By Kellie Britch, College of Arts and Sciences
Seven years after his passing, James F. Strange, a Biblical archaeologist and former distinguished professor in the Department of Religious Studies, is still impacting the lives of students. After Strange鈥檚 wife, Carolyn, passed away in September, their children decided to find a new home for his archaeological collection right here at USF.
Strange鈥檚 collection consisted of ceramic and glass artifacts from decontextualized deposits and terrestrial surveys. (Photo courtesy of Joanna Strange)
For most students, the only opportunity to touch and interact with artifacts is to join an expensive summer field school in the Mediterranean. The donation of this collection changes that. (Photo courtesy of Davide Tanasi)
The family donated part of the collection to the Tampa Museum of Art, while the pieces
that have a primary value for teaching purposes were given to the USF Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx).
鈥淭he collection counts hundreds of Greek and Roman artifacts covering all the classes
of archaeological materials,鈥� explained Davide Tanasi, a professor in the Department of History and director of IDEx.
For the Strange family, these artifacts are as much a part of their family history
as they are a part of ancient history.
鈥淢y siblings and I grew up with these things in our house, and the artifacts, pottery
sherds and glass shards were simply part of our daily lives,鈥� said Joanna Strange.鈥��
The family felt that the objects belonged in an educational setting where students
could learn about them as well as the technologies used to analyze them.
鈥淒r. Tanasi鈥檚 IDEx lab is designed, not only to analyze ancient objects, but also
to train undergraduate and graduate students in various high-tech methods of analysis,鈥�
said Joanna. 鈥淢y father鈥檚 collection will help them learn a set of transferable skills,
along with understanding how to form and test hypotheses, that will be useful in a
variety of settings.鈥�
As Joanna explains it, archaeology isn鈥檛 鈥渕agical鈥� until you get the opportunity to
either be in the field or touch the objects yourself, and students who have had a
chance to interact with the collection agree.
鈥淭he most thrilling part of my interactions with the collection was being able to
hold and touch all of the items on the table,鈥� said Madison Fidler, a recent graduate
from the Department of History, who will be starting her master鈥檚 degree in world
history this fall. 鈥淚t is not every day that people can interact with, analyze and
hold objects that are thousands of years old, and being able to do this was so phenomenal.
It is still unbelievable how much Dr. Strange was able to add to his collection so
that students at USF, through Dr. Tanasi, can experience real archaeological finds
from the ancient world.鈥�
In the IDEx lab, students were asked to identify artifacts that they studied in the books and articles they had read. (Photo courtesy of Davide Tanasi)
Tanasi used the collection to teach students how to reconstruct a shape from a sherd, date a piece and identify the colors of the artifacts according to the archeological standards. (Photo courtesy of Davide Tanasi)
Aside from giving undergraduate students a chance to analyze and identify the pieces,
Tanasi has also used the collection to teach IDEx interns how to 3-D digitize archaeological
materials using real artifacts.
鈥淚 plan to 3-D digitize the entire collection with the USF IDEx interns and make it
available online through the , as the library was entrusted with the archive of Dr. Strange by his family,鈥� said
Tanasi.
Strange鈥檚 family has also established the James F. Strange Endowed Chair in the Department
of Religious Studies, a position held by Michael DeJonge, and a Religious Studies scholarship that provides financial assistance to students.
about Strange and his legacy.