Center for Hellenic Studies

Nestled in Rock Creek Park behind Embassy Row, the Center for Hellenic Studies offers a variety of both residential and remote fellowships each year to scholars and researchers working on projects in a variety of fields, including "archaeology, art history, epigraphy, history, literary criticism, philology, philosophy, pedagogical applications, reception, and interdisciplinary studies". The center provides housing for "residential" fellows and their families, and accommodates remote fellows and visiting scholars during shorter stays. Fellows are selected by a panel of Senior Fellows, a group of five internationally selected senior classicists. Fellows are typically pre-tenured PhDs from around the world, most often from Europe or North America. The "Center", as it is commonly called, has been a stopping point in the careers of many budding classicists who have gone on to be major contributors in the field.

Center for Hellenic Studies is one of three centers for advanced research in the humanities belonging to Harvard but located outside of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The others are Dumbarton Oaks, founded in 1940, also in Washington, D.C., and Villa I Tatti, opened in 1961, in Florence, Italy.

Director of the center

The director of the center is appointed by Harvard University. Michael C.J. Putnam (Brown University, 1962) was the first director, but acted as a substitute for Bernard Knox (Yale University, 1963–1985), the center's first official director. Knox was succeeded by Zeph Stewart (Harvard University, 1985–1992), and Stewart by co-directors Kurt Raaflaub and Deborah Boedeker (Brown University, 1992–2000). Gregory Nagy became director in 2000 and was succeeded by Mark Schiefsky in 2021.