After partnering with Italy’s University of Pisa to participate in archaeological digs, TROY anthropology/archaeology professor Dr. Stephen Carmody and his students have helped make several key discoveries in Italian history. The partnership came about in 2019 after TROY First Lady Janice Hawkins visited Pietrasanta, a town on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy where TROY students frequently study abroad.

“Mrs. Hawkins was heavily involved in the University’s Pietrasanta visits, and as she was over there that summer, the University of Pisa showed her their archaeology museum,” Carmody said. “She told them we have an archaeology program and that we should work together, and that started the chain of events.” Having studied in Italy, Carmody was eager to make the connection.