CONFERENCE REPORT from the Hellenic News of America:

AFGLC EDUCATIONAL FORUM AT USF ADDRESSES HELLENIC PAIDEIA AND CHALLENGES TO HIGHER EDUCATION

AFGLC EDUCATIONAL FORUM AT USF ADDRESSES HELLENIC PAIDEIA AND CHALLENGES TO HIGHER EDUCATION
Tampa, Florida
The Annual Educational Forum the American Foundation for Greek Language and Culture, was held on March 2-4, 2006 on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa. The central theme of the Forum was “Hellenic Paideia: Challenges to Higher Education.” As in 2005, the sponsors of this year Forum were George and Margo Behrakis of Boston. The Forum was free of charge and the public was invited to attend.

[...]

This paper in particular is of interest:

Dr. James F Strange is a Distinguished University Professor and Graduate Director of the Religious Studies at USF. Dr. Strange has initiated and directed major archaeological excavations, beginning in summer of 1982, at the once great city of Sepphoris, also known as Eirenopolis on its coins under Nero, which was rebuilt by the king Herod Antipas and made it his capital following the death of his father, Herod the Great, at about 4 B.C. Dr. Strange delivered on Saturday a stimulating lecture on "Hellenic Artifacts in Eirenopolis, "City of Peace", Near the Birthplace of Christ". In his talk he presented highlights of the excavations at Sepphoris, and the intriguing implications of his original observations from these excavations for New Testament Studies. The excavations at Sepphoris, revealed a vital and expanding city founded in the 2nd century BC. The city was marked by paved streets, public and private buildings, and an aqueduct the brought water three miles from ancient Abila. Sepphoris was designated the seat of the Galilean Sanhedrin the 55 BC and became the capitol city of Galilee in the same period. Herod the Great, who figures in the gospels, built a palace at Sepphoris. At the death of Herod the Great the city was destroyed and inherited by Herod Antipas, the third son of Herod the Great. Antipas built a theater in Greek style, first discovered by the University of Michigan excavations, but re-investigated by the University of South Expedition. Subsequent excavations revealed a villa in Greco-Roman style and a huge civil basilica at the intersection of the two main streets of the city. Other finds included coins, pottery sherds by the thousands, and important fragments of glass and metal. Sepphoris was a great Jewish intellectual center until Christianity became a legal religion during the fourth century CE. Pottery with Christian crosses embossed on the bases have turned up at Sepphoris, and the city gradually became important, receiving its first Christian Bishop in the fifth century AD. The Jewish presence remained strong until the seventh century AD.