Mac Classics Graduate Student in Athens

Ms. Katherine Denkers (MA `12) spent her summer in Athens, Greece. She reports:

For the past two months I have had the privilege of living in Greece. Thanks to the support of the Department of Classical Studies at McMaster University and the Raynsford Eatock Award I was able to participate in the Summer Session of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and I was able to get an early start on my MA thesis research while staying at the Canadian Institute in Greece.

The American School Summer Session is an intensive learning program where participants travel to nearly all of the major historical sites in Greece under the guidance of experienced and knowledgeable directors. While the Summer Session was an amazing educational experience, there were also a number of other benefits. Because the Summer Session students are housed at the ASCSA residence Loring Hall, there were many opportunities to network not only with the other Summer Session students but also prominent and expert scholars who were also staying there. The regularly scheduled tea and ouzo hours in the saloni at Loring provided a friendly environment meant for exactly this purpose.

Also, Summer Session student participants are encouraged to use the Blegen and Gennadius Libraries' resources. The access to these facilities and resources were invaluable to me in pursuing research for my thesis. I was lucky enough to be able to extend my stay in Greece beyond the end of the 6 week Summer Session by staying at the Canadian Institute in Greece. The Institute is within walking distance of the ASCSA libraries so I was able to continue my research. The hostel maintained by the CIG was just like being at home with a fully stocked kitchen, air conditioning and friendly staff. It was also another great opportunity to meet other people from all academic levels in the field of Classics.

Traveling all over Greece was both physically and mentally exhausting. One student in my group wore a pedometer for the duration of the trip and at final count we had each taken somewhere around 1 000 000 + steps! However, the hot sun and aching feet were easily forgotten when we were given the opportunity to run a race at Olympia, to stand on top of the Parthenon, or explore the labyrinthine corridors behind the throne room at Knossos. I can honestly say that besides being a wonderful educational experience it was also an unforgettable life experience as well.

(Photos courtesy of K. Denkers. Clockwise: K. Denkers and the Athenian Acropolis, K. Denkers in front of the statue bases from the Philippeion at Olympia, K. Denkers inside the Parthenon)

Mac Classics in Athens

The Department of Classics at McMaster University was represented in Athens this summer by Prof. Spencer Pope and Katherine Denkers (M.A. `12), who met up at the Kerameikos for dinner in Gazi. Both are working at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where Ms. Denkers also participated in the Summer Session program. For more information on the American School in Athens, go to www.ascsa.edu.gr.

Καλό Καλοκαίρι

Another Mac Classics Award

Congratulations to Jose Campos (Classics '12) for receiving honourable mention in the Classical Association of Canada's Margaret H. Thompson Prize in Greek Sight Translation.

http://cac-scec.ca/ccb/ccb17/ccb17_08.html

Congratulations to Mac Students and Faculty

Congratulations to Classics faculty member Dr. Daniel McLean, who received the McMaster Student Union's Faculty Teaching Award in Humanities 2010-2011.

Two Mac Classics undergraduates were also recognized with research awards:

Ms. Kaitlyn Moniz (Classics '12) was awarded the Togo Salmon Travel Fellowship for Summer 2011. She intends to use the fellowship to travel to Athens, Delphi and Olympia to study Greek architectural sculpture.

Mr. Owen Philips (Classics '13) received an Undergraduate Student Research Award for Summer 2011. Working under the direction of Prof. Martin Beckmann, his research project is an archaeological and architectural study focusing on the design and function of porticos in gymnasia in Roman Asia Minor. He will use the opportunity provided by the USRA to conduct original research that will complement his archaeological fieldwork at Nysa on the Meander River in Turkey.

Classics students were prominent in the Humanities Essay Competition for Term I 2010/2011:

Ms. Katarina Benusova (Art and Art History '12, Classics minor) was awarded First place for Level III with her paper, "Women in Aphrodisian Sculpture" written for Dr. Ian Lockey's Classics 3B03:Topics in Classical Archaeology: the Archaeology of Aphrodisias.

Level I was swept by students in Dr. McLean's Classics 1B03: Introduction to Ancient Myth and Literature. First prize was awarded to Ms. Megan Thornton for "What to Expect from a Homeric Hero" and second to Ms. Callie Diebold, "Interactions between Gods and Heroes in Homer's Iliad."

Congratulations to all!

More information on Humanities scholarships can be found here: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/CALENDAR/current/pg1174.h

On the USRA: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/awards/usra.html

Upcoming Events in the Department of Classics

Upcoming events in the dept. of Classics:

Thursday 3 February 2011 – Prof. Margriet Haagsma, (Dept. of Classics and History, University of Alberta CAC Speaker) “The archaeology of daily life: some thoughts on how ‑ and why ‑ to excavate Classical and Hellenistic houses”

TSH 719, Reception at 4:00 pm

Tuesday 8 February 2011 – Prof. Jarrett Welsh (Dept. of Classics, University of Toronto), “The Status of Roman Comedy at the End of the Second Century BCE"

TSH 701, Reception at 4:00 pm

Thursday 3 March 2011 – Prof. Fanny Dolansky (Dept. of Classics, Brock University), The Family Under Fire: A Study of the Rape Narratives in Ovid, Fasti 2”

TSH 701 Reception at 4:00 pm

Tuesday15 March 2011 – Prof. Harriet Flower (Dept. of Classics, Princeton University, E.T. Salmon Visiting Professor) “Political Rhetoric and Local Communication in 133 BC”

Location TBA