Founded in 1881 by a group of leading scholars and businessmen, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) provides graduate students and scholars from some 168 affiliated American colleges and universities a base for research and study in the history and monuments of Hellenic civilization, from antiquity to the present.

Central to the School’s mission is the academic program, which, in the course of a year, introduces American graduate students to the sites and monuments of Greek civilization. The School has also become a major research institution for senior scholars, thanks to two superb libraries. The Blegen, devoted to classical studies, and the Gennadius, devoted to post-antique Greece, offer a combined collection of some 190,000 books as well as unique archives relating to archaeology and modern Greek history and literature. The Gennadius is among the world’s great resources for the study of post-ancient Hellenism.

ASCSA also pursues archaeological exploration. In 1896, it began digging at ancient Corinth, and today, more than one hundred years later, the excavation continues to provide a training ground for new generations of American archaeologists as well as a constant flow of information about Greece’s past. In 1931, the School opened a second great site in Athens itself: the Agora, the ancient city’s commercial and political center. In addition to providing research centers at both sites, the School built museums which it gave to the Greek nation, and which have helped present these sites to the thousands of tourists who visit Greece each year. The School has also published hundreds of articles and books based on materials excavated at these and other sites.

The School also sponsors a rich program of exhibitions, lectures, and symposia, bringing speakers and participants from the United States and internationally. Through these and other activities open to the wider public in Greece, the School plays an important role in promoting friendship and understanding between its host country and the United States.