Department Of Classics Research Articles

THEODOR KORSCH’S ANCIENT GREEK AND LATIN WORKS IN HIS SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY

The paper deals with the sources of the biography of Theodor Korsch, Professor of the Department of Classics of the Imperial Moscow University, which are collected and analyzed (Theodor Korsch’s autobiography, works by Apollo Hrusch ka, Nikolai Dmitriev, Anatoly Bogdanov, the Baskakovs (Nikolai and Nikolai), Vera Smyshlyaeva, etc.); the main milestones of Korsch’s life as an academic are described; his close connection with the Moscow University is emphasized. The paper demonstrates that Ancient Greek and Latin composition was an integral part of Korsch’s scholarly and creative activity and allowed him to establish the connection with the Ancient tradition. At the same time, Korsch cannot be classified as the type of a pedantic classicist often portrayed in the popular culture of the time (v. Chekhov): on the contrary, he was always characterized by scientific enthusiasm and Anacreontic humor. Despite the fact that Korsch can be described as half-forgotten, many prominent philologists recognized his merits as an academic and a poet (Sergei Sobolevsky, Jozef IJsewijn, etc.), noting Korsch’s extraordinary giftedness and the versatility of his talent. The second part of the paper analyzes the peculiarities of both Korsch’s artistic works and scientific papers in Ancient Greek and Latin. In order to accomplish this task, archive materials from the Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library, the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department of the Science Library of Lomonosov Moscow State University are involved. Special attention is paid to Ἐφημερίς (1860–1862), Korsch’s student diary, and the only published collection of his original poems and translations in Ancient Greek and Latin called Στέφανος (1886).

Treading water: new data on the impact of AI ethics information sessions in classics and ancient language pedagogy

Abstract Over 2023, many universities and policy organisations in the higher education (HE) sector are working to create guiding principles and guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in HE Teaching and Learning (T&L). Despite these guidelines, students remain unsure if and how they should use AI. This article discusses the AI information sessions held over the Autumn 2023 term in the Department of Classics at the University of Reading, which aimed to provide students with the knowledge and tools to make informed judgements about using AI in their studies. These sessions discussed the benefits and drawbacks of generative AI, highlighting training data, content policy, environmental impact, and examples of potential uses. Staff and student participants were surveyed before and after these information sessions to gather their opinions surrounding AI use. Although at least 60% of participants had previously used generative AI, 80% of participants were apprehensive of or against using generative AI tools for learning purposes following the AI information sessions. By providing staff and students with the ethical considerations surrounding generative AI, they can make an informed judgement about using AI in their work without misplaced faith or excessive fear.

Slavery and Gender in the Performance of Rudens : from 1884 to 2021

Abstract: Staging Roman comedy for a modern audience requires making decisions about how to portray uncomfortable power dynamics. In this article we discuss the casting and acting choices, and their implications for slavery and gender, in a Zoom performance of Plautus’ Rudens by the Classics Department at Washington University in St. Louis, based on the 1884 English translation by the Ladies’ Literary Society of Washington University. The 2021 performance’s individualized, fluid approach to portraying gender, alongside its engagement with modern discourse on power and status, highlights the importance of sociocultural context and performance context for understanding key features of the play.

Classical Studies Trends: teaching Classics in secondary schools in the UK

Abstract The Classical Association, working with the charity Classics for All, is conscious of the vulnerability of Classics in the secondary education system and wants to understand the reasons behind this. Concern about the decline of classical subjects at GCSE and A Level has been mounting, indicated largely by exam entry data suggesting that entries for classical subjects are low and in the case of the ancient languages in decline.1 The Council of University Classics Departments Bulletin annually publishes statistics for student entries for national examinations at GCSE and A level in classical subjects. But this does not capture the full picture, nor does it represent the other constituent parts of the UK, which have their own examination systems. Therefore, in late 2021 the Classical Association and Classics for All designed a new Classical Studies Survey (the ‘Survey’), to fill in more detailed information about what is going on in schools' classics departments more widely through the UK, across Key Stages 3–5, and to provide practising teachers with an opportunity to make recommendations for future developments in courses for classical subjects. The Survey asked teachers to comment on the current situation for Latin, Ancient Greek, Classical Civilisation and Ancient History, the factors affecting these trends, and what support they considered they would need for Classics to survive in their institutions. This Survey collated data rigorously and enables the Classical Association on behalf of the classics teaching community to make compelling arguments in relation to education policies and examination reform.

‘Translating’ Classics for Generations Z and Alpha

AbstractThis paper presents a public outreach program developed by the Department of Classics at the University of Florida to introduce school-age children to Classics. The main goal is to emphasise the value of Classics and the practical skills it teaches by engaging students with hands-on exercises and materialising connections between the past and the present. The paper focuses on the importance of Classics and the humanities in the development of engaged citizens, the types of programs and their content, and ways to ensure the sustainability of such initiatives through the involvement of graduate students, faculty, and administrators.

Latin and Greek in English Primary Schools – seedlings of a classical education

AbstractThis article describes some of the main features of classical languages and history learning at the primary school level in England at the current time. It briefly examines the context and education policy background and government and teachers' beliefs in the value and status of classical subjects, especially the Latin language as an aid to learning other languages and as a support for developing and improving students' English literacy. There is some overlap with the literature review co-authored by Holmes-Henderson and Kelly for the British government (Holmes-Henderson and Kelly, 2022) and a recent piece by myself about provision of teaching and resources in the Bulletin of the Council of University Classics Departments (Hunt, 2022a). I hope to develop further some of these ideas and draw out some discussions about resources, pedagogy and learning aims for possible future directions of classical languages learning at the primary level.

CLASSICAL DIFFUSION

At Howard University, the only historically Black university in the United States with a Classics department, campus leaders decided in 2021 to eliminate that department after a three-year review of its academic programs. The response was vehement and swift, with students, faculty, and alumni condemning the decision as a case of administrative overreach. The philosopher Cornel West described the divestment from the Classics curriculum as a ‘spiritual catastrophe’ for the institution. Few missed the irony that Toni Morrison, one of Howard's most celebrated alumni, studied with Frank Snowden, Jr., a renowned professor of Classics, and received a ‘minor’ in that field as an undergraduate; or that the central inspiration for Morrison's Beloved was a fugitive slave woman named Margaret Garner who became known as ‘the modern Medea’ for having decided (in 1856, in flight from her master's agents) that it was better to kill her children than see them returned to enslavement in the American South. Others would point to the long tradition of transformational Black thinkers who admit to having been inspired by the classics, including Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Training transferable skills: Using “SPARK” as a stepping stone to career readiness, social engagement, and program relevance

Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching GermanEarly View FORUM Training transferable skills: Using “SPARK” as a stepping stone to career readiness, social engagement, and program relevance Anita McChesney, Corresponding Author Anita McChesney [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0002-0738-1411 Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA Correspondence Anita McChesney, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author Anita McChesney, Corresponding Author Anita McChesney [email protected] orcid.org/0000-0002-0738-1411 Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, USA Correspondence Anita McChesney, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. Email: [email protected]Search for more papers by this author First published: 20 April 2023 https://doi.org/10.1111/tger.12229Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Early ViewOnline Version of Record before inclusion in an issue RelatedInformation

Kazimierz Majewski: A Marxist among Classicists

There were few Marxist sympathizers among Polish classicists decimated during World War II. How they fared during the tense and uncertain first postwar decade depended on their Communist connections and personality. Kazimierz Majewski (1903–1981), a classicist from Lviv, commanded quasi-universal respect in the academic community – despite his Communist views – because of his scholarly, organizational, and didactic achievements. Tasked with organizing and inaugurating a new Polish University in Wrocław in 1945, he contributed to creating three thriving classical departments – philology, ancient history, and archaeology – a scholarly society, academic journals, and a vibrant academic community. When he moved to Warsaw four years later, he founded an institute for material culture, developed a multidisciplinary research team, and launched within the Soviet bloc two major archaeological excavation projects, in Olbia and in Novae, where generations of archaeologists learned how to perform fieldwork and communicate its results internationally through regular publications and cooperation. Through his Party connections, he protected and ensured support for colleagues less fortunate in this respect.

Strange Meeting at Salihiyeh: Who Discovered (or Encountered, or Identified, or Invented) Dura-Europos, and When?

The centenary of the establishment of the Department of Classics at the University of Kraków coincides with that of the beginnings of the study of the ‘Pompeii of the Syrian Desert.’In spring 1920, British Indian soldiers digging in the ruins known as Salihiyeh overlooking the Euphrates accidentally revealed ancient paintings. Recorded by archaeologist James Henry Breasted, these discoveries would soon lead to further excavations by Franz Cumont (1922–1923), and eventually to the great Yale-French Academy expedition under Mikhail Rostovtzeff (1928–1937). By then the site was famous as ‘Dura-Europos,’giving us remarkable insights into Hellenistic Greek, Parthian, Roman, early Christian and Jewish life in the Middle East. Not the least of the discoveries related to the soldiers of Dura’s Roman garrison. This paper traces the history of the revelation—and, in part, invention—of Dura-Europos in the 1920s. It is a story of eminent scholars, but also of others who actually revealed the evidence: soldiers, both officers and men, of the armies of the British and French empires which dominated the region at the time. Today, at a time of ‘decolonisation’of scholarship, the very formulation ‘Dura-Europos’itself is a subject of contention.

Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors

‘I Still See the Elitism’. Classical languages and the language of class at Liverpool

AbstractThe article discusses the issue of access to Classical education in general and Greek and Latin language in particular currently experienced by working-class students in the UK, both at high school and at University level. It then focuses specifically on the provision of Classical languages in the Liverpool region, traditionally an area of deprivation and a focal point of Classics poverty. The article details the results from a survey conducted on 68 students of the Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology of the University of Liverpool, which shows that even when the cohort is not predominantly middle class, feelings of marginalisation and estrangement continue to be felt by students. Finally, it suggests a number of recommendations to address these concerns, tackle elitism, and promote inclusion.

Numismatics & Bibliographic Description: How Rutgers University Libraries Described Coins with MODS

Realia pose challenges when utilizing bibliographic metadata standards. Rutgers University Libraries, in collaboration with Rutgers University’s Classics Department, created a large digital library collection of ancient Roman coins in RUcore, Rutgers University’s Community Repository. RUcore records use Metadata Object Description Standard (MODS) for descriptive metadata and many custom fields. Therefore, it was necessary to adapt numismatic description to fit this structure. During the planning stage of the project, Numismatic Description Standard (NUDS), a numismatic database standard implemented and maintained by the American Numismatic Society (ANS), and VRA Core, an art-centered XML metadata standard created by the Visual Resources Association, provided valuable insights. However, this project faced challenges in terms of interoperability and time constraints that required altering the team’s approach to this unique set of resources in a digital library environment. Key issues were encoding B.C.E. dates in a machine-readable format for optimal searching and browsing, developing local controlled vocabularies, providing subject access to the iconography on coins, and the research-intensive work of metadata description. This article provides “how to” information, as well as a critical analysis of lessons learned and opportunities for improvement as the linked data landscape has changed both bibliographic and numismatic description.

About the Authors

About the Authors

THE RELEVANCE OF THE APPLYING AND DEVELOPMENT OF ADDITIONAL TEACHING PROGRAMS AT THE MORPHOLOGICAL DEPARTMENTS OF MEDICAL UNIVERSITIES

Traditions in the education of any country have always been the basis for building a national educational system, since only folk traditions accepted in society and tested by life are axiomatic. The need to meet the current and future needs of society, the economy, and the labor market forces the departments of medical universities to seriously transform teaching programs, technologies, and educational policy in general to meet the current and dynamically changing demands of society. This article aims to summarize the experience of creating, implementing and developing additional teaching programs at the morphological departments of medical universities in Russia and neighboring countries. As materials for the study, the content of the reports of the interregional workshop «Relevance of the implementation of additional teaching programs in anatomical departments» within the framework of the XII National Congress with international participation «Ecology and human health in the North» (December 2, 2021, Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Analysis of the materials presented at the workshop showed that all additional teaching programs implemented at the departments or on the scale of the university can be implemented at the pre-university stage, at the level of all specialist courses, residency in various clinical specialties and advanced training in the system of continuing medical education. In the conditions of growing competition in the market of educational services, the search for sources of additional funding, medical universities are actively transforming, striving to meet the needs of specialists of all levels of training. forgings. Under these conditions, the classical departments of fundamental medical education are faced with the urgent task of finding new directions for increasing effective activity, including full-scale participation in the implementation of various levels of additional teaching programs, including undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At the same time, the introduction of new teaching programs and forms of education should not destroy the classical methods and approaches, the effectiveness of which has been tested by time, primarily with the use of classical anatomical preparations and technologies.

Introduction

The University of Florida Classics Graduate Student Symposium is an annual meeting of graduate students organized and hosted by the graduate students of the Classics Department of the University of Florida. Every year, under the supervision of Dr. Eleni Bozia, and with the generous support of the Rothman Endowment of the Classics Department and the Center for Greek Studies, we pose questions and invite consideration of topics that push the boundaries of our field in an attempt to interpret antiquity, modernity, and their intersection. Since October 2017, we have been welcoming graduate students from the United States and Europe whose research is invested in different fields in the humanities and engaging with them in constructive discussions that illuminate the Greco-Roman world as well as current social, political, and cultural issues.

The LSU Department of Classics in the Pre-War and Post-War Period

This article analyzes the history of the Department of Classical Philology at Leningrad University from 1938 to 1946, except when the department was evacuated to Saratov during the Blockade of Leningrad. Documentation from the archival collections (the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg and the Joint Archive of St. Petersburg State University) and memoirs (mainly those of O. M. Freidenberg) were used. The study of the curriculum of the department, introduced in 1938, allowed us to draw a conclusion about the comprehensive historical-philological training of students, which had its roots in the pre-revolutionary times. It has been established that the policy of the head of the department, O. M. Freidenberg, of promoting young personnel in the department (with the handover of courses to them, not always rationally justified, in the main department) contributed to a conflict situation which led to a public discussion in May 1946 at the academic council of the department she headed. This meeting should not be categorized as an ideological campaign: it was based on professional disagreement. The scandalous nature of B. L. Galerkina’s and N. V. Vulich’s defense was due not so much to personal motives as to scientific differences in the views on the tasks of classical philology between O. M. Freidenberg and representatives of the “old” school. Dissertations turned out to be hastily done, the reason for which was the material factor.

Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

Grave Stele of Girl with Doves: A Beloved Child

Grave Stele of Girl with Doves: A Beloved Child HELAINE L. SMITH There is, in a sunlit, quiet corner of one of the Greek galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, perhaps its loveliest Parian marble: a grave stele,1 just under 3-feet tall, of a little girl holding two pet doves (Fig. 1). My attention was first drawn to her by Claireve Grandjouan, for years the honored Department Chair of the Hunter Classics Department. And ever since, when at the museum alone or with a friend, I’ve looked at this piece, reliably there except for a brief sojourn in 2016 at the Getty. Back now, it sits again in rooms with other stelae of lesser beauty, some of which depict children holding flowers or warriors holding oil flasks2 —objects that signify, rather than arion 29.3 winter 2022 Grave Stele of Girl with Doves. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Fletcher Fund 1927. 86 grave stele of girl with doves: a beloved child reveal, the life of the deceased. This stele, though, is full of life and beauty, and makes one want to discover, insofar as possible, what makes it so moving. Of the other stelae, many conform to a stylized pattern. Carved in higher relief than the child, and more coarsely, the dead figures are seated on chairs, with mourners standing behind or to the side and grasping in their right hands the right hand of the deceased in a gesture of farewell. Despite the handshake, the dead appear motionless in body and mind: they look off into space rather than to figures present in the same plane. A few stelae retain their pediments—the little girl with doves does not—and the extant pediments have corner Sphinxes3 and a center Siren with spread wings and the ritualized hand placement signifying grief, one on the heart, the other on the head. Family groups are common, but the little girl with doves stands alone. And children, when they are present on stelae, are smaller in size than the adults but have adult body proportions. The stele of the little girl defies every one of these conventions. Its excellence lies in what makes anything a masterpiece— compositional balance and purity, the relationship between parts, the way, specifically, the soft, rounded curves of the body and the vertical folds of the garment complement each other, the way the straight lines themselves are modified by diamond-shaped diagonals, the masterful creation of light surface and dark shadow, with its splendid illusion of depth, and the quietness that shadow and open space together impart. Details of hair, fingertips and toes are exquisitely incised, the shape of the child’s body beneath the drapery quietly molded, with the naturalness of the pose defining a specific moment that is also a passage to eternity. And there is something more—details that speak directly to us through the centuries to reveal how beloved this child was to the family commissioning the stele. The presentation of beloved children is, in fact, a recurring feature in ancient hymn, epic, and drama.4 When Athena Helaine L. Smith 87 brushes aside the arrow meant for Menelaus, she does so as gently as a mother might brush a fly from the face of her sleeping child (Hom. Il. 4.130-131). There is instance after lovely instance of the indulgent parent. When Nausicaa tells her “papa dear” that she must take on the task of household laundry, he immediately understands what she really has in mind and, without saying what he knows, gives her a fine wagon and mules (Hom. Od. 6.66-70). When tiny Artemis perches on her father’s knee and asks for gift after gift, Zeus smiles and grants her all she asks and more (Callim. Hymn 3.440 ). When Hector lived, he would, Andromache says, place Astyanax on his knee at feasts and feed him “only marrow and the rich flesh of sheep” (Hom. Il. 22.500-501). Older children care as lovingly for younger ones. When “Doso” ceases nursing Demophoon, his four sisters rush to his side to cradle, bathe and soothe their baby brother (Hom. Hymn Dem. 284-291). The...

Galenus van Pergamum – arts, filosoof, retoricus

This article discusses a new course on Galen and ancient medicine (Galen: Physician, Philosopher, Rhetorician) developed by the Classics department of the Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum and the Galen research group of Utrecht University in the period of 2017-2021. First, the motivation behind this joint venture is explained in terms of the neglect so far suffered by Galen in Dutch secondary education, the suitability of his writings for students of Greek, particularly those of the fifth form, and its potential as a vehicle for interdisciplinary teaching. Next, the contents and structure of the course, in combination with some suggestions for its use are expounded. Finally, the course is evaluated in light of the experiences of and evaluations by teachers and students who have worked with the course.