Najee Olya

Background

Dr. Olya is a specialist in the art and archaeology of ancient Greece, primarily of the Archaic and Classical periods. His research focuses on Greek vase-painting and other media as material and visual evidence of interconnections and cultural exchange between Greece and the wider Mediterranean, including Italy, Egypt, and the societies of the Near East. Dr. Olya’s other research interests include Greek presence beyond the Mediterranean, race and ethnicity, and Black Classicism. As a field archaeologist, Dr. Olya has excavated in Italy at Poggio del Molino on the Tyrrhenian Sea and since 2018 he has been a member of the archaeology lab team at the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project in Arcadia, Greece. In addition, Dr. Olya has spent significant time in residence at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Prior to his arrival at William and Mary, he was Bothmer Fellow (2022-23) in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Education and degrees:
B.A. in Anthropology and Classical Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012
M.A. in Classics, University of Arizona, 2014
Ph.D. in Mediterranean Art and Archaeology, University of Virginia, 2023