Najee Olya is a PhD Candidate in the Program for Mediterranean Art and Archaeology (PMAA) at the University of Virginia. His primary research focus is the art and archaeology of Archaic and Classical Greece. A specialist in Greek vase-painting, he is interested in questions of identity, otherness, and cultural exchange in the ancient Mediterranean.

His dissertation, tentatively titled, “Constructing the African in Ancient Greek Vase-Painting: Images, Meanings, and Contexts,” is an exploration of the African figures found in both mythological scenes and everyday life settings in Greek vase-painting from the sixth through fourth centuries BCE.

During the 2019-20 academic year, Najee was a Regular Member and recipient of the Bert Hodge Hill fellowship at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Since 2018, he has been a member of the archaeology lab team for the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project in Arcadia, Greece.