November events

Professor Alistair Small, Edinburgh University
&
Dr. Tracy Prowse, Dept. of Anthropology, McMaster University

"Life & Death on an estate of the Roman emperor at Vagnari, S. Italy"
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
TSH 719, 4:30

* * * * *

Classics Coffee Hour
Thursday, November 26,
TSH 719, 4:30

* * * * *

Dr. Mark Lawall, University of Manitoba
(sponsored by the Classical Association of Canada)

"So there are prices and markets, so what? Archaeological efforts to advance debates over ancient economies"
Friday, November 27
TSH 701, 3:30

Professor Stephen Halliwell, St. Andrews
Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor

"Greek Comedy and the History of Laughter"
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
DSB 505, 4:30

"Odysseus' Tears and the Need for Song"
Thursday, November 5, 2009
TSH 719, 4:30

* * * * *

*  *  *  *  *

Department of Classics Christmas Lunch
Monday, December 7
12:00, Skylight room, Commons building
(please contact Carmen for ticket information)
  

October Events

Classics Coffee Hour
October 29, 2009,
4:30, TSH 719

Join us for coffee, snacks, and the chance to talk to some Classics profs, grad, and undergrad students!



Classics Coffee Hour
October 1, 2009,
4:30, TSH 712

Join us for coffee, snacks, and the chance to talk to some Classics profs, grad, and undergrad students!


Graduate Students Conference
“Cross Cultural Influence in the Roman World”
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Council Chambers (Gilmour Hall 111)
9:30 – 4:00
Keynote Speaker: Professor Emma Dench, Harvard
“Roman & Local Conceptualizations of Time”
Contact: whitepl@mcmaster.ca


Reports from the Field
October 8, 2009

3 MA students in the Classics program talk about their summer research travel. Everybody welcome. Refreshments will be served.
4:30, TSH 719


“Reflections of Athenian Naval Power”
David Blackman, Oxford University
October 21, 2009
4:30, TSH 701

September Events

September 17 - Workshop: How to Apply for Grad Scholarships
4:30, TSH 706 - Undergrads and Grads Welcome!



September 23 - Dr. Maureen Carroll,
Sheffield University
E.T. Salmon Visiting Professor

"Politics, cult, and identity in Roman Pompeii:
Exploring the Temple of Venus and its sacred grove"
4:30, DSB 505

September 24 - Dr. Maureen Carroll,
Sheffield University
E.T. Salmon Visiting Professor

"Too young for the funeral pyre: the death, burial, & commemoration
of newborn children & infants in Roman Italy"
4:30, TSH 719

Convocation June 2009

Congratulations to all Classics students who received their diplomas from the Chancellor at yesterday's Convocation ceremony. Special mention should be made of Alexa Holbrook, who received her PhD, and of prize winners Aaron Rathbone (A.G. McKay Prize in Classical Studies) and Jaclyn Weatherbee (John H. Trueman Prize).

Mac MA students move ahead to doctoral studies!

Congratulations to Jessi Hembrey, MA Classics, McMaster '08, who will be starting the doctoral program at the University of Missouri in the fall, and to Mark Pyzyk, BA ('06), MA ('08) in Classics, McMaster, who has been accepted to the grad program in Classics at Stanford.

Awards to Classics Students [Updated]

Congratulations to all the Classics students whose hard work has been recognized not only by our university, but by provincial and international organizations!

Graduate:

Colleen Donahoe (MA ’10) and Sarah-Jane Evans (MA ’10) have both been awarded Ontario Graduate Scholarship awards, competitive province-wide prizes designed to “encourage excellence in graduate studies at the master’s and doctoral levels.”

Sarah-Jane Evans (MA ’10) has been awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship, a prestigious national scholarship recognizing students “who demonstrate a high standard of achievement.”

Parthenia Magharious (MA ’10) has been accepted into the Summer Program of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, an intensive six-week survey of the sites, topography and literature of the Greek world in historical context. The busy itinerary includes three weeks study in Athens, and three weeks touring sites in Crete, the Peloponnese, and northern Greece. Parthenia has, moreover, been awarded one of only five full scholarships to the school's summer program.

Colleen Donahoe is also the recipient of the first George Mackay Paul Scholarship in Classics for demonstrating a high level of achievement in her first year of graduate studies.

Undergraduate:

Liana Brent (Classics ’10)—who last year won an Undergraduate Student Research Award to conduct her project Paestum: Regional Variation and Innovation, in which she examined three Doric temples at Poseidonia and Foce del Sele to determine how regionalism affected architecture and sculptural styles in Magna Graecia—has been accepted into the Summer Program in Archaeology at the American Academy in Rome. Liana is one of only 12 students accepted for this program, which is normally open only to graduate students.

Alison Innes (Classics ’09) has won the Harry C. Maynard Travel Scholarship from the Ontario Classical Association. Alison intends to use the fellowship to participate in a Study Tour of sites within Turkey (from Istanbul to Cappodocia, to the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts) led by Elizabeth Greene.

Louise Savocchia (Classics ’10) has won first prize (!) in the university-wide Humanities Essay Award contest, level 3, for her paper “The Lone Charioteer: Investigating the Sculpture and Inscription Set from Delphi,” written for Dr. Pope’s Greek Art course, Classics 2B03. In addition, Louise won the E. T. Salmon Travel Fellowship to travel to Greece and continue her research on the Charioteer.

David Wallace (Classics ’10) has won an Undergraduate Student Research Award to continue his research on retrograde inscriptions in Greek vase painting.

Once again: Congratulations all. And if I've left anyone out, please email me!

Classics Students in the News

Continuing the account of the honours heaped upon Classics students: Kyle Stafford (Classics ’12) has been recognized by the university and the city for his role in rescuing a friend from the fire that engulfed the Brandon Hall dormitory in Term I this year.  Kyle was profiled in the Hamilton Spectator, and won a 'Life Saver Award’ from the city of Hamilton.  In addition, he will be formally recognized as a 'Student of Distinction’ by the university, and is currently a nominee for the 'St. John’s Ambulance Award.’  Kyle, a student of Greek, acted in the ancient Greek tradition of rescuing a fallen comrade from the battlefield.  [Right: artist’s depiction of Kyle’s heroic rescue.]

New Classics Club Executive

Results are in for the new Executive Council of the McMaster Classics Club for 2009-10!  

• President: Rebecca Rathbone
  
• Vice-President: Andrew Wood
  
• Upper-Year Representative: Erica Urie
  
• Secretary: Telmo Madeiros 
  
• Treasurer: Louise Savocchia
  

Check out the Classics Club link for more information on the organization.  And be sure to follow the Club's activities page throughout the next school year for information on lectures, the yearly ROM trip, and the ever-popular pub nights.  

Welcome to the MacClassics blog!

Welcome to the MacClassics blog! We're going to use this blog to report on departmental events, news, etc. which everyone who is interested in MacClassics can follow.

If you have anything you'd like me to post on the blog, please get in touch:

georgem@mcmaster.ca

Michele George