The AMCA Mobile Lab strives to put the material of the ancient world into the modern classroom. The lab provides resources including reproduction artifacts, text, and ecofacts along with reference materials in the hands of students in the Butler and Indianapolis communities. Our goal is to make these material easily available so that students can get hands-on experience with the ancient world.
Co-Directors
Dr. Bungard hails from the Buckeye State, having earned a BA from Denison University in Granville, Ohio before moving westwards down I-70 to Ohio State University where he earned both an MA and a PhD. He has continued his travel westwards down I-70, landing here at Butler University, where he has taught since 2008.
Areas of Research
Dr. Bungard’s research looks generally at the role of humor in the ancient world. He has published on laughter in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes as well as several articles in English and Italian on the role of clever slaves in the comedies of the 2nd century BCE playwright Plautus. He recently turned his hand to translating Roman comedy, and his translation of Truculentus will be performed by an all-female cast at Butler University.
Dr. Bungard’s interest in humor stems from humor’s ability to encourage us to think about gaps in a world that we may think is perfectly whole. Humor exposes our values and prejudices, and it allows us to find alternatives when discussions founder along the lines of beliefs that may seem ‘natural’ and ‘normal’.
Teaching Assignments
Dr. Bungard teaches intermediate and advanced Latin courses on authors as broad ranging as Caesar, Vergil, Seneca, and Plautus. He also teaches upper level courses in translation on Ancient Drama, Ancient Law, and Epic Poetry. He recently was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to teach a First Year Seminar entitled “Why Is It Funny?”.
In addition, Dr. Bungard regularly takes students to Rome and the Bay of Naples for summer study courses on Roman literature, exploring the intersections of texts and physical sites. As part of this course, students develop short digital stories imagining what it would have been like to live near Mt. Vesuvius on the fateful day of the eruption in 79 CE.
Lynne A. Kvapil, known by her students as Dr. K, is an archaeologist specializing in Aegean Prehistory. Her research focuses on the Mycenaean Greeks, particularly farming, warfare, the manufacture of ceramics, labor management. As a field archaeologist, Dr. K travels to Greece every summer, where she is the assistant director of the Nemea Center of Archaeology Excavations at the Mycenaean cemetery at Aidonia and the Petsas House Excavations at Mycenae.
At Butler University, Dr. K teaches in all aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world, but most often she teaches about Ancient Greece, including Ancient Greek language courses, Ancient Greek Art and Myth, Ancient Greek Perspectives. She also teaches upper level courses in Ancient Greek and Roman Art and Architecture and Women in Antiquity. Dr. K is also a co-director of the Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and Classics (AMCA) mobile lab, which won a 2015 Butler University Innovation Grant and which aims to help put the material culture of the ancient world into the modern classroom.
Interns
Lilly Hinckley: I am senior at Butler University studying English literature, classical studies, and critical communication and media studies. I’m originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and I have always had an avid interest in the ancient world. I took Latin for seven years before coming to Butler, and I knew it was something I wanted to continue to cultivate. I declared my major after taking a fantastic class (TI: Roman Perspectives) with Dr. Bungard my freshman year. My interest in classics also motivated me to become president of BU’s classics club (2019-2020) and participate in an archaeological field school in Greece with Dr. Kvapil in the summer of 2019.
Savannah Marchino: I am a Senior at Butler University double majoring in Anthropology and Spanish. I am originally from a small town in southern Indiana called Newburgh. I was introduced to my love for the Classics while taking Dr. Kvapil’s PCA Greek Art and Myth in the Fall 2020 semester. While in class with Dr. Kvapil I discovered she was a trained archaeologists and she offered me lots of advice and amazing resources for an internship this Spring semester. However, due to COVID, I was unable to work in the archaeology department at the Indiana State Museum (ISM). Having discovered the ISM was closed to interns, I reached out to Dr. Kvapil and expressed my concerns. Since then I have become one of her interns and I have the pleasure or working with her and the incredible Newfields Collection that was gifted to the Butler University Classics department by the Indiana Museum of Art (IMA).
Sophie Graham: I am a freshman at Butler studying History, Anthropology, and Classics. My family is living in Glenview, Illinois which is a suburb of Chicago, but we lived in Singapore for several years, and before that we lived in Vancouver, Washington. I started out only majoring in History and Anthropology, but after a semester of Latin with Dr. Kvapil I decided to add a major in Classics to the list as well. In the future I hope to continue my education in the field of Classics as well as get into Archaeology.
Past Interns
Gracie Munroe (2018-2020): I am a junior student majoring in Political Science and Classical studies here at Butler University, but originally, I hail from the small town of Crawfordsville, Indiana. I really gained an interest and love for Classics during my second semester at Butler in Dr. Kvapil’s PCA Greek Art and Myth, inspiring me to declare a major in the study. Since then, I have had the pleasure of taking multiple Classics courses, including the languages of Latin and starting in Fall 2018, Greek. After Butler, I hope to both utilize and fuse my background in Classics and Political Science in the Non-profit world. I’m so excited to continue to learn and explore the culture and languages of the ancient world throughout my time here at Butler and after.
Audrey Crippin (2016-2018): I am a P4 student in Butler’s six year pharmacy program. I’ve always had an interest in classics and declared my minor in Classical Studies after experiencing a great PCA (Greek Art & Myth) with Dr. Kvapil second semester my first year at Butler. Since then I’ve been able to take a few other classes, and even go on the study abroad archaeology trip in Greece. Classics is an integral part of my identity at Butler, it allows me to separate myself from pharmacy and enjoy a different head space for a while. I’m originally from St. Louis MO (go Cardinals!) and plan on staying in the Midwest upon graduation. My biggest accomplishment as a lab intern was creating the entire catalog for the lab.
Wendy Vencel (2016-2018): I graduated from Butler University with a degree in History and Classics, minoring in Anthropology. I have always been interested in Classics and Archaeology since taking Latin in high school. I declared Classics as a second major in my second year at Butler after taking courses with Dr. Kvapil and Dr. Bungard. I have been able to study abroad twice with the Classics Department, first to Italy in Summer 2016 and then to Greece in Summer 2017. I am originally from Bloomington, IN. I currently attend the University of Edinburgh in a post graduate program in Medieval History. My greatest accomplishment as a lab intern was working on the osteological collection held by the lab as well as cataloging and labeling all of our collection.