Courses

ARCH B101 Introduction to Egyptian and Near Eastern Archaeology

Fall 2025

A historical survey of the archaeology and art of the ancient Near East and Egypt.

Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Africana Studies; Museum Studies.

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ARCH B102 Introduction to Classical Archaeology

Spring 2026

A historical survey of the archaeology and art of Greece, Etruria, and Rome.

Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Classical Culture and Society; Classical Studies; History of Art; Museum Studies.

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ARCH B222 Alexander the Great

Not offered 2025-26

This course examines the life, personality, career, and military achievements of Alexander the Great, as well as the extraordinary reception of his legacy in antiquity and through modern times. It uses historical, archaeological and art-historical evidence to reconstruct a comprehensive picture of Alexander's cultural background and examines the real and imaginary features of his life and afterlife as they developed in the Hellenistic and Roman worlds, Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and succeeding periods in both Europe and Asia. Special attention is also placed on the appeal that Alexander's life and achievements have generated and continue to retain in modern popular visual culture as evidenced from documentary films and motion pictures.

Writing Attentive

Critical Interpretation (CI)

Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)

Counts Toward: Classical Languages; Classical Studies; Classics.

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ARCH B228 The Archaeology of Iran: From the Neolithic to Alexander the Great

Fall 2025

This course examines the archaeology of Iran from circa 6000 BC to the coming of Alexander the Great at the end of the fourth century BC. Through the course we examine the beginnings of agriculture, pastoralism and sedentary settlement in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods; Bronze Age interaction between Iran, Mesopotamia, south Asia and the Arabian Gulf; developments within the Iron Age; and the emergence of the Achaemenid Empire (538-332BC).

Writing Attentive

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: M Eastern/C Asian/N African St; Middel Eastern Central Asian; Middle Eastern Central Asian; Middle Eastern Islamic Studies.

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ARCH B229 Visual Culture of the Ancient Near East

Spring 2026

This course examines the visual culture of the Ancient Near East based on an extensive body of architectural, sculptural, and pictorial evidence dating from prehistoric times through the fifth century BCE. We will explore how a variety of surviving art, artifacts, sculpture, monuments, and architecture deriving from geographically distinct areas of the ancient Near East, such as Mesopotamia, the Eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, and Iran, may have been viewed and experienced in their historical contexts, including the contribution of ancient materials and technologies of production in shaping this viewing and experience. By focusing on selected examples of diverse evidence, we will also consider how past and current scholarly methods and approaches, many of them art-historical, archaeological, and architectural in aim, have affected the understanding and interpretation of this evidence. In doing so, we will pay special attention to critical terms such as aesthetics, style, narrative, representation, and agency.

Writing Attentive

Critical Interpretation (CI)

Counts Toward: History of Art; Museum Studies.

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ARCH B233 Topics in Archaeological Principles and Methods

Section 001 (Fall 2025): Fieldwork
Section 001 (Fall 2026): Fieldwork

Fall 2025

This topic course explores methods used in Archaeology. Course content varies.

Critical Interpretation (CI)

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ARCH B252 Pompeii

Not offered 2025-26

Introduces students to a nearly intact archaeological site whose destruction by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 C.E. was recorded by contemporaries. The discovery of Pompeii in the mid-1700s had an enormous impact on 18th- and 19th-century views of the Roman past as well as styles and preferences of the modern era. Informs students in classical antiquity, urban life, city structure, residential architecture, home decoration and furnishing, wall painting, minor arts and craft and mercantile activities within a Roman city.

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Classical Languages; Classical Studies; Classics; Growth and Structure of Cities; History of Art; Museum Studies.

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ARCH B256 Classical Myths in Art and in the Sky

Spring 2026

This course explores Greek and Roman mythology using an archaeological and art historical approach, focusing on the ways in which the traditional tales of the gods and heroes were depicted, developed and transmitted in the visual arts such as vase painting and architectural sculpture, as well as projected into the natural environment.

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Counts Toward: Classical Culture and Society; History of Art; Museum Studies.

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ARCH B257 Aromas of Antiquity: The Politics of Smell, Past and Present

Fall 2025

Have you ever wondered how something as unassuming as scent can shape entire civilizations? This course explores the silent power of smell and its influence on how societies interpret concepts like power and being. We'll begin by examining how scent affects daily life in the US. With activities like scent walks and experiments, you'll discover how smell shapes our ideas about medicine, relationships, and wealth. Meanwhile, we'll dive into the fragrant world of the ancient Mediterranean, exploring how the ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans, and the early Abrahamic religions perceived scent and its entanglement with their belief systems, social lives, and power negotiations.

Course does not meet an Approach

Counts Toward: M Eastern/C Asian/N African St; Middel Eastern Central Asian; Middle Eastern Central Asian.

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ARCH B258 Magic, Medicine, and Science: Health in the ancient Mediterr

Spring 2026

Modern medicine is built on more than 5,000 years of history-an intricate and entangled story of how humans have tried to understand, heal, and transform the world around them. Along the way, the boundaries between medicine, magic, science, religion, and philosophy have constantly shifted. What does it mean to know something? Where does religion end and science begin?

Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC)

Counts Toward: Health Studies.

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ARCH B264 From Pharaoh to Hollywood: Egyptomania Then & Now

Spring 2026

The pyramids, tombs, and mummies uncovered in Egypt's earliest excavations conjured a dazzling-if romanticized-vision of the "Land of the Pharaohs." Today, archaeology continues to peel back the layers of myth, revealing not only pharaohs and temples but also the daily lives of workers and Egypt's far-reaching Mediterranean connections. This course explores how both early and modern excavations have shaped our understanding of the "Gift of the Nile," while reminding us that many mysteries remain. To situate these discoveries, we will trace the reception of ancient Egypt across time: in its original setting, through the eyes of early explorers and antiquarians, and as imagined by modern audiences. Along the way, we'll test how Egypt has been re-packaged in film clips, video games, and even VR experiences-asking why Egypt continues to capture the global imagination, and what that fascination reveals about us today.

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

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ARCH B265 Landscape Archaeology

Fall 2025

This course explores the principles and methodologies of landscape archaeology, examining how past communities have consciously and unconsciously shaped their environments and physical space. Through a combination of archaeological and historical evidence, students will investigate the cultural, economic, religious, and social practices that influenced landscape organization and the construction and maintenance of space in the ancient world. The course will also examine how natural surroundings have, in turn, shaped and modified socio-economic structures, and symbolic expressions. Focusing on the Mediterranean and South-West Asia, primarily, the course also aims to equipping students with both theoretical knowledge and practical skills essential for understanding the long-terms dynamics and the complex relationship between people and their environments across time and space.

Writing Attentive

Critical Interpretation (CI)

Inquiry into the Past (IP)

Power, Inequity, and Justice (PIJ)

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ARCH B301 Greek Vase-Painting

Fall 2025

This course is an introduction to the world of painted pottery of the Greek world, from the 10th to the 4th centuries B.C.E. We will interpret these images from an art-historical and socio-economic viewpoint. We will also explore how these images relate to other forms of representation. Prerequisite: one course in classical archaeology or permission of instructor.

Writing Attentive

Counts Toward: Classical Studies; Classics; History of Art.

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ARCH B328 The Roman Empire in South West Asia

Spring 2026

This course examines the impact - or lack thereof - the Roman Empire had on the visual and material culture in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-West Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. To understand the local response to Rome's expansion, we study the complex political and social structures that were in place in these regions long before the arrival of Rome as well as the agents that continuously negotiated between Rome, local polities, and external factors (i.e., nomadic tribes). We will explore the multi-faceted world of the easternmost provinces of the Roman Empire with reference to archaeological, visual, and textual sources and adopt counter-narrative approaches to critically discuss the nature of colonial and imperial encounters. The completion of ARCH B101 (Egyptian and Near Eastern Archaeology) or 102 (Classical Archaeology) is a prerequisite for this course.

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ARCH B335 Sensory Worlds, Material Lives: Archaeology and the Senses

Fall 2025

How did the past feel, smell, sound, taste, and move? This graduate seminar explores the role of the senses in archaeological thought and practice. We examine how sensory experiences shaped ancient lifeways and how archaeologists today reconstruct-or invent-those experiences through theory, method, and imagination. Readings draw from archaeology, anthropology, history, and sensory studies, with special attention to embodiment, perception, colonial legacies, and the politics of interpretation. Students will engage critically with key debates while experimenting with creative, multisensory approaches to primary sources. Weekly reading journals, seminar discussions, and a hands-on midterm project will build toward a final project that explores how the sensory might shift archaeological storytelling, pedagogy, or public engagement. Throughout, we ask: Whose senses are centered? What senses are valued, and why? And what is at stake when trying to sense the past? Prerequisite: ARCH B101 and ARCH B102 or ARCH B101 and a 200-level ARCH course, or ARCH B102 and a 200-level ARCH course, or two 200-level ARCH courses, or permission by instructor.

Course does not meet an Approach

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ARCH B354 Money in the Ancient World

Spring 2026

In this course we shall investigate the ancient world through one of its most fundamental institutions: money. We will learn about different types of ancient money, including coinage, bullion, grain and credit, the various coins used by the Greeks and Romans (as well as other groups, such as ancient Mesopotamians, Persians, Indians and Jews), and about the different methods used to study them. The seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach to major topics in the history of money, including the origins of coinage, monetization, imitations and forgeries, debasement, trade, and the politics of issuing coins. We shall think about economics and social history, as well as the role played by coins in archaeology, and the complex ethical (and legal) issues surrounding the modern practice of coin collecting.

Counts Toward: Classics.

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ARCH B357 The Hellenistic Age: Art in a Multicultural World

Fall 2025

Following the campaigns of Alexander, the Greeks spread across the Middle East as far as Egypt, Central Asia and India, where they encountered many cultures vastly different from their own. The result was the creation of a diverse, multicultural world, connected by shared elements such as the use of the Greek language, but in which every individual region and society was unique. This diversity is especially evident in the art produced in this period, where we see the Greek obsession with human form, preferably nude, mixing with older artistic traditions in Egypt and Mesopotamia that relied on hierarchy and repetition to perform their functions. In Italy the Romans adopted aspects of Greek art as a means of disrupting their rather stodgy political ideology, with mixed results, whereas in India Greek motifs, popular for reasons as yet unknown, were pressed into the service of Buddhism. In this course we shall examine the art of this dynamic period from ca. 300 to 30 BCE. It is organized geographically, beginning in the Greek mainland and moving across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe to Iran, Central Asia and India. We will focus especially on themes of interaction - how do old and new artistic traditions combine? - and identity - what did these combinations mean to the people who made and used them? - as well as on the roles of power and resistance. Prerequisites: ARCH B101 and 102; or ARCH B101 and a 200-level ARCH course; or ARCH B102 and a 200-level ARCH course; or two 200-level ARCH courses; or permission by instructor.

Counts Toward: Classics.

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ARCH B398 Senior Seminar in Classical Archaeology

A weekly seminar on topics to be determined with assigned readings and oral and written reports.

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ARCH B399 Senior Seminar

A weekly seminar on common topics with assigned readings and oral and written reports.

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ARCH B403 Supervised Work

Supervised Work

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ARCH B425 Praxis III: Independent Study

Note: Students are eligible to take up to two Praxis Fieldwork Seminars or Praxis Independent Studies during their time at Bryn Mawr.

Counts Toward: Praxis Program.

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ARCH B501 Greek Vase Painting

Fall 2025

This course is an introduction to the world of painted pottery of the Greek world, from the 10th to the 4th centuries B.C.E. We will interpret these images from an art-historical and socio-economic viewpoint. We will also explore how these images relate to other forms of representation. Prerequisite: one course in classical archaeology or permission of instructor.

Counts Toward: Classical Studies; Classics; History of Art.

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ARCH B528 The Roman Empire in South West Asia

Spring 2026

This course examines the impact - or lack thereof - the Roman Empire had on the visual and material culture in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-West Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the 5th century CE. To understand the local response to Rome's expansion, we study the complex political and social structures that were in place in these regions long before the arrival of Rome as well as the agents that continuously negotiated between Rome, local polities, and external factors (i.e., nomadic tribes). We will explore the multi-faceted world of the easternmost provinces of the Roman Empire with reference to archaeological, visual, and textual sources and adopt counter-narrative approaches to critically discuss the nature of colonial and imperial encounters.

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ARCH B535 Sensory Worlds, Material Lives: Archaeology and the Senses

Fall 2025

How did the past feel, smell, sound, taste, and move? This graduate seminar explores the role of the senses in archaeological thought and practice. We examine how sensory experiences shaped ancient lifeways and how archaeologists today reconstruct-or invent-those experiences through theory, method, and imagination. Readings draw from archaeology, anthropology, history, and sensory studies, with special attention to embodiment, perception, colonial legacies, and the politics of interpretation. Students will engage critically with key debates while experimenting with creative, multisensory approaches to primary sources. Weekly reading journals, seminar discussions, and a hands-on midterm project will build toward a final project that explores how the sensory might shift archaeological storytelling, pedagogy, or public engagement. Throughout, we ask: Whose senses are centered? What senses are valued, and why? And what is at stake when trying to sense the past?

Back to top

ARCH B554 Money in the Ancient World

Spring 2026

In this course we shall investigate the ancient world through one of its most fundamental institutions: money. We will learn about different types of ancient money, including coinage, bullion, grain and credit, the various coins used by the Greeks and Romans (as well as other groups, such as ancient Mesopotamians, Persians, Indians and Jews), and about the different methods used to study them. The seminar takes an interdisciplinary approach to major topics in the history of money, including the origins of coinage, monetization, imitations and forgeries, debasement, trade, and the politics of issuing coins. We shall think about economics and social history, as well as the role played by coins in archaeology, and the complex ethical (and legal) issues surrounding the modern practice of coin collecting.

Counts Toward: Classics.

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ARCH B557 The Hellenistic Age: Art in a Multicultural World

Fall 2025

Following the campaigns of Alexander, the Greeks spread across the Middle East as far as Egypt, Central Asia and India, where they encountered many cultures vastly different from their own. The result was the creation of a diverse, multicultural world, connected by shared elements such as the use of the Greek language, but in which every individual region and society was unique. This diversity is especially evident in the art produced in this period, where we see the Greek obsession with human form, preferably nude, mixing with older artistic traditions in Egypt and Mesopotamia that relied on hierarchy and repetition to perform their functions. In Italy the Romans adopted aspects of Greek art as a means of disrupting their rather stodgy political ideology, with mixed results, whereas in India Greek motifs, popular for reasons as yet unknown, were pressed into the service of Buddhism. In this course we shall examine the art of this dynamic period from ca. 300 to 30 BCE. It is organized geographically, beginning in the Greek mainland and moving across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe to Iran, Central Asia and India. We will focus especially on themes of interaction - how do old and new artistic traditions combine? - and identity - what did these combinations mean to the people who made and used them? - as well as on the roles of power and resistance.

Counts Toward: Classics.

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ARCH B558 Amarna in Context: City, Landscape, Ideology

Spring 2026

This seminar explores the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna as a case study in how we construct, contest, and sometimes overstate claims about the ancient past. Often hailed as a city of radical reform- both a religious and social 'revolution', Amarna offers a rich but problematic archive. Through close engagement with archaeological evidence, texts, spatial analysis, and broader comparative material, students will assess whether the city truly marked a break from ancient Egyptian tradition or simply reshaped old ideas in new clothes. Topics include urbanism, ideology, monumentality, daily ritual, economy, identity, and landscape. Additionally, we will investigate how modern narratives, from popular media to scholarly literature, have sustained the myth of Amarna's uniqueness, while reflecting on the consequences of historical myth-making. Open to students across ancient studies, the course invites critical reflection on how knowledge is produced, and how cities, ideologies, and people get flattened into historical "firsts". 

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ARCH B602 Graduate Intensive Survey

Fall 2025

This course introduces the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East and Egypt, from ca. 10,000 to 330 BCE. Supplementing the lectures, discussions, and readings of ARCH B101, graduate students will participate in an additional weekly discussion of methodological and interpretive issues and topical debates in the field, based on the reading of relevant case-studies and analyses.

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ARCH B603 Graduate Intensive Survey

Spring 2026

A historical survey of the archaeology and art of Greece, Etruria, and Rome.

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ARCH B701 Supervised Work

Fall 2025, Spring 2026

Unit of supervised work

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ANTH B320 Archaeological Theory and Practice

Spring 2026

What is archaeological theory? Is there an archaeological theory, or only various theories used by archaeologists? This course will examine the history of theoretical approaches in the field and the practices used by archaeologists through time, including recent developments and concerns in anthropological archaeology and beyond. We will interrogate the nature of the archaeological record and question how practitioners transform materials into information about the past. Theory and methodological developments in archaeology are considered alongside broader changes in academia, culture, and politics. This course was previously taught as ANTH B220. Prerequisite: ANTH 101 or permission of instructor.

Writing Attentive

Counts Toward: Classical & Near Eastern Arch.

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CITY B201 Introduction to GIS for Social and Environmental Analysis

Fall 2025, Spring 2026

This course is designed to introduce the foundations of GIS with emphasis on applications for social and environmental analysis. It deals with basic principles of GIS and its use in spatial analysis and information management. Ultimately, students will design and carry out research projects on topics of their own choosing. Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing and Quantitative Readiness are required (i.e.the quantitative readiness assessment or Quan B001).

Quantitative Readiness Required (QR)

Counts Toward: Classical & Near Eastern Arch; Data Science; Environmental Studies; Environmental Studies.

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GSEM B625 Dots and Loops: Form and Aesthetics Across Time and Media

Fall 2025

Though it has long been at the heart of aesthetic criticism, the subject of form as an axis of methodological inquiry has regained conspicuous popularity in recent years. Scholars working across, and at the intersection of, various media--including but not limited to material culture, visual art, sound, film, and literature--have been thinking through the ways that form both informs and is informed by what were considered its various antitheses, such as history, politics, and the material archive. The presumed extrication of external "context" was integral to a hermeneutic of form. This was a driving factor, for instance, in nineteenth-century formalism, used to construct coherent narratives surrounding Classical Antiquity through archaeological and art historical understandings of ornament and architecture. These interests continued with the inception of Russian literary Formalism in the early twentieth century, and then French narratology of the midcentury, for whom Homeric form was particularly important. This seminar will examine the various modes of formalist analysis that have emerged in contemporary criticism and their relationships to the formalisms that have come before, studying them alongside artworks across media and through various global histories. How can form speak across Art History, Classics, and Archaeology and to projects that vary widely in their temporal and geographic scopes, we will ask? What does attention to form yield for interdisciplinary scholars, specifically? What are the scope and limits of thinking with lines, dots, loops, circles, squares, parabolas, and shapes of any kind?

Counts Toward: Classical & Near Eastern Arch; Classical Studies; Classics; Classics; History of Art.

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