News

Humanities Research Institute’s Spring Term Symposium

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | By egreene

The Department of Classics and Archaeology will be well represented at the Humanities Research Institute’s Spring Term Symposium, featuring in-progress work by graduate students and faculty in the Humanities. Nadine Brundrett and Michael Carter will present in the morning session, “Rediscovering a lost Roman inscription: From provenance to provenience for CIL X 1074.” In the afternoon Fanny Dolansky and M.A. student Sarah Murray will address, “Pedagogies in progress: Creating a Latin commentary for classroom use as a component of a Major Research Paper in Classics.” The full program is available here.

Join the event in person on Monday, April 15, 2024, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. in the Charles A. Sankey Chamber or virtually via Lifesize. For best performance use the Chrome browser.

Categories: Events, News
Madelyn Huston to present at Mapping the New Knowledges

Wednesday, April 10, 2024 | By egreene

Congratulations to Classics (Text and Culture) M.A. student Madelyn Huston, who will deliver a presentation titled “Briseis’ Lament and the Agency of Enslaved People” at Brock’s Mapping New Knowledges Research Conference on Wednesday, April 10th. The conference includes 21 paper sessions and a poster presentation featuring graduate and undergraduate research across campus, as well as a keynote address by Dr. Adam Dickinson (Department of English Language and Literature) titled, “Writing Metabolism: Art, Science, and Research Creation.” The full program is available here.

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A busy February for Classics and Archaeology faculty

Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | By egreene
February was a short month, but Classics and Archaeology faculty kept busy with an assortment of lectures and publications.
- On February 2, Carrie Ann Murray presented “Religious Worship and Mobility at the Lago di Venere Sanctuary, Pantelleria” for the University of Toronto’s Classics Department Lecture Series.
- On February 5th, Allison Glazebrook delivered the Joseph C. Miller Memorial Talk at the Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies of the Universität Bonn. Her lecture was titled, “Slavery in the Athenian Sex Trade.”
- Elizabeth Greene wrote two short articles for the Institute of Nautical Archaeology Quarterly, “The Archaic Shipwreck at Pabuç Burnu and Stories of Everyday Mobility” and (with J. Leidwanger), “The Marzamemi 2 ‘Church Wreck’ and a Changing Late Antiquity.”
- Katharine von Stackelberg published “The World of Nature” in J. Toner (ed.) The Cultural History of Leisure Vol. I: A History of Leisure in Antiquity. (Bloomsbury, February 2024).
Stop by the Department to chat with faculty about their current research!
Categories: News
Prof. Katharine von Stackelberg discusses Valentine’s Day

Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | By egreene

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.

Categories: News
Brock welcomed Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis for final 2023-24 AIA Lecture Series talk

Wednesday, March 20, 2024 | By jhawman

Brock welcomed a renowned guest on Friday, March 15, 2024 when Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis, CEO and Director of the Aga Khan Museum, gave a public lecture “An Alternate Perspective on “The Museum.” This was the closing event of Brock’s 2023-24 Public Lecture Series on Archaeology, sponsored by the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Other topics this year included the Bronze Age Collapse of 1177 BCE, and the lives of early Black Canadians in Niagara. We look forward to more great public programming for our 2024-25 season!

For more information on the Niagara Peninsula Society AIA please visit https://brocku.ca/humanities/classics/outreach/aia-niagara/.

Categories: Events, News
Prof. Allison Glazebrook recognized for International Women’s Day at Brock University

Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | By jhawman

On Thursday, March 7th, 2024, to celebrate International Women’s Day, Brock University took the time to acknowledge 12 of the many women researchers at Brock who contribute to the betterment of our society. The Department of Classics and Archaeology’s own Professor Allison Glazebrook was one of the women featured in the Brock News piece.

Allison Glazebrook, Professor of Classics and Archaeology, researches the social and cultural history of ancient Greece, focusing on women, gender, sexuality and slavery.

“Ancient Greek texts generally provide the perspective of elite male members of society. As a historian influenced by feminist, gender and queer theory, I reframe such texts to investigate the groups marginalized in those same narratives,” she says. “I focus on women, enslaved people and sex labourers; the diversity of experiences, agency, mobility and statuses within these sub-groups; and think about how these various identities intersected and emerged in different spatial and temporal contexts. I strive to broaden the questions asked and expand the approaches taken in my field and thus look beyond the dominant discourse as presented in the sources.”

To read the full story, click here: https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2024/03/international-womens-day-how-brock-women-researchers-are-creating-meaningful-change/.

Categories: News
Humanities Graduate Student Symposium, “Narratives of Identity

Monday, February 12, 2024 | By egreene

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.

Categories: Events, News
Classics Minor James Moen to publish in Philomathes

Monday, February 12, 2024 | By egreene

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.

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
Rachel Fawcett recipient of the Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | By jhawman

On Wednesday, January 17^th, 2024, the Department of Classics and Archaeology’s graduate student, Rachel Fawcett, was awarded the 2022-23 Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award. This award honours student-athletes who achieve an average of 80 percent or higher within their program of study. Rachel is a member of Brock’s Women’s Figure Skating while completing her Master of Arts in Classics (Art and Archaeology).

I was surprised by the chorus of congratulations I received upon the announcement of this award. From previous experience, I am used to accepting such awards with little recognition and the response not only from Brock University Athletics, but both the Department of Classics and Archaeology and the Faculty of Humanities has been humbling.

Since I began my post-secondary career, I have enjoyed being able to participate in varsity figure skating. It helped keep me centered during my studies and when I first started my Masters program, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to maintain the level of academic and athletic achievement I had during my undergraduate career. Fortunately, with the warm welcome and continuing support of both the Department and Brock Figure Skating I have been able to excel in both activities and look forward to completing my final season of skating and my program hand-in-hand.

– Rachel Fawcett

Categories: News
Madelyn Huston recipient of the Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award

Thursday, January 25, 2024 | By jhawman

On Wednesday, January 17^th, 2024, the Department of Classics and Archaeology’s graduate student, Madelyn Huston, was awarded the 2022-23 Brock Badgers Academic Excellence Award. This award honours student-athletes who achieve an average of 80 percent or higher within their program of study. Madelyn is a member of Brock’s Women’s Track and Field while completing her Master of Arts in Classics (Text and Culture).

I really appreciate that Brock recognizes the work that it takes to balance academics and athletics. In my experience, competing in cross country and track has made me a more successful student. Having goals outside of academics is really important for my mental health, and I find that the two pursuits build similar skills, particularly in working towards a long-term goal. However, this is really only possible because the department has enthusiastically encouraged my athletic goals and allowed me to find that balance, particularly through consistent accommodations when I have to travel for meets. Overall, I consider myself very lucky to have my graduate experience enriched by both my athletic and academic communities.
– Madelyn Huston

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