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Founded in 2025, ArchaeoTrek is a dynamic initiative that draws upon over two decades of experience in delivering immersive, hands-on workshops and educational resources across schools, museums, and diverse learning environments. Our sessions are conducted by scholars who combine cutting-edge research with extensive academic expertise and considerable experience in engaging learners of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
Founded in 2025, ArchaeoTrek is a dynamic initiative that draws upon over two decades of experience in delivering immersive, hands-on workshops and educational resources across schools, museums, and diverse learning environments. Our sessions are conducted by scholars who combine cutting-edge research with extensive academic expertise and considerable experience in engaging learners of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
Who I am
Who I am
My name is Dr Thea Ravasi. I am a classical archaeologist whose research explores the architecture, logistics, and spatial organisation of Roman imperial residences and their surrounding landscapes. My work is interdisciplinary, combining architectural analysis, structural archaeology, digital reconstruction, 3D modelling, environmental archaeology, and historical topography within the framework of large area urban research. I am a Visiting Researcher at Newcastle University (UK).
My work focuses on the interplay between elite display, servile infrastructure, and resource management within palatial complexes such as Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli and the Sessorian palaces in Rome. I am the director of the Peopling Roman Palaces project at UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hadrian’s Villa (2024-ongoing), which investigates the overlooked spaces of the working population and the infrastructures that sustained daily life in imperial residences. As Research Associate of the Rome Transformed project (2019-2025), I am co-editing volumes on urban change, thermal and religious architecture, water infrastructure, and courtly logistics from the 1st to 8th centuries CE.
My teaching experience
My teaching experience
I have over twenty years of experience teaching children in museums, schools, and hands-on workshop settings, both in the UK and in Italy. Throughout my career, I have designed and delivered a wide range of educational programmes that bring archaeology to life through direct engagement with material culture and evidence.
As Museum Curator at the Museo Civico di Crema e del Cremasco (Italy), I developed and led educational projects and outreach activities for primary and secondary schools, introducing children to archaeology through interactive, evidence-based learning. I also directed and contributed to museum education programmes over several years, designing workshops and activities linked to exhibitions and collections, and helping to make archaeology accessible, engaging, and memorable for younger audiences.
In the UK, my work has focused on bringing academic research into the classroom. At Newcastle University, I have collaborated closely with teachers, organised workshops, and created classroom resources as part of projects such as the Gertrude Bell impact initiative, the Expanded Interiors project, and the Classics EPQ project, supporting meaningful and lasting engagement with the past.
Alongside this, I have extensive experience supervising and teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at Newcastle University, contributing to modules such as Greek and Roman Art and Archaeology and The Roman World from Augustus to Justinian, as well as postgraduate teaching in Roman archaeology. In all my teaching, I emphasise evidence, enquiry, and active learning, guiding students in how to analyse material culture and construct informed interpretations of the past.
Across all these contexts, my aim is to make archaeology dynamic, accessible, and thought-provoking, encouraging learners of all ages to question, explore, and discover the past for themselves.
What students have said about me
What students have said about me
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching and mentoring many inspiring students at Newcastle University (UK). Their feedback reflects the care and enthusiasm I bring to each lecture and seminar:
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching and mentoring many inspiring students at Newcastle University (UK). Their feedback reflects the care and enthusiasm I bring to each lecture and seminar:
“Very passionate about the subject.”
“Very passionate about the subject.”
“The lectures were clearly structured with the slides containing a lot of information and useful maps and additional reading.”
“The lectures were clearly structured with the slides containing a lot of information and useful maps and additional reading.”
“Could not have asked for a better teacher.”
“Could not have asked for a better teacher.”
“Dr Ravasi was engaging and informative; if there is a future module led by her I would be keen to take it.”
“Dr Ravasi was engaging and informative; if there is a future module led by her I would be keen to take it.”
“One of my favourite lecturers.”
“One of my favourite lecturers.”
“Thea was a really informative lecture and seminar leader, it was great working from her and she made me certain that I wanted to study the Romans.”
“Thea was a really informative lecture and seminar leader, it was great working from her and she made me certain that I wanted to study the Romans.”
These words mean a great deal to me, and I remain committed to making the study of the ancient world engaging, inclusive, and inspiring for learners of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
These words mean a great deal to me, and I remain committed to making the study of the ancient world engaging, inclusive, and inspiring for learners of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
Where you can follow my research
Where you can follow my research
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