materials that are employed for teaching, training and research purposes. These include collections of Greek and Roman potsherds, Italian potting clays, reproductions of Roman coins, specimens of Roman construction materials a sizable assemblage of Byzantine pottery and botanical material from Emeq Hefer on long-term loan from Israel Antiquities Authority, and a large assemblage of Chalcolithic pottery and stone tools from the Olesh site in Israel.

The Goetz Library, located in 320 Academic Center, houses a study/research collection of approx. 8,000 non-circulating volumes, along with study spaces for faculty and students, two computer work stations, and a shelf for reserved readings for department courses. 

The Archaeological Data Processing Laboratory, located in 327 Academic Center, provides facilities for the storage of archaeological research documentation, traditional drafting operations, computer operations involving archaeological data and microscopic analysis of prepared archaeological specimens. This space can be used by department faculty and graduate students for research or course work.

The laboratory includes shelving, file cabinets, storage cabinets and a map case for the archiving of both traditional forms of archaeological documentation (notebooks, forms, plans/sections, photographs) and electronic media; three drafting tables; three computer stations; a microscope station; and a work table.

In addition to the three computer stations, the laboratory supports a flatbed scanner, a color ink-jet printer and a slide scanner. A wide assortment of software relevant to the development and analysis of archaeological data (e.g., AutoCad, ArcGIS, Geoplot, JMP) is accessible. The microscope station features both a binocular microscope and a polarizing light (petrographic) microscope, both equipped with a digital camera and a digital video camera that can be linked to one of the computer stations for image processing.

The Archaeological Materials Analysis Laboratory, located in Wilkeson 140-A at the far northern end of the MFAC complex, provides facilities for the processing and analysis of archaeological materials. The laboratory can be used by department faculty and graduate students for research or course work.

The laboratory includes a multiple sink, storage cabinets, a kick-wheel, an electric muffle (time/temperature controlled kiln), various tools and containers, a work table and a computer work station. A fume hood is available in an adjacent soils laboratory controlled by the Department of Geography.

The Department of Classics maintains membership in the major foreign schools of relevance to classics and Near Eastern studies, creating opportunities for faculty and both graduate and undergraduate students to undertake research and participate in courses of study at these institutions.

• American Academy in Rome 
• Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome 
• The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
• The American Schools of Oriental Research
• The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq

Faculty and graduate students are encouraged to seek funding opportunities through the Community of Science funding database. 

Undergraduate students may apply for research funding through the Center for Undergraduate Research Activities (CURCA) or the College of Arts and Sciences Experiental Learning scholarships. 

Both undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Classics may apply for funding through the James P. Neely Memorial Fund. 

Graduate students in the Department of Classics who hold an appointment as a teaching assistant (TA) are provided office space in the suite located in 204 B Clemens Hall (located within 204 A Clemens Hall).

This suite of offices can be reached by telephone: (716) 645-0465.

Other UB campus facilities relevant to the Department of Classics include:

• The Lockwood Memorial Library (the main campus research library) 
• The American Orthodox Catholic Alliance (OrCathA) Collection of Publications in Byzantine Studies
• The Humanities Institute
• The Department of Anthropology’s Marian E. White Anthropology Research Museum
• The Department of Geography’s Geographic Information and Analysis Laboratory (GIAL) (for GIS in archaeology)
• The New York State (NYSEDII), and the School of Dental Medicine’s South Campus Instrument Center (SCIC) (for materials analysis in archaeology)

The department also has a close relationship with the Western New York Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), with most of the Society’s officers drawn from the ranks of the department’s faculty and graduate student body, and most of its lectures held on the UB campus.

Elsewhere in Buffalo, there are possibilities of research collaboration with the Buffalo Museum of Science, which houses significant collections of both Graeco-Roman and ancient Near Eastern antiquities, and the Department of Art Conservation at Buffalo State College, which supports first-rate laboratories for the analysis of archaeological artifacts.