Articles by author: egreene

  • Prof. Katharine von Stackelberg discusses Valentine’s Day

    Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | By

    Did you know that in mid-February ancient Roman women were more likely to be struck by a strip of goat skin than gifted a box of chocolate?

    An interview in Pelham Today featured Dr. Katharine von Stackelberg on the ancient and historical traditions that led to modern-day Valentine’s Day celebrations:

    “Modern day Valentine’s Day celebrations may also have roots in the Lupercalia festival, which was traditionally held on Feb. 15. The reasons for the ancient rites aren’t totally clear, but von Stackelberg said it was likely related to good fertility and health. The festival began with an animal sacrifice, followed by the Feast of Lupercal.

    “What would happen is a goat would be ritually sacrificed and the skins would be cut up into thongs. The sources are conflicting but nude or nearly naked men would run around the sacred boundaries of Rome and they would strike women with those bloody strips of goats,” she said. “It was considered very lucky if you as a woman were struck by one of the thongs. If a woman got hit by one of these, it meant you had improved chances of getting pregnant and having a safe birth.”

    Read more here.

    Andrea Camassei, Lupercalia, ca. 1635

    Andrea Camassei, Lupercalia, ca. 1635.

    Categories: News

  • Join the Department’s Latin Table (Mensa Latina)

    Monday, February 12, 2024 | By

    In winter term 2022, the first gathering of the Mensa Latina was held in the department; now two years later, the Mensa Latina (Latin Table) is still going strong! Once a month, a group of undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning more about the Roman world and Latin and expanding their knowledge beyond the classroom meet with professors Sarah Parker and Fanny Dolansky to explore a wide range of topics. Previous sessions have focused on Roman humour; petkeeping; manuscripts and paleography; medicine and the body; and the poetry of Catullus and Martial. We’ve also tried our hands at playing Roman games and our tongues at speaking conversational Latin. On January 25, students learned about Roman satire; February 26 participants examine the calendar and Roman festivals. In the final meeting of the term on March 25, Dr. Katharine von Stackelberg introduces Roman cuisine and authentic Roman recipes from Apicius’ nearly two-thousand-year-old cookbook. No knowledge of Latin is required and everyone is welcome.

    Mensa Latina – Winter 2024 dates

    Students and faculty participate in the Mensa Latina.

    Categories: Events

  • Humanities Graduate Student Symposium, “Narratives of Identity

    Monday, February 12, 2024 | By

    Kudos to Daniel Belanger, Miranda King, and Cassidy Robertson for their roles in the 2024 Humanities Graduate Student Symposium, “Narratives of Identity,” which took place on Saturday, February 10th. King spoke about “The Small Finds from the Sanctuary of Venus at Pompeii” in Panel 2: Voicing the Visual. Belanger presented, “Hepatitis Bee: The influence of Roman culture on their understanding of bee disease” in Panel 4: Negotiating Nature. Robertson served as Administrative Coordinator for the conference. Click here for more information about the papers and presenters in this celebration of Brock Humanities graduate student research.

    Humanities Graduate Student Symposium poster

    Categories: Events, News

  • Classics Minor James Moen to publish in Philomathes

    Monday, February 12, 2024 | By

    Congratulations to Classics minor, James Moen, whose paper, “Agroeconomic Policy: Re-evaluating the Agricultural Decline of the Later Roman Empire” was accepted for publication in the undergraduate Classics journal Philomathes. The essay was written last year for CLAS / HIST 3P09 (History of the Later Roman Empire), taught by Dr. Michael Carter.

    Roman Country Life Mosaic

    2nd century AD mosaic from the House of the Laberii at Uthina, Tunisia (https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/527318/view/roman-country-life-mosaic)

    Categories: News

  • Alumna Francesca Patten (MA ’18) participates in Humanities career event

    Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | By

    Classics alumna (MA 2018) Francesca Patten was one of two inspiring speakers at the recent online event “Life After Grad School: Careers for MA students in Humanities,” hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and co-organized by Classics alumna Alison Innes (MA 2009). Francesca followed her studies in Classics with a Master’s in Public Administration, specializing in economic policy. She has worked for the Department of National Defence, Newfoundland and Labrador Housing, and the Canadian Transportation Agency, as well as with non-profit organizations in policy development, capacity building, and program evaluation. She is currently a PhD candidate in Educational Research at the University of Calgary where her research has brought her back to the ancient world with a focus on museums and public communication. Francesca highlighted the many skills gained during an MA degree, and especially during work on a Major Research Paper or Thesis. She noted that students shouldn’t underestimate the value of this work to future employers including time and project management, communication and analytical skills, resourcefulness, and creativity. She also encouraged students to pursue their passions and not to worry if their career path doesn’t end up being linear.

    Here’s a flashback photo to Patten’s Brock days, working with fellow alumna Sydney Bryk on the Venus Pompeiana Project, a collaboration between the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Mount Allison University and the University of Missouri

    Categories: News

  • A busy fall for department faculty

    Thursday, November 16, 2023 | By

    Brock Classics and Archaeology faculty have been busy this fall speaking about their work at national and international venues:

    Allison Glazebrook participated in the Greek History and Political Theory Colloquium at Western University in September, delivering a paper titled, “Community, Women, and Place in the Speeches of Isaeus.” In October she delivered a Brock Talk at the St Catharines library, “Women and Community in Classical Athens.” And in November she spoke on “Enslaved Labour, Sexual Labour, and Enslaved People” in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa.

    Elizabeth Greene gave six lectures in September as the Classical Association of Canada’s Western Tour Speaker. At the University of Manitoba and the University of British Columbia she delivered a talk titled, “The Many Voices of the Mediterranean: Archaeologies of Trade, Fishing, and Displacement in Southeast Sicily;” at the University of Alberta and Simon Fraser University she spoke on, ““Exchange in the Age of Lyric Poetry: The 6th-century BCE Shipwreck at Pabuç Burnu, Turkey;” at the University of Winnipeg her talk was titled, “The Late Antique “Church Wreck” at Marzamemi, Sicily,” and she delivered, “Ephemeral Heritage: Boats, Migration, and the Central Mediterranean Passage” at the University of Victoria.

    In October, Adam Rappold presented his research on “Homer’s Interactive Iliad: Adapting Classical Texts In a Digital World” at the Department of Classics and Archaeology’s Research Seminar Series.

    Along with with Rodney Fitzsimons (Trent University), Brock alumnus D. Matthew Buell, and Jane Francis (both at Concordia University), Angus Smith delivered a paper titled, “Visualizing Unseen Landscapes: Report of the Khavania Archaeological Project, 2022,” at the 29th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Belfast, Northern Ireland in September.

    Department faculty are also making good use of funding through Brock’s Humanities Research Institute. Michael Carter and Nadine Brundrett were awarded funds for their joint project on “The Games of Aulus Clodius Flaccus.” Carrie Ann Murray obtained funding for the Brock University Archaeological Project at Pantelleria, and Angus Smith received funds for “Ceramic Analysis of Prehistoric Pottery, Khavania Archaeological Project in Crete Greece.”

    Categories: News

  • Daniel Belanger awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal

    Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | By

    At the Fall convocation ceremony, Daniel Belanger, who graduated this spring with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics and a specialization in Greek and Roman Studies, was honoured with the Governor General’s Silver Medal. The Medal recognizes the two undergraduate students with the highest academic average of the class of 2023. Daniel is currently continuing his studies as an M.A. student in the Department of Classics and Archaeology, and we are proud to celebrate his achievement!

    For more information on the Fall Convocation ceremony and the Governor General’s Silver Medal, follow this link.

    Categories: News

  • Allison Glazebrook receives 2023 Faculty of Humanities Award for Excellence in Research

    Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | By

    Professor Allison Glazebrook has received the 2023 Faculty of Humanities Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity (https://brocku.ca/humanities/research/award-for-excellence/). This Brock award recognizes a consistent track record of outstanding research or creative achievements appropriate to the nominee’s discipline. Congratulations Dr. Glazebrook for this impressive recognition!

    Categories: News

  • Brock Faculty and Alumni Present at the CAC Annual Meeting in Halifax

    Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | By

    Brock faculty and alumni were well-represented at this year’s Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of Canada, held May 10-12 in Halifax, NS. Conference information and the full program is available here. Don’t miss next year’s annual meeting in Laval!

    Allison Glazebrook and Angus Smith represented the faculty with their papers:

    Rodney Fitzsimons, Trent University, Matthew Buell, Jane Francis, Concordia University, and R.A.K. Smith, Brock University, “Canadians at Aghios Nikolaos Again: Report of the Khavania Archaeological Project, 2022.”

    Allison Glazebrook, Brock University, “The Importance of Place: Athenian Women in the Polis.”

    Our alumni were visible giving papers and organizing panels:

    Jeff Masse, University of Toronto, gave a paper, “On the Distributed Agency of Arrows in the Homeric Poems” in a session organized by Simone Mollard, McMaster University, Catherine Tracy, Bishop’s University, and Christina Vester, University of Waterloo.

    Two M.A. alumni were featured in a panel organized by the Graduate Student Caucus and chaired by Victoria Muccilli and Simone Mollard:

    Jazz Demetrioff, University at Buffalo, “Calling all Doctors: The Hand vs. the Practitioner.”

    Stephanie Dennie, University of Western Ontario, “Attic Drama as A Starting Point: Using Sophocles’ Antigone as an introduction to interdisciplinary learning in a co-taught class for Theatre Studies and Community Psychology.”

    We love to celebrate the stories of our alumni, in the field or far beyond. Please drop us a note if you have any news to share.

    Categories: News

  • Sarah Murray writes about the fate of Roman children in the aftermath of battle in the Brock Review Online

    Saturday, May 06, 2023 | By

    Don’t miss M.A. student Sarah Murray’s paper in the Brock Review, “Erasing the Future: The Treatment of Children by the Romans in the Aftermath of Battle.” Originally written in a course on Disasters in the Ancient World taught by Dr. Fanny Dolansky, Murray’s paper explores the separation of families and the fate of children in the aftermath of battle, as preserved in the historical and monumental record. The essay was also awarded a prize in the Classical Association of Canada’s senior level essay competition. Congratulations, Sarah Murray!

    Categories: News

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