On 14 November 2013, Dylan Bloy (Brooklyn) illustrates the Rutgers archaeological field school at Vacone (Italy)

Tempus fugit! For the Rutgers Classics Graduate Student Association, it’s the third and final lecture of the fall semester. But what a lecture. At 5 PM on Thursday 13 November, Dr. Dylan Bloy will present on the topic of the “Rutgers Field School at Vacone: Purpose, Method, and Results.”  Ruth Adams Building (room 003) is the venue, on Rutgers’ post-autumnal Douglass Campus in New Brunswick. Needless to say, this event will be of special interest to any RU student aiming to acquire some experience in archaeological field methods and conservation techniques—or indeed, anyone interested in up-to-the-minute archaeological findings for later Republican and early imperial central Italy.

Rutgers’ summer archaeological field school in Italy is a relatively new creation, dating to 2012, and from the start co-directed by Professors Gary Farney (chair, History, Rutgers-Newark) and Dylan Bloy. Known as the the Upper Sabina Tiberina Archaeological Field School, this multi-year initiative allows undergraduate and graduate students from Rutgers and elsewhere to gain hands-on experience in surveying, excavation and conservation.

The dates for the 2014 field school (see here for the official website) are 7 July through 9 August, with the graduate conservation course running from 27 July to 9 August. How to apply? It couldn’t be easier. Rutgers students can apply through the university’s Study Abroad website. Applicants will be accepted on a rolling basis. Non-Rutgers applicants are urged to contact Prof. Farney by email. The final deadline for all applicants is expected to be 1 March 2014.

Dylan Bloy is a faculty member in Classics at Brooklyn College. He has written several articles on Greek and Roman archaeology and history. His research interests include interactions between Republican Rome and Hellenistic Greece and Panhellenic sanctuaries. And for the past two summers, he has served as the Co-Director of Project and Field Director of the Rutgers Upper Sabina Tiberina Project in Italy.

RU graduate students David Wright and Isaiah Clough are organizing this event for the Classics Graduate Student Association. And spring 2014 will bring a whole new bevy of GSA-sponsored events!