Tulane Department of Classical Studies

10/13/2026

09/30/2026

The Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University and The Archaeological Institute of America New Orleans Society present “The materiality of blue: technical knowledge, innovation, and adaptation in the ancient Mediterranean” by Hilary Becker (Binghamton University).

Date ~ Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Time ~ 6:00pm
Location ~ Jones 204

Natural blue pigments in the ancient world are uncommon, usually sourced from far away and difficult to process. Reviewing these shady characters, like lazurite and azurite, will shed light on ancient artisanal capabilities, technical knowledge, and even trade connections that reveal the extent to which ancient people would travel and experiment in order to find blue. The development in the late 4th millennium B.C. of a synthetic blue pigment, Egyptian blue, made it possible not only to paint in blue but even to use this material in ways beyond its primary state as a pigment. Experimental archaeology paired with ancient texts and archaeology, making it possible to understand the stages by which these materials were made makes it possible to understand with heightened appreciation the technical innovation of antiquity.

This in-person, non-ticketed lecture is free and open to the general public. There will be no zoom component. Tulane University is committed to providing universal access to all our events on site. Please note that advance notice is necessary to arrange some accessibility needs. Contact Elizabeth M Reyna at 504-865-5719 / [email protected] at least two weeks in advance of the event if you have accessibility needs and need a disability-related accommodation to participate on campus.

09/28/2026

The Archaeological Institute of America New Orleans Society and The Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University present “Imperial Barge: Cleopatra The Goddess” by Alison Futrell (University of Arizona).

AIA Charles Eliot Norton Memorial Lectureship
Date ~ Tuesday, October 6, 206
Time ~ 6pm
Location ~ Jones Hall 204

One of the key motifs in popular representations of the last of the Ptolemies is Cleopatra’s Barge, a nexus of seduction, pleasure, gratification. For the historical Cleopatra VII, the barge was a political and religious platform for shaping positive interactions with diverse audiences in the ancient Mediterranean, meant to stabilize and secure her realm and shape a vision for future authority, with power strongly founded in the past. In Egypt, Cleopatra reinforced connections with local powerbrokers and processed between ritual centers, a dynamic divine ruler enacting key functions that ensured the practical and sacred continuity of her realm. Her famous Nile Cruise with Julius Caesar was a sacred pageant that featured her newly secured strength as queen, goddess, partner and chosen of the gods. Her notorious meeting with Antony on the barque of Isis was both a ritualized performance of royal leadership and the reassertion of dynastic claims, the launch of a new Empire rising in the Eastern Mediterranean.

This in-person, non-ticketed lecture is free and open to the general public. There will be no zoom component. Tulane University is committed to providing universal access to all our events on site. Please contact Elizabeth M Reyna at 504-865-5719 / [email protected] at least two weeks in advance of the event if you have accessibility needs and need a disability-related accommodation to participate. Please note that advance notice is necessary to arrange some accessibility needs.

09/18/2026

Our alum, Rachel Love (2013), who is now a tenured associate professor in the Classics department at Harvard University, is a Rome Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome for 2026-27!

My proposed project is a monograph that reconsiders and ultimately rewrites the history of the invention and development of historical literature in Ancient Rome. Scholarship since the 19th century has maintained that the earliest instantiations of historical writing in Rome were a result of Roman a...

09/08/2026

The Department of Classical Studies is hosting an Open House, and we want to see you and your friends. We invite all students to come by our departmental suites in Jones Hall 210 & 206 to take a trip through classics. Meet people and create connections. Visit with professors and mingle with your classmates. Take in all the aspects the Classics Department has to offer. Enjoy refreshments and take home some Classics swag.

Tulane Classics Open House
Friday, September 25, 2026
3:00PM - 5:00PM
Jones Hall 210 & 206
6801 Freret Street

Tulane University is committed to providing universal access to all our events. Please contact Elizabeth M Reyna [[email protected], 504-845-5719], the event organizer for accessibility accommodations. Please note that advance notice is necessary to arrange some accessibility needs.

08/14/2026

Be sure to get your summer watching in before classes start!

08/13/2026

Classical Studies refuses to be one thing because it's everything!
School of Liberal Arts Open House 2026

08/03/2026

https://news.tulane.edu/news/tulane-professors-discovery-comes-full-circle-roman-artifact-returns-home-prepared-museum

An ancient Roman tablet found in a New Orleans backyard by one Tulane professor and identified by another will soon go on permanent display at a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy, more than 80 years after the artifact disappeared from the city.

07/13/2026

Mallory Monaco Caterine (CLAS) and Ambika Prasad (BSLS) will showcase their interdisciplinary course that brings together classical texts, visual arts and community engagement to help students explore what leadership looks like across cultures, historical periods and social contexts with their presentation, “The Artful Leader: Teaching Leadership Through Art, Classical Texts and Community,” at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences July 15-17 at the University of Galway in Ireland.

The Artful Leader is an interdisciplinary course that brings together classical texts, visual arts and community engagement to help students explore what leadership looks like across cultures, historical periods and social contexts.