Issue 6
July 2000
When Argus, the hundred-eyed guard animal (and
also the name of Wesleyanís student newspaper) was killed by Hermes
(Jupiterís hit-man, and the name of Wesleyanís alternative
campus paper), some part of him survived death. His eyes were saved
by Juno and set in the tail of her peacock.
Argus, you lie low; the light you had in so many eyes is extinguished,We have had a great response from alumni for the past issues so keep the news coming, to the address listed below or to e-mail (dsierpinski@wesleyan.edu). Please let us know what else you would like to see in Junoís Peacock, and thanks to all of you who sent in information for this issue. Logo by Cindie Cagenello (ë88).
and your hundred points of light are now all dark.
But Juno saved the eyes, and set them in the feathers of her peacock:
she filled its tail with jewels as bright as stars.
(Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.720-73)
FACULTY DOINGS
CARLA ANTONACCIO has
been promoted to full professor as of May 2000 and will serve as the new
Chair of the department next year. Carla has been on sabbatical this
year as she held a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Fellowship
at the National Humanities Center, Research Triangle Park in North Carolina,
focusing on the archaeology of ancient colonialism. The book Excavating
Colonization is under contract with the University of Texas Press.
As co-director of the Morgantina Project, Carla will be studying finds
from previous seasons with two graduate students (including Cashman Prince
ë92, now studying at Stanford) in the summer of 2000. She will also
be working with a draftsman and architect to assist in documentation as
she continues to work on the final publication of the site (for the series
Morgantina
Studies, Princeton University Press). Last summer she traveled to work
in the archives of the project at Princeton University and consulted with
John Kenfield (Rutgers University), who is publishing the architectural
terracottas from the site. Carlaís article ìWarriors, Traders, Ancestors:
the ëHeroesí of Lefkandi,î in Images of Ancestors (Århus Sturies
in Mediterranean Archaeology) is scheduled for publication in 2000
or 2001, and she is preparing an article on ìSiculo-geometric and the Sikels:
Identity and Material Culture in Eastern Sicilyî in Greek Identity in
the Western Mediterranean, K. Lomas, E.J. Brill, Leiden. Carla
wrote three book reviews this year: R. Leighton, Siciliy before History
[Cornell 1999], Bryn Mawr Classical Review, vol. 11 [2-11-2000],
and in press is B. Eder, Argolis Lakonien Messenien: Vom Ende der mykenischen
Palastzeit bis zur Einwanderung der Dorier [Vienna 1998], American
Journal of Archaeology, and I. Malkin, The Returns of Odysseus
[California 1998], American Journal of Philology. Carla gave a lecture
on Lefkandi at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in October
2000, and on her book project at UNC Greensboro on February 2000 and for
the AIA in Durham, NC in March 2000. She also served as respondant
at the annual Ancient Studies colloquium at Johns Hopkins University on
September 1999. She planned and chaired the open session on Greek
and Roman art at the College Art Association annual meeting (February 2000,
New York City). Carla attended a colloquium on Hellenistic city planning
in Sicily given by her University of Virginia colleague Malcolm Bell, at
the Center for the Advanced Study of the Visual Arts (National Gallery
of Art, Washington, D.C.) on April 2000. Carla continues to be Co-Editor
of the Old World Archaeology Newsletter. Her many professional
contributions include her appointment as the AIA representative to the
Placement Committee of the American Philological Association, and a Secretary
of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. She has also
been invited to serve on a committee of the Register of Professional Archaeologists.
Carla was also elected as Wesleyanís representative to the Connecticut
State Conference of the American Association of University Professors,
and still serves as chair of the Collections Advisory Committee at Wesleyan.
DEBRA HAMEL who taught LAT 201 (Catullus and Cicero) last year, returned as a visiting faculty member in the Spring ë00 to teach GRK 102 (Introductory Greek). Debra was also a Guest Lecturer in Andy Szegedy-Maszakís class, Greek History, and talked about Pericles and generalship in classical Athens. Her plans next year are to finish several writing projects such as a paper on the Athenian military offense of ìlipotaxionî and a paper on Demosthenes 24 against Timokrates. To find out what classics courses are being offered this summer at more than forty institutions, check out Debraís Web Site: (http://www.dhamel.com/summer).
MARILYN A. KATZ published two pieces this year: ìWomen and Democracy in Ancient Greece,î in Contextualizing Classics: Ideology, Performance,Dialogue, ed. T. Falkner, N. Felson, D. Konstan (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999) 41-68, and ìReview Essay: Sappho and Her Sisters: Women in Ancient Greece,î Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 25.2 (2000) 505-31. She also gave a talk at Yale University in October 1999 for the Department of Classics Seminar Series. It was entitled: ìThe Character of Penelope: Odyssey 18î. Marilyn was elected member of the Professional Responsibilities Committee of the American Philological Association, 1997-2000. Other professional responsibilities included serving as a referee for Classical Philology.
SCOTT MCGILL came to us from Yale University where he is presently a Ph.D. candidate. He will be teaching a class there on ìVirgilís Aeneid and Its Reception in Antiquityî next year. Scott was a Visiting Faculty Member of the Classical Studies Department for the Spring ë00 and taught LAT 202: Ovid: Metamorphoses.


CHRIS PARSLOW will be the new Chair of the Archaeology Program this coming year. Chris served his second year on the Educational Policy Committee as Chair. He has been an active member, since 1992, of the Committee on International Studies at Wesleyan, and is also the campus representative for the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, where Wesleyan sent one student for the Spring semester, Laura Elliott. He is co-editor of the Old World Archaeology Newsletter (OWAN), and serves on the Committee on Archives of his professional society, the Archaeological Institute of America. The main focus of his research is his ongoing project of excavation, documentation, and publication of the Praedia (ìPropertiesî) of Julia Felix, a complex of luxuriously decorated baths, gardens, and public entertainment spaces in Pompeii. He spent the past year researching the material remains from last summerís excavations and has produced the following articles: ìPreliminary Report of the 1999 Fieldwork Project in the Praedia Juliae Felicis (Regio 2.4), Pompeii,î forthcoming in the Rivista di Studi Pompeiani, and ìLavori in Corso, 1999: Saggi nei Praedia di Giulia Felice,î in Pompeii -- Vesuvius AD 79: Semestrale di Informazione e di Cultura, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, 3 (Fall-Winter, 1999-2000) 3-4. Cambridge University Press has invited Chris to write a college-level book on Pompeii. In March Chris gave a public lecture at the Department of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of Cophenhagen, Denmark entitled ìDomestic vs. Public Architecture in the Praedia of Julia Felix in Pompeii.î In October Chrisí book review on Pompeian society, Paul Zankerís Pompeii: Public & Private Live (Cambridge, MA) appeared in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, an electronic journal. Congratulations to Chris and Christina on their upcoming wedding in August in Denmark.
MICHAEL ROBERTS completed his term as Book Review Editor and member of the Editorial Board of the New England Classical Journal this year. During 1999-2000 he has kept busy with professional service to the community of scholars of late antiquity, as well as with outreach to colleagues and students at the high school and college level in Connecticut. He continues as a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Traditio and serves on the board of the Classical Association of Connecticut. Michael spoke on a panel discussing liaison between high schools and colleges at the Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of Connecticut (Trinity College, Hartford) in October 1999, and was judge of a Declamation Contest and participated in a workshop on studying classics in college at the Connecticut State Latin Day this past May. He continues to be an area advisor for Latin literature for the Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. His scholarship this past year includes articles on: ìThe Last Epic of Classical Antiquity: Generic Continuity and Innovation in the Vita Sancti Martini of Venantius Fortunatusî; ìCreation in Ovid and the Latin Poets of Late Antiquityî; and ìThe Verse Correspondence of Venantius Fortunatusî. His ìFortunatusí Elegy on the Death of Galswintha (Carm. 6.5),î will appear in R. Mathisen and D. Shanzer (eds.), Reading the History of Late Roman Gaul. Michael also reviewed F. Felgentreu, Claudians praefationes: Bedingungen, Beschreibungen und Wirkungen einer poetischen Kleinform, for Classical Review.In addition he has presented papers at Yale University, (ìThe Last Epic of Classical Antiquityî), the Annual Meeting of the American Philological Association in Dallas, Texas, December 1999 (ìCreation in Ovidî), Brown University (ìRome Personified, Rome Epitomizedî) and Wesleyan University, Arts and Humanities Luncheon, (ìThe Death of a Princess: Poetry and History in Merovingian Gaulî).
ANDY SZEGEDY-MASZAK. Andy's many university services included the Advisory Commitee, with a term as vice-chair during the Fall of 1999, and the search committee for a new Vice President for Academic Affairs. He made presentations to the Liberal Arts Forum in September 1999, the NewYork alumni club in October 1999 and March 2000, the Friends of the Davison Art Center in March 2000, and the alumni of the Class of 1950 during Reunions. Andy's publications included: "Ellen G. D'Oench" for the portfolio "11 x 11 x 11" [Wesleyan, 1999]; "Classically Modern," [Toledo Museum of Art: 2000]; and Review of Clifford Ashby, Classical Greek Theatre: Theater Vol. 30, no. 1. Andy also gave many outside lectures. They are: "The Importance of Classics," Asbury College (KY), October 1999; "The Light of Athens," Transylvania University (KY), October 1999; "Thucydides," Columbia University Literature/Humanities Program, October 1999; "On the Track of Ulysses," NYU, November 1999; "Photographing Antiquity," Brown University, November 1999; "Why do we still read Homer?" Glastonbury Library/Connecticut Humanities Council, January 2000 [now solicited by The American Scholar for publication next fall]; and "Misunderstood Oedipus," Wallingford Library, March 2000. Other professional activities included Andy's review of manuscripts for Classical Antiquity, TAPA, Prentice-Hall, and Hackett. He also served as Chair of the Committee for the Stinnecke Prize for undergraduate Classics at Princeton.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
A record number of twelve majors graduated
from the Classical Studies Department this year: Gerald Cahill, Christopher
Churchill, Alison Chwalek, Michael Chyu, Karen Ferreira, Jesse Kercheval,
Joseph Meyer, Sarah Rosenberg, Joanna Smith, Steven Staats, Sarah Wilkes,
and Ku Yoo. Congratulations to Chris Churchill for being elected into the
Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa for Spring 2000 and for receiving high
honors for his senior thesis.. Chris also received two academic prizes:
the Sherman prize which is awarded to students for excellence in
Classics and the Spinney prize for excellence in written work on Classical
Studies. Gerald Cahill received the Ingraham prize for excellence
in Greek and the Prentice Prize for excellence in German. Jesse Kercheval,
Joseph Meyer, Steven Staats, Sarah Rosenberg, and Sarah Wilkes also received
a share of the Spinney prize. David Hanlon ë01 (Concerto Competition)
received the Samuel C. Silipo Prize awarded for the most valuable player(s)
of the Wesleyan Orchestra.
Three Classics majors wrote senior theses or essays and were awarded honors:
Christopher Churchill -- ìThe Vocabulary of Revolution: Rebellion, Accession and the Coins of 68-69 AD"
Jesse Kercheval -- "A Multimedia Review of Vergil's First Eclogue"
Steven Staats-- ìNature and Anxiety: Epicurean Ethics in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura" (senior essay)
Three Classical Civilization majors wrote senior theses and were awarded honors:
Joseph Meyer--"Mithraism, Religious Prominence and Structural Differentiation in the Roman World"
Sarah Rosenberg--"The Choicest Gift of the Gods: Pantomime and the Early Roman Empireî
Sarah Wilkes--"Common Ideological Tendencies in General-Audience Greek Historiographyî.
Also, Joanna Smith, a major in Classical Civilization, wrote a senior essay entitled ìThe Archaeology of Herodotusî.
The department regularly makes small grants to students from the Squire Fund, which helps cover part of the cost of study abroad or projects, and programs such as those at the American Academy at Rome or American School at Athens. This year Joanna Smith was given a grant to work during the summer for two weeks in the Crimea on an excavation of a Greek settlement site of Chersonesos. The project is run by two professors at the University of Texas. Gerry Cahill was awarded a grant to defray costs of attending the Latin/Greek Institute this summer in New York City where he will be taking an intensive 7-week class in upper-level Latin.
Future Plans for Graduating
Seniors:
Alison Chwalek is in the process of interviewing with two firms--one
for a financial analyst position and another for a benefits consulting
position--both of which are in the Hartford Area. After working for
a few years she plans on going on to business school, working towards a
M.B.A. or M.S. in Accounting or both.
Gerry Cahill, after studying more Latin at the CUNY Latin/Greek Institute this summer, is going to Guatemala to do relief work there. In the Fall ë00 Gerry, who has received a grant from the DAAD, will be in Germany, most likely at the Free University of Berlin, studying the depictions of wrestling in ancient Greece.
Chris Churchill will be living in Boston and working for the summer at Harvardís Center for European Studies. During the course of the year he will be taking intermediate Greek and an accelerated German program at Harvardís Extension School. He plans on applying to graduate school for admission in the Fall of 2001.
Mike Chyu is planning on attending medical school in about 2 or 3 years. In between, he is considering working as an emergency medical technician near home in New York or looking for clinical research positions in hospitals in New York City.
Karen Ferreira will be spending her summer working at Camp Ramsbottom in Rehoboth, Massachusetts for her fourth season there. In September she will be relocating to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she will be interning at St. Elizabethís Shelter ( a homeless shelter) for one year. Karen would like to thank the department and says: ìItís been a great four years, and I really appreciate all that both you and the professors do for the studentsî.
Joey Meyer will be living and working in Boston, and has interviewed for teaching jobs.
Sarah Rosenberg will be working as a clinical research associate at the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research, which is part of the Childrenís Hospital in Boston. The acronym for the center is CeASAR, and Sarah says: ìVery fitting name for a classics major, I thoughtî. She hopes to attend medical school in the fall of 2002.
Jesse Kercheval plans on working at Brown University next year in the position of WebMaster for a couple of departments, handling all web development and coordination. In September Jesse will begin taking Greek at Brown, in preparation for applying to graduate school in the future.
Joanna Smith plans on taking some time off to earn money for Graduate School for Classical archaeology programs. She is in the process of applying for jobs in Los Angeles, CA, for the moment.
Sarah Wilkes plans on living and working in Boston.
Ku
Yoo will be working next year as a Latin teacher in Brooks School in
Andover, Massachusetts.

Candid
photos of Classical Studies majors and faculty at End-of-Year picnic on
May 11th at Andy and Elizabeth's house
Posed photos at Andy and Elizabeth's house:
(1) Top Left: Chris Churchill and Joey Myer; (2) Top Right: Karen
Ferreira, Chris Parslow, Chris Churchill, and Joanna Smith; (3) Bottom
Left: Joanna Smith, Karen Ferreira, Sarah Wilkes, and Mercedes Barletta;
(4) Bottom Right: Front Row--Aleksandr (Sasha) Rossman, Ku Yoo, Joey
Meyer, and David Hanlon; Back Row--Joanna Smith, Karen Ferreira, Sarah
Wilkes, Mercedes Barletta, and Elizabeth Bobrick.
Graduation Photos of Classics, CCIV, and MDST
Majors in addition to students who
have taken courses in the department.
(1) Top Left: Sarah Wilkes with Andy and Elizabeth;
(2) To p Right: Sarah Rosenberg and
Andrew Scott; (3) Middle Left: Jesse Kercheval and
Ku Yoo; (4) Bottom Left: Jim Pesek and
Jordan Kraemer (MDST major); and (5) Bottom Right:
Steven Staats and Sarah Wilkes.
Clark Maines (Professor of Art and Art History) and Jessica Clark (ë02) won a small faculty-student research grant for work to be carried out in Soissons, France during the summer of 2000.
STUDY ABROAD
College Year in Athens
Fall 2000
Since I am a classical civilization and archaeology major whose main
interest is in Ancient Greece, the decision to go to College Year in Athens
was an easy one for me to make. I wanted to finally see all the things
I had spent years looking at in books or slide shows and see the country
that had inspired so many amazing dramatists, philosophers and historians
of the ancient world. Having been back from Greece for a little over
5 months now when I think back on my experience several things come to
mind. Most prominently is that Athens is probably one of the dirtiest
cities I have ever been to. Mopeds are another thing that stick out
and in particular the fact that their drivers believe the sidewalks are
an extension of the road built for them and not pedestrians. The
plethora of stray animals also comes to mind. I found myself always
walking with my head down for fear of stepping in . . . . . .
Anyway, regardless of the aspects of Greece which make me happy
to be home in America, there are so many things that I miss. While in Greece,
I visited some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life.
From the monasteries of Meteora or a hike through the Sumeria Gorge in
Crete or a sunset seen sitting on a roof top in Ia, Santorini, I constantly
had my breath taken away. The rich history of Greece rivaled its
natural beauty. It was amazing to be living in a modern metropolis
and gaze up to see the Parthenon, a temple over two thousand years old.
I saw over twenty temples while I was in Greece. The thing that always
popped into my mind was 'if I was a god, this is where I'd want my temple.'
The country's history set on a backdrop of exquisite natural beauty made
it clear to me why the Olympian gods had chosen Greece as their homeland.
So, despite any flaws, Greece is a magical place and a country which everyone
should visit.
Mercedes
Barletta (ë01)
GREECE
Where Helios splits a sea of clouds
stretching out his golden fingers
to nourish the gray blue olive trees
Where summits emerge from sea foam graves
and the water is kissed by delicate moonbeams
Where mountains carry monasteries on their shoulders
Where cascading rivers of rain cleanse the skin of its vast city
Athens
Where an afternoon sky turns from brilliant blue to
fiery orange, red and pink
and scatters brushstrokes of gold
while gently guiding the sun's descent
bringing a starry night
the stage for mythology's actors
Fall 1999
Excerpts from journal by Karen Ferreira -- Greece 1999; Submitted July 16th, 1999
Saturday, 1/23 11:53 P.M.
Temple of Poseidon. Orange
Trees. Cats and Dogs everywhere. The loud singing of the ever-expressive
Greek tongue.
The first thing I
noticed upon leaving the plane was the scent- the utterly foreign aroma
of oily smog, sea and foreign vegetation. Stairways upon stairways, plants
spilling over onto them and into the space of sidewalks where pedestrians,
mopeds and even cars compete for space. The three tiers of guards lining
Irodou Attikou, guarding the palace and the National Gardens and the national
pride.
(Ö) These are all
charmers whose job it is to lure passers-by into restaurants. Vendors everywhere
at the Friday Market, the bright flowers and fruit against the green vegetation
against the white balconied buildings.
Our apartment, 27-29 Kleomenous,
is huge. Marble floored foyer; large living room; warm, sizable kitchen;
cavernous bedrooms; all surrounded by a balcony.
Beautiful charms to
protect against the Evil Eye.
From the top of Lykavettos
Hill, one can see short Athens sprawling through the entire valley, protected
by green mountains , with the Akropolis shining in the middle and the sea
shining beyond it.
Thursday 3/18 1:22 P.M.
(Ö) Z. and I arose early
and set off for the National Museum to inspect the Phrasiklea for our essay
comparing her with the Peplos Kore. Turns out the National Museum is free
if you simply whip out the phrase ìSpoudahoume istoria klassikh sthn Ayhnaî
and ID to prove it. So there I am, standing back from our statue friend,
holding my pen in the air and squinting to figure out if her belt really
is slanting whilst Zoe stands beside her, jumping up and down to get a
better view of what might be buttons on her shoulders. And in walks a tour
group.
We leave fifteen minutes
before Iím supposed to be at class. 10 minutes later we realize weíre a
bit lost. So weíre wandering around streets in the general area of Omonia,
and we keep going into CD stores. Zoe buys a CD. We round a corner, find
a main drag- from which policemen are flooding. Behind them is a lot of
loud noise emitted from people MARCHING (ìHope theyíre not Kurds,î quoth
Zoe.) These people fill up the width of the street from building to building
and go back as far as the eye can see. Not to mention the sign with something
scrawled in RED Greek letters.
We skirted around eventually
ended up on Stadiou. Got down to Plaka, where Zoe purchases a few items.(Ö)
9:33 P.M., March 27th, Saturday [After returning
from a trip to Egypt]
Arrive here. Cat on airpot
luggage conveyor belt- We were BACK! But the taxi ride- oh dear.
Kosovo- oh Kosovo. We had
heard nothing about the bombing- it began when we were in Egypt. Found
out from our volatile taxi driver. Americans?- Clinton is like Hitler
to the Greeks. Vietnam II- you can bomb Iraq-itís flat-Yugoslavia will
retaliate for having Allied troops in Macedon (Skopia to the Greeks) ?
Serbs were on Greek side during the War for Independence (and this was
Independence Day, March 25th) ? America is helping the Albanians-
That night we all met at
Thanassiís for gyros and kalamakia- where the news was blasting in Greek-
I felt awful afterwards (Ö) we bought a British paper (The Telegraph) and
a Wall Street Journal- read in Kolonaki Square for a little while- then
headed home, each in a personal Smog of Depression. That line from the
Iliad kept going through my head:
Strong souls of heroes hurled in their
multitudes to the house
of Hades
but gave their bodies to the delicate
feasting of dogs, of
birds.
Sarah and I had a long talk on the issue(s) (Ö) especially on the import every U.S. decision has on the rest of the world and how blissfully unaware of this we are, how we take it for granted; how a simple PASSPORT separates us from the rest of the world.
Sunday 4/18 6:30 P.M.
Olympia. The lushest, greenest
place in Greece, full of olive trees and a slow muddy river. Wow.
There were many more adventures
that were never ever recorded in my journal, but instead transmitted via
e-mail to friends and family. These included the joyous beauty of Greek
Easter and the odd morning spent searching for Ancient Sparta, which I
found only after encountering a Gypsy settlement far on the opposite side
of town. My stay in Greece was extraordinary; I saw a great deal of the
country, met many interesting and friendly Greeks. Explored a new culture,
and had a fabulous time.
Karen Ferreira (ë00)
Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome
Crawling around inside Etruscan
tombs, walking through the Forum, visiting Hadrian's villa in Tivoli, and
studying Greek temples in Sicily are just a few highlights of the I.C.C.S.
program in Rome. For me, the best part of the program was actually
seeing the places and monuments that I had studied for so long and had
seen only in textbooks. The "Centro" was a wonderful experience and
living in Rome was one of the best times in my life. I made wonderful
friends, all highly motivated students of Classics (you never even had
to ask the opening question, "What's your major?"). The program was challenging,
yet I felt prepared, especially after taking the Roman History course with
Chris Parslow. The many field trips enhanced the program, and the
week-long field trips, although tiring at times, were fun and interesting.
I also enjoyed the art history class, especially when we visited the Sistine
Chapel. I would encourage any Classics major who is considering
the I.C.C.S. program to apply. I cannot reiterate enough what a wonderful
experience I had studying ancient history and Latin in Rome. I feel
as though Rome has become a second home for me and hopefully I have cemented
a return trip to this "Eternal City" by throwing my coins into the famous
Trevi fountain!
Laura Elliott ('01)
A reception followed most lectures, and after that the speaker
and a group of faculty and students met at a Middletown restaurant for
dinner.
Richard Lim, Smith College, November 10: ìShould a Performer be Denied Baptism? Reconciling Involuntary and Voluntary Group Identities in Late Antiquityî.
Alden Smith, Baylor University, November 17: ìFixos Oculos: Glances of the Epic Heroine in Virgil and Roman Artî. Cartoon provided (right) by Alden Smith.
Leah Himmelhoch, Hobart and William Smith College, December 1: ìChariots of Song: The Politics and Poetics of Fameî.
Jeffrey Henderson, Boston University, December 8: ìGrace and Gall: Aristophanes and His Modern Audiencesî.
Kathleen Coleman, Harvard University, February 9: ìViolence as an Art-Form: Some Roman Artifacts in the Harvard Collections and Elsewhereî.
Kathryn Chew, Vassar College, March 30: ìCrowned Heads: Greek Novel Heroines and Early Christian Female Martyrsî.
Sara R. Johnson, University of Connecticut,
May 4: ìVox Populi in Fiction and History: From Thucydides to Charitonís
Callirhoeî.
The Center for the Humanities sponsored a talk by Josiah Ober, Princeton
University, February 17: ìMaking Citizens: the Debate Over Civic Education
in Democratic Athensî.
Leah Himmelhoch was a Visiting Faculty Member
for the department in 1998-99, teaching GRK 101-102, Intermediate
Greek (The Intellectual Revolution), a Greek Drama lecture class, and an
advanced Greek tutorial on Aeschylus and Pindar. Leah has been teaching
at Hobart and William Smith College and has accepted a l year offer
from Colgate College in Hamilton, New York, for next year.
Elizabeth Bobrick, who is a Visiting Faculty Member for the department, will be teaching CCIV202 Greek Drama in Spring 2001 semester .
ALUMNAE/ALUMNI NEWS
William C. Rowe (í67) William received his Masters in Classics from Washington University after a few years of independent study in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. He is now working at Thomas Jefferson secondary school, in St. Louis. There he has been a part of a special classics program designed to introduce the students to both Greek and Latin and entice them to further study the languages. All ninth-grade students take Greek 1, an introduction to Homeric Greek using Pharrís Homeric Greek, in which they read all of Book 1 of the Iliad. The second year involves more readings in the Iliad using Bennerís fine edition, then usually some of the Odyssey, and often some New Testament at the end. The optional ìGreek 3î course, which students often read via early promotion, typically does a more rapid and intensive Homer unit, with a transition to prose through Herodotus and finally a short dialogue of Plato. William states: ìThis kind of lifelong enjoyment seems to me the highest goal of a high-school program.î Jim Pesek ë03, who took A World of Heroes, Greek History, and Classical Mythology at Wesleyan this year, attended Thomas Jefferson. programs in Latin and Italian in the Department of Modern Languages there. This January 2001, he will be leading a travel-study group to Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Dr. Alida Begina (M.A. í75) Alida is now the Superintendent of Schools in Hamden, CT. She tells us that Sue Palisano (Hyman í81) is her Technology Director.
Denise Donnelly (ë78) Denise is a writer for an employee benefits consulting firm in Boston. Her first book Falconís Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir was published in November 1998. It chronicles her brotherís career as an F-16 fighter pilot, his subsequent battle with ALS, which was induced by exposure to nerve gas and experimental vaccines. She describes the book as ìone manís story of the fight to get the Pentagon to recognize the link between the Gulf War Illnesses and service in the war.î
Tom Kalperis (ë78) Tom has recently realized his life-long dream and became a member of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of the Blind in Greece (a family tradition). He has also been made legal counsel of the organization. Last year he returned to Greece and consulted the oracle at Delphi, which advised him: ìPan metron ariston estin.î
Richard S. Order (í78) Richard is now a partner in the Litigation Firm of Updike, Kelly and Spellacy, in Hartford, CT. He tells us, ìI have written a novel and am looking for a literary agent.î
Peter Gryska (í81) Peter is now the General Manager of Seafood Wholesalers, a food distribution company. He and his family ìcontinue to wander, searching the country for honest seafood.î They are also designing their pool area in a Classical Atrium motif, ìolive branches and grape leaves abound.î His daughter is in the fifth grade and continuing the classical tradition by taking Latin.
Byron Lyons (í84) Byron has graduated from U.Va. with a degree in Architectural History from the School of Architecture. He is now working as a compliance officer and president of a small securities firm in Manhattan but he still hasnít given up the hope that ìsomeday (heíll) find the wherewithal to take on that ëGreat Sataní (American Pop Culture), and win.î
Andy Goldman (í88) Andy successfully defended his doctorate in Classical Archaeology at UNC-Chapel Hill last January, and he now has received the Rodney S. Young Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. There he will ready his dissertation on the Roman-period settlement at Gordion, Turkey for publication. He has just completed a year of teaching at the Intercollegiate Center in Rome where he himself was a student in 1987. He says: ìThe Centro has changed enormously, with a much bigger and better library and a student computer center with on-line and web hook-ups. The students themselves were quite good, and the majority seemed to have enjoyed the program and weathered quite well the various pressures of living abroad in this admittedly intense atmosphere. Very pleasing to teach one of our own, Laura Elliott ë01, and hope that more Wes students will attend in the future.î
Tina Demastrie Lippman (í91) In April, Tina received her Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She now lives in Seattle and works as a Media Cataloger for Corbis Corp., a Bill Gates-owned company with an archive of millions of digital images.
Steven J. Spinner ('91) Steven is the Senior Vice President of Business Development for NBC Internet, a top 10 Internet Web Site. He is living in San Francisco and taking sailing lessons and wine classes. He tells us, ìI manage a team of about 50 professionals who still canít believe that I studied Classics in college.î
Cathy Keane (ë92) Cathy has a Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University from 2000-2002. Her primary task there will be to revise her Penn dissertation for publication. She will also be teaching part-time. This past year she published two reviews in Bryn Mawr Classical Review, and is presently working on two articles on Juvenal. Cathy says: ìI had a great year at Reed College teaching Latin and Humanities. Oregon is a great place to live.î
Cashman Kerr Prince (í92) In September of 1995, Cashman entered the Ph.D. Program in Classics at Stanford University. He has since added a minor in Comparative Literature and is now ABD and writing his dissertation on ìThe Rhetoric of Instruction in Archaic Greek Didactic Poetryî under the direction of Richard Martin. After a trip to the Mediterranean, Richard returned home to chair the Latin Panel for the PAMLA (Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association) conference in Portland, Oregon. Cashman says: ìOne of the speakers was Warren S. Smith (ë62); yes, it is still a small world.î He will speak on ìDeixis and Desire in Sappho fragment 31î at a conference at Delphi in Late June, 2000.
Sean P. Mazer, M.D. (í94) Sean and his wife Amanda live in New York city where they are both residents at New York Presbyterian Hospital Columbia Campus. He will soon be finishing his internal medicine training and will be starting a Cardiology fellowship. They recently took a trip to Morocco and now Sean and Amanda are expecting a baby, due to arrive in June.
Matthew (Matt) Edes-Pierotti (ë95) married Jenny Diamond (Medieval Studies ë97) last June. They are now living in New York City. Jen is working towards her Ph.D. in Art History -- she is in the process of writing her dissertation. Matt has been working at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for the past three years as Director of Information Services. This fall Matt and Jen are moving to London for at least two years. Jen will be researching her dissertation and Matt will be starting at the London Business School. The Classical Studies faculty and staff enjoyed seeing both of them at the Alumni Reunion at Wesleyan.
Nikolaos Apostolides (Nicholas Paul í95) Nikolaos has moved from the US National Gallery of Art to the US Department of Labor (which is just across the street) where he is a Budget Analyst. He says that he hopes to use his financial management skills and expertise for the benefit of the nationís public museums. He wishes to eventually return to the Smithsonian. Nikolaos would like to plan a Classical Studies Reunion for the alumni of 1990-2000 in 2005. If you are interested in helping to coordinate this event please contact him.
Curtis Nelson (ë95). The department received a wedding invitation from Daniel and Linda Murphy announcing the marriage of Curtis to Krystal Murphy. The wedding will take place on June 24, 2000 at The Anchorage Museum of History in Anchorage, Alaska. Best wishes to Curtis and Krystal, from the Classical Studies Department.
Lindsay Nichols (ë96) Sarah P. Morris, Professor and Chair at Department of Classics, University of California, Los Angeles, notified us that Lindsay is currently applying to law schools. She had been teaching Latin at Alconquin Regional High School in Northboro, Mass.
Charles (Chip) Vance (ë96) Chip reports: ìI hope this communique finds everyone in Middletown well. I have a goodly amount to report, not least of which is that I was married on April 1st in Roanoke, Virginia, to a wonderful woman now known as Virginia Trice Vance. We met while working in Washington, DC and are settling into a life of marital bliss in our new apartment just outside of Boston. I am currently working as a legislative aide to a State Representative at the Massachusetts State House, and enjoying myself immensely. Every day brings a new challenge: one day researching the history of health care in Massachusetts, the next analyzing proposals for a new Fenway Park. It's all a great deal of work, but well worth the effort. I anticipate applying to graduate schools this winter, most likely for a joint degree in law and public policy. Please give my best to everyone in the department.î
Brianna Williams (Brianna Smith í97) Brianna is now a Systems Analyst for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs at University of Michigan. She says: ìI still maintain my interest in all things classical.î She met her husband Rob Williams, when she studied abroad during her junior year at College Year in Athens. Together they do web design and network consulting and are in the process of starting up several internet businesses. They have also started their own competitive coed Ultimate Frisbee team in Ann Arbor. Brianna is thinking about attending Business school for an MBA in the fall.
V. Ian Tamayo (í98) After becoming a Case Manager at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, Ian left to become a Investigative Analyst at the Manhattan District Attorneyís Office which he describes as a ìtrulyÖgreat experience since Iíve been able to get both private and public sector exposure to the law.î He has just finished his law school applications and is waiting to hear their replies.
MaryLiz Williamson (ë98) MaryLiz spent last summer in Rome studying Latin with Reginald Foster. She was barely in Connecticut for a week when her apartment caught on fire. An article in the Record Journal, Meriden, CT entitled ìLatin Proves Practical in Fighting Choate Fireî reported: ìLatin teacher Mary Elizabeth Williamson, probably saved Choate Rosemary Hall from an aedis conflagratio when she smelled smoke in her Archbold Hall apartment and alerted the schoolís recruiting office workers. Williamsonís quick action probably helped save the buildingî.
WESCLASSICS on the WWW
Junoís Peacock is now on-line and can be accessed through the
Classical Studies home page on the World-Wide Web. Information
is also available on faculty, current course offerings and requirements
for the Classics and Classical Civilization major, the Old World
Archaeology Newsletter, summer programs and study abroad. There are
also links to other Wes pages, and to our Resources for Archeological and
Classical Studies on the WWW, which was named a ìRecommended Websiteî
by the History Channel. The URL (Universal Resource Locator, or www
address) is http://www.wesleyan.edu/classics/home.html; if you lose
this info you can just go to www.wesleyan.edu and poke around. Also
look for the home page for the new Archaeology Program now being offered
at Wesleyan (http://www.wesleyan.edu/archprog/ARCP.html). We hope
to make further improvements on the home page in the near future.
All of the Wes faculty are on electronic mail as well: for most, the address is the first initial plus last name with no spaces, followed by @wesleyan.edu; this holds for cantonaccio, ebobrick, mkatz, johara, cparslow, mroberts, and dsierpinski. Use no apostrophes or hyphens, and if a name is too long, stop after the second ìzî: aszegedymasz@wesleyan.edu.
Editor: Deborah Sierpinski Tel: (860) 685-2070; Fax: (860) 685-2089 Middletown, Connecticut 06459-0146