EAC-CLAS seeks to promote the interdisciplinary study of the culture of the Roman Empire, its neighbors and successors, from the second to the eighth century C.E. The Center was formally established in 2000, as a successor to the Late Ancient Studies Forum. The Forum, created in 1986, has gained international recognition through its sponsorship of a distinguished annual lecture series. Taking up the heritage of the Forum, the Center for Late Ancient Studies acts as an intellectual focus for the graduate students and faculty from different departments with shared historical commitment. In addition to the annual lecture series, the Center is active in creating and maintaining reading and discussion groups as well as in arranging conferences. Closely collaborating with colleagues from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Center also aims at establishing substantive inter-institutional links with neighboring universities.
