Joey Williams is an archaeologist who focuses on Roman material culture, ancient colonialism, and landscapes of conflict and surveillance. He holds a Ph.D. in Mediterranean Archaeology from the University at Buffalo, an M.A. in Classical Archaeology from the University of Arizona, and a B.A. in Anthropology and History from Hendrix College. He has taught in schools, colleges, and museums in the United States, Switzerland, Portugal, and Italy. At OU, Dr. Williams teaches Beginning Latin, Classical Mythology, the Rise and Fall of Ancient Greece, and upper division courses in the art and archaeology of Greece and Rome.
Dr. Williams regularly leads archaeological projects in Italy and Portugal. Since 2010 he has co-directed the archaeological excavation of a tower enclosure near Redondo, Portugal, and in 2013 he initiated the survey and excavation of Santa Susana, a Roman villa in the same region. He is also involved in the ongoing analysis of legacy data from the DAI-AAR excavation in Ostia Antica, and recently lead the Roman Pottery Summer School in Lugnano, Italy. His upcoming archaeological project in Ficulle, Italy is currently accepting applications from OU students.
His recent monograph, The Archaeology of Roman Surveillance in the Central Alentejo, Portugal (2017), investigates the role of vision and (in)visibility in the organization of the Roman province of Lusitania. Other recent work from Dr. Williams includes a chapter titled "Towers, territory, and the negotiation of a colonial landscape in the early Roman Central Alentejo" in the volume The Archaeology of Roman Portugal in its Western Mediterranean Context (2022). In addition, Dr. Williams has written on the production of ceramics in 1st century Portugal, the role of fish sauce in forming Roman identity, and graffiti from ancient children.
