Established in 1976, the Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) was the first academic program in the United States to offer a graduate degree in the archaeology of ships and history of seafaring. 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, analyze and conserve the archaeological remains of these activities.
Nautical Archaeology Program
The Nautical Archaeology Program (NAP) at Texas A&M University 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. NAP Faculty provide instruction in the history of seafaring and wooden ship construction; maritime commerce and cargoes; the skills needed to record, excavate, analyze, and conserve the archaeological remains of these activities.
Nautical archaeology is the study of the remains of boats and ships and the cultures who created and used them. The mission of the Nautical Archaeology Program is to acquire and disseminate knowledge about seafaring and maritime history around the world.
NAP was founded in 1976 as a graduate program. Students can earn an M.S. in Maritime Archaeology and Conservation or a Ph.D. in Anthropology with a specialization in Nautical Archaeology.
Undergraduates at Texas A&M University have the option of earning a minor in Nautical Archaeology, and non-degree-seeking students may choose to pursue a certificate in Archaeological Artifact Conservation.
Event
Shipwreck Weekend
Shipwreck Weekend is a Nautical Archaeology Program Open House that is free and open to the public. The event occurs every spring and is run entirely by NAP graduate students. Shipwreck Weekend 2025 will take place Saturday April 5. This is a terrific opportunity to visit our laboratories, meet the NAP faculty and graduate students, and learn more about the latest research and technology in shipwreck archaeology. Every annual Shipwreck Weekend features a public lecture by an invited speaker, a Kids’ Fair and Open House, and a Book Sale where attendees can purchase discounted nautical archaeology titles (many signed by the author!) published by Texas A&M University Press.
RECENT NEWS
Texas A&M Investiture Ceremony
On November 13, the Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences hosted the third annual Investiture Ceremony, which celebrates both the faculty who hold named chairs, professorships, and fellowships, and the donors who endowed those positions. This year, NAP Professor Shelley Wachsmann was…
Kennedy receives NEH Grant for Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections
Congratulations to Dr. Carolyn Kennedy for being awarded a $50,000 Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections planning grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities! Using this grant, Dr. Kennedy will lead a project to improve critical infrastructure in the Conservation Research…
FORMER STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Marijo Gauthier-Bérubé (Ph.D. 2022), Postdoctoral Researcher at Université du Québec à Rimouski
“What I remember most about my time in NAP are the possibilities that were offered to us, whether in terms of funding, projects or professional opportunities like teaching undergraduate classes. As a current postdoctoral researcher, I now see how these experiences are not common for every graduate student. I have fond memories of late nights in the ShipLab working on my rigging drawing, jumping from French to English sources to complete the late 17th-century French fifth-rate vessel I decided to draw.’”
