Click here to read the Brock News’ coverage of Allison Glazebrook’s tour of eight universities in western Canada to deliver a series of talks on behalf of the Classical Association of Canada. Her talks covered topics connected to gender and sexuality, prostitution, and oratory in the classical Greek world.
On Thursday 14 November, Katharine von Stackelberg delivered a Brock Talk at the St Catharines Public Library titled, “How to Eat a Flamingo: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us About Our Relationship with Food.” In the talk she addressed the food of ancient Rome as a byword for excess and the grotesque: dormice coddled in honey, geese drowned in wine, red mullets boiled alive in glass bowls. But the cuisine of ancient world Rome offers more than feelings of pleasurable disgust, it also prompts questions about what foods represents to the people who consume it. In Apicius’ cookery book from the 2nd century CE, a recipe for braised flamingo provides an opportunity to explore the social, cultural and economic underpinnings of “taste” and examine our own relationship with food, dining, and the holidays.
Click here to hear von Stackelberg discuss the topic with Matt Homes of the One O’Clock Talk on 610 CKTB.
On Tuesday, October 29th, Katharine von Stackelberg spoke about gender lability in the Ancient World an Interdisciplinary Panel discussion of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando titled, “Same Person. Just a Different Sex,” hosted by the Department of History Speaker Series. Don’t miss your opportunity to see the final performances of the play in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts.
Third-year student Emily Jackson holds the Schaus fellowship at the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) this term and reports on her first month in Athens.
The last two weeks of September have been a roller coaster of adjustments in the most positive way possible. I feel as if I have been living in Athens for over a month already with the amount of people I have met, jobs I have started, places and sites I have visited, and plans I have for the upcoming weeks. However, my time here has only just begun, and I can only reflect on positive experiences thus far.
Work within the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG)
Within the Institute, I work alongside another intern (Hilary) from McGill University and occasionally the CIG fellow (Justin) from the University of British Columbia. Within the first two days, Dr. Jonathan Tomlinson (Assistant Director at CIG) and Justin gave us a crash course on how to catalogue the Institute’s library and begin the very long process that is archiving. Both tasks are fairly simple and only require some organizational skill and a good attention span; however, both jobs are so large it can be difficult to notice progress after a single day’s work and that can be disheartening. I have found the task more rewarding when the progress is reflected upon at the end of the week, rather than daily. I also find myself more motivated to continue working knowing I am making some sort of impact.
During my first week at the institute, the sole job for both of us interns was to catalogue new books into our library. Despite the short stacks of new books, this process took us all week. From the stack of monographs, we had to find the correct Library of Congress number, so as to follow our working library system, and ensure that our numbers aligned with the American School’s cataloguing system. Having taken most of the week to complete, we also had to double check a few of our results for specific books the following week. This small task took many hours longer than I had expected.
In the middle of my first week, Dr. Gerry Schaus [Professor Emeritus at Wilfred Laurier University] paid a visit to the CIG to drop off an enormous mound of papers, including correspondence and other things (I just haven’t finished looking through it all). Archiving is a slow, tedious process that has taught me a lot about patience and the importance of being thorough. Doing something correct the first time is a lot better than having to revisit mountains of papers all over again some other day. From collating these papers I have learned a lot about how much effort goes into keeping a small but important organization on its feet for decades. I rather enjoy sorting through the archives and learning about this place; in a way, I find it a lot like reading a history textbook.
Experiences outside of CIG
Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I only work between four to seven hours a day because I have so much free time to explore the city and other parts of the country. So far, in my two short weeks, I have visited (in Athens) the Cycladic museum, the Acropolis, and a night of classical music at the American Institute. On the weekends, since arriving, I have taken a day trip to Lake Vouliagmeni and had an overnight stay in Delphi. Greece has proven to be more than I had expected; Athens alone makes me never want to come back home.
My two favourite experiences outside of CIG have to have been the Acropolis and Delphi. The Acropolis is larger than life, and it is easy to see how such a space was associated with greater beings. It is definitely one thing to learn about the art, architecture and purpose of a place but another to experience the place itself. I found the same goes for Delphi. While standing next to a column at the temple of Apollo, I suddenly felt so small and insignificant. When thinking about the site I understand why both Delphi and the Athenian Acropolis would have felt so spiritual to ancient visitors; they were made to feel bigger than you, more important than you, and the architecture is a sure way of accomplishing that.
What was strange about Delphi was the abandoned part of the site. The gymnasium was inaccessible, having been closed off with a padlock and chains at both entrances, but the temple of Athena Pronaia remained open. I suppose that means I will just have to go back, visit another time and hope that area is open then.
Lake Vouliagmeni was a hidden gem an hour outside Athens — hidden from my knowledge anyway. The lake itself was refreshing, moderately warm and did not require travel by ferry — so it was an easy yes when Hilary suggested we go. I figured it would be a popular tourist site and there would be few Greeks there, but to my surprise, we tourists made up only a handful of the crowd. It seems that a lot of Greek families spend their time tanning by the water and having the little fish peck at their toes as a spa treatment. Personally, I did not enjoy the fish, although the swimming was nice.
These first weeks have been so eventful and exciting it is hard to believe this experience has only just begun. My upcoming weekdays will be filled with other institute lectures and events, Tuesday dart nights at the Red Lion Pub (a CIG tradition), and further exploration into museums and historical Athens. My weekends will involve much more travelling around Greece to see other famous sites and feats of nature. For now, this has been the best September.
Congratulations to our M.A. grads, Heather Roy, Nicole Gavin, Brian Abfal, Natalie Armistead, Vanessa Cimino, and Marina Ekkel, who received their degrees at fall convocation!
Noel and Laura Robertson at a Department of Classics picnic in 1971.
It is with great sadness that we pass along news of the death of Dr. Noel Robertson, Professor Emeritus of Classics at Brock University. Noel died peacefully on September 12, 2019 at the age of 83 in Victoria, BC, and leaves behind his wife Laura Robertson, children, and grandchildren.
Noel was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved at an early age to Fort William, Ontario. He earned his BA at the University of Toronto, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Philology at Cornell University. While a graduate student, he spent time at the American School for Classical Studies at Athens and participated in archaeological excavations at Corinth, where he met his wife and fellow graduate student Laura Fahy. After graduate school he was appointed a fellow at the University of Bristol, and a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University, before beginning his tenure in the Department of Classics at Brock University in 1970. He taught at Brock for 32 years, until his retirement in 2002.
At Brock, Noel chaired the Department of Classics on two occasions (1973-82, 1998-2001), and served on numerous committees. He also served as a member of the board of directors for the Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens (now the Canadian Institute in Greece) from 1978-80, and as Vice-President of the Classical Association of Canada from 1994-96.
Noel authored a large body of scholarly works, with an emphasis on ritual and religious practice in ancient Greek society. He read Latin, Greek, German, and French, and he authored some 80 articles and chapters as well as two books: Festivals and Legends: The Formation of Greek Cities in the Light of Public Ritual(1992) and Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities: The Sacred Laws of Selinas and Cyrene(2009) as well as an edited volume, The Archaeology of Cyprus: Recent Developments(1976). His research at the American School and his utilization of material culture in his scholarship made him a pioneer of the Department’s unique brand of interdisciplinarity.
In lieu of flowers, Noel’s family has asked that donations may be made to: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 6-8 Charlton St., Princeton, NJ 08540-5232; email: [email protected].
Our heartfelt condolences to his wife Laura and all family members. Hold tight to the memories and may they comfort you at this difficult time and in the days ahead.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=noel-deeves-robertson&pid=193913927
https://brocku.ca/humanities/classics/faculty-and-staff/noel-robertson/#publications
Wondering how to use your Classics degree? Department of Classics alumna Alison Innes (MA ’13) has been profiled in Brock’s Weekly Update. Now the Social Media Co-ordinator for the Faculty of Humanities, Innes shares information about humanities and why it matters. Her job includes managing the Brock Humanities Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts and writing stories for The Brock News.
Among her formative travel experiences, Innes recalls, “My most memorable international travel has probably been the study tour of Turkey I did with the Classics Department in the summer of 2009. Being able to see places and objects that I had only ever seen pictures of was transformational. The textbooks rarely ever show you what the back of a statue or facade looks like, so I was looking behind things every chance I got! The trip also gave me a better understanding of how the ancient world connects through to modern day and the way ruins and archaeological discoveries continue to be a part of our societies today.”
The 2019-2020 Brock Talks in the St Catharines Library begin on Wednesday, September 25 with a lecture by Adam Rappold, “Ancient Drama and the Modern Citizen.” The talk will take place in the Mills Room of the St Catharines Public Library (Central Branch). Free admission – all are welcome!
Abstract: Perhaps the greatest difficulty of Democracy, ancient or modern, is that it requires ordinary people to make impactful decisions — often between unpalatable options. This talk examines a number of familiar Greek tragedies to demonstrate that the ancient Athenians attempted to solve this problem through theatre: creating a low stakes, experiential education wherein individual audiences members were allowed to listen to the clashing arguments of towering figures and ultimately choose between options which were at once both morally repellent and righteous. This focus on ambiguity, choice, and education further demonstrates the relevance of tragedy to contemporary society and government.
The Department of Classics is pleased to congratulate the winners of departmental and external awards from the 2018-2019 academic year.
For travel to the Mediterranean:
Graduating student awards:
Achievement awards:
External Awards:
The Department thanks the many donors and organizations who have made it possible to recognize the outstanding achievements of our undergraduate and graduate students.
Latin student’s translation skills among top in North America
“I would suggest that students give Latin a shot, because they may find it comes more easily to them than other things,” Mirosavljevic says. “The department at Brock is very approachable and supportive.”
