The Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) is the oldest academic degree-granting graduate program in the U.S. devoted to the study of boats and ships and the cultures that created and used them. The NAP curriculum focuses on the history of wooden ship construction; seafaring through the ages; maritime commerce, cargoes, and ports; and the techniques used to record, recover, analyze, and conserve the remains of these activities.

In the early 1970s, Texas A&M University offered Dr. George F. Bass, known around the world as the Father of Underwater Archaeology, the opportunity to affiliate his independent non- profit research organization, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA), with TAMU.  In 1976, the Nautical Archaeology Program was established.  The foundational faculty were Bass, J. Richard “Dick” Steffy (1976), Fred van Doorninck (1977), and Donny Hamilton (1978).

Today, NAP is home to eight faculty who provide training and education in ship reconstruction and ancient seafaring, survey and excavation methods, and the conservation of artifacts from underwater environments. NAP graduate students earn an M.S. in Maritime Archaeology and Conservation or a Ph.D. in Anthropology with an emphasis in Nautical Archaeology; undergraduates have the option to minor in Nautical Archaeology. In partnership with INA and the Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation (CMAC), NAP professors and graduate students are involved in a wide array of important underwater archaeological projects all over the world.