Archaeological Exploration of Sardis
Since its founding in 1958 by Harvard and Cornell Universities, the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis has excavated, conserved, and published on aspects of the ancient city of Sardis in western Turkey from prehistoric through Islamic periods. The excavation is conducted with the permission of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and is directed by Professor Nicholas Cahill of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Each year’s team consists of 50 to 60 scholars and students from around the world, including archaeologists, art historians, architects, anthropologists, conservators, numismatists, epigraphers, illustrators, photographers, and other specialists. The permanent research and publication staff is directed by Dr. Bahadır Yıldırım at the project’s administrative headquarters at the Harvard Art Museums. With Harvard University Press, the project has published seventeen reports and monographs, as well as many studies, articles, exhibition catalogues, and other works.
Current facilities include a clean lab for ancient DNA and palaeoproteomic analysis, a zooarchaeology lab with reference collections, a general wet chemistry lab, a microscope lab, a thin sectioning facility, various layout, sampling, and work spaces, and digital workspaces on the research computer cluster. In addition, the department has existing agreements with some of the core facilities. Faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students can request access to work in the Anthropology Laboratory spaces through the Laboratory Manager. Depending on the space, permission from the Peabody Museum, EPS, or faculty members in Anthropology may also be required. If you have any questions, the Laboratory Manager can help you get access or facilitate conversations.
Since its inception in 1969, the Center for African Studies has evolved from a small faculty group known as the Committee on African Studies to a robust, interdisciplinary body that has earned Harvard recognition as a National Resource Center from the U.S. Department of Education.Under the leadership of Faculty Director, Professor Caroline Elkins, African Studies at Harvard has been transformed from its committee-status into one of the leading centers for teaching, learning and research on Africa. As the University-wide nucleus for Africanists at Harvard and generator of numerous, high-impact initiatives on campus and on the continent, the Center for African Studies works with students and faculty from across the University to sponsor an array of high-impact and high-profile programs. These include study abroad and internship opportunities, inter-faculty research and publication initiatives, collaborative teaching and learning initiatives, institutional partnerships on the continent, transformative technology-based outreach efforts, and a wide range of on-campus seminars, workshops, and conferences.
Center for Geographic Analysis
The Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA) supports geospatial research and teaching at Harvard University. Working with faculty, students, and departments, CGA enables a diverse range of research projects involving geospatial analysis. The Center provides geographic information systems (GIS) solutions ranging from general cartography and mapping, to spatial visualizations, webmaps, and web services. By integrating spatial data with knowledge from multiple disciplines, CGA actively promotes the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the Harvard curriculum. The Center's mission is to strengthen GIS infrastructure and services across the University.
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies
Founded in 1994, Harvard's David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) works to increase knowledge of the cultures, economies, histories, environment, and contemporary affairs of past and present Latin America; to foster cooperation and understanding among the peoples of the Americas; and to contribute to democracy, social progress and sustainable development throughout the hemisphere.
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection is an institute in Washington, D.C., administered by the Trustees for Harvard University. It supports research and learning internationally in Byzantine, Garden and Landscape, and Pre-Columbian studies through fellowships and internships, meetings, and exhibitions. Located in residential Georgetown, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes researchers at all career stages who come to study its books, objects, images, and documents. It opens its doors to the public to visit its historic Gardens, designed by Beatrix Farrand; its Museum, with world-class collections of art; and its Music Room, for lectures and concerts. The institute disseminates knowledge through its own publications (such as Dumbarton Oaks Papers and symposium volumes) as well as through the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (published by Harvard University Press). Dumbarton Oaks also makes accessible ever more of its resources freely online.
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies
Founded in 1955, the Fairbank Center exists to advance scholarship in all fields of Chinese studies at Harvard. We do this in many ways, sponsoring seminars and conferences, supporting faculty and student research, maintaining Harvard’s research library for contemporary China, hosting postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, and associates in research, and publishing new research. The Center strives to involve all members of the Harvard community – undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni – in its intellectual life, and has always relied as well on a high level of participation of faculty from sister institutions in greater Boston and across New England. In addition, the Center works closely with the other international centers and institutes, and with the Harvard Center Shanghai in particular, to promote the study of global issues on campus and to expand Harvard’s global reach in mainland China, Taiwan, and the greater Sinophone world.
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
The Center for International Affairs was founded in 1958 and was renamed the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 1998 in gratitude for the magnificent endowment established by Albert and Celia Weatherhead and the Weatherhead Foundation. The Center is the largest international research center within Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Center is structured to encourage the highest practical level of personal and intellectual interaction among a diverse community of scholars and practitioners. It is distinctive in its recognition that knowledge is a product not only of individual academic research, but also of vigorous, sustained intellectual dialogue among scholars and nonacademic experts. To stimulate this dialogue, the Center sponsors a wide array of seminars, research programs, workshops, and conferences.