News

Mensa Latina heads to Special Collections

Friday, November 15, 2024 | By egreene

Along with faculty members Fanny Dolansky and Sarah Parker, Mensa Latina students had the chance to visit Special Collections in the Gibson Library, where archivist David Sharron introduced them to writing and illustration on manuscripts in the Brock collection. It was an amazing opportunity for a hands-on experience of the transmission and circulation of ancient texts. The Mensa Latina (which means ‘Latin Table’) is an informal gathering of students who want to learn more about Roman culture and the Latin language.

Categories: Events, News
Exploring a world of opportunity with Carrie Murray

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 | By egreene

Don’t miss coverage of Carrie Murray’s archaeological practicum on the island of Pantelleria (Italy) in the Brock News.

“During the trip, she and other students became well-versed in excavation while exploring a Punic and Roman period sanctuary on the edge of the volcanic crater-lake Lago di Venere.

Led by Associate Professor of Art and Archaeology Carrie Murray, students spent a month excavating, recording and processing artifacts, which Murray said strengthened their hands-on skills while connecting students to cultural, intellectual and artistic ideas from ancient times.

“We learned about the life and death of the sanctuary site through the recovery of votive offerings, discovered new structures and even found signs of an earthquake in antiquity,” Murray said.”

In September, Dr Murray presented a paper on her work at Pantelleria at the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists in Rome, Italy, “Excavating and Exhibiting the Punic Sanctuary at the Lago di Venere, Pantelleria.”

Murray also recently published a paper on the “Iconography of Elephants in the early 3rd century BC Italy: Pro-Roman, anti-Roman or multivalent?” Accordia Research Papers 16: 177-197.

Categories: News
Two Classics grads honored with Alumni Brilliance Awards

Saturday, October 05, 2024 | By egreene

In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Brock shone the spotlight on some of its most brilliant graduates by awarding 60 Alumni Brilliance Awards. Created for the University’s diamond anniversary, the awards recognize Brock alumni for significant contributions to their profession, local and global communities, or society at large over the past six decades.

Two alumni from the Department of Classics were honoured, Maureen Carroll (BA ’75) and Brad Inwood (BA ’74).

Maureen Carroll is Chair of Roman Archaeology at the University of York with particular interests in funerary commemoration, childhood, votive religion, and ethnic identity and dress. A participant in Brock’s archaeological practicum in Cyprus, Carroll has directed excavations at numerous Roman sites in Europe, including Pompeii and Cologne, and currently leads excavations at the Roman Imperial Estate at Vagnari in south-east Italy.

The William Lampson Professor of Philosophy and of Classics at Yale, Brad Inwood is a specialist in ancient philosophy with particular emphasis on Stoicism and the Presocratics. He is the author of multiple books and articles on ancient philosophy, including Ethics and Human Action in Early Stoicism, The Poem of Empedocles, Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome, Seneca: Selected Philosophical Letters, and Ethics After Aristotle.

Kim Post (BA ’03, Med ’14, BEd ’21), Director, Alumni Relations, remarks, “There are so many amazing Brock alumni doing incredible things in their communities and around the world. These awards truly capture the spirit of Brock.”

Read more about the awards in the Brock News and find the full list of awardees here.

Categories: News
New publication of Amathus Gate Cemetery Excavations

Tuesday, October 01, 2024 | By egreene

Don’t miss the new publication of City and Cemetery: Excavations at Kourion’s Amathous Gate Cemetery, Cyprus. The Excavations of Danielle A. Parks, edited by Michael Given, Chris Mavromatis, and R. Smadar Gabrieli with contributions by D. Matthew Buell, Peter Cosyns, Anne Destrooper-Georgiades, Natasha J. Heap, Malgorzata Kajzer, Xenia Paula Kyriakou, R. Scott Moore, Meredith P. Nelson, Giorgios Papantniou, Chris Parks, David S. Reese, Tina Ross, Agnieszka E. Szymańska, and Urszula Wicenciak (Annual of the American Society of Overseas Research, Volumes 76 & 77: ASOR, 2024). Volume 1: Context, Analysis, and Conclusions; Volume 2: Human Bone, Ecofacts, and Artifacts.

The Amathous Gate Cemetery played a key role in the spatial and social organization of the well-preserved city of Kourion on the south coast of Cyprus. It saw major transformations between the Hellenistic and Byzantine periods, from massively destructive earthquakes and the rise of Christianity to new social and administrative structures.

The excavations were directed by the late Danielle A. Parks from 1995 to 2000, and found striking evidence for burial and commemoration, a wide range of material culture, and a large assemblage of well-preserved human remains. The project uses an innovative methodology for analyzing mixed stratigraphy and legacy data, which we offer to those researching sites with similar challenges.

Volume I presents the chamber tombs and cist tombs, quarrying evidence, and deposition activity from the cleanup after the 370s CE earthquake. It integrates the stratigraphy with the analysis of the material culture and the recording of rock-cut features and gives a broad interpretation of the results of the whole project.

Volume II presents detailed descriptions and interpretations of the ecofacts and artifacts. These include human and animal bone, pottery, lamps, figurines, stone objects, painted plaster, glass, jewelry, coins, and loom weights. Scientific methods include isotopic analysis of the bones, Neutron Activation Analysis of the pottery, and spectroscopic analysis of the glass.

These volumes are the result of a White Levy Program grant awarded to Dr. Michael Given in 2016.

The Department of Classics and Archaeology continues to miss Danielle and we offer our thanks to her colleagues and former students for their labor in seeing this publication to completion.

Categories: News
Mensa Latina, Fall 2024 edition

Friday, September 20, 2024 | By egreene

Don’t miss the chance to learn about Roman culture and the Latin language this fall with discussion of board games and other forms of play, a hands-on experience of manuscripts and handwriting, and the many holidays celebrated by the Romans.

Fri. Sept. 27th @ 10 AM-11 AM: Game time with Dr. Fanny Dolansky and Dr. Sarah Parker in GLB 335

Fri. Nov. 1st @ 10 AM-12 PM: Manuscripts and paleography: a visit to Special Collections in the Gibson Library with Dr. Sarah Parker and David Sharron (meet by the main desk in the Gibson Library)

Fri. Nov. 29th @ 10 AM-11 AM: Roman holidays with Dr. Fanny Dolansky and Dr. Sarah Parker in GLB 335

Started during the 2021-22 academic year by Professors Fanny Dolansky and Sarah Parker, the Mensa Latina aims to introduce students to a variety of topics not covered in classes or only touched on briefly in courses on Roman history or Latin such as petkeeping in the Roman world, funerary inscriptions, and Roman naming conventions. The Mensa Latina normally meets once a month for an hour and has attracted students from Classics and Archaeology as well as other departments who range from first-year students to graduate students — and occasionally some alumni too! No formal knowledge of Latin is required, and everyone is welcome! To learn more or suggest future topics, contact Fanny Dolansky.

Categories: Events
Allison Glazebrook awarded SSHRC Insight Grant

Friday, September 13, 2024 | By egreene

Congratulations to Allison Glazebrook, who received an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her project titled, “The Cycle of Slavery and the Athenian Brothel.” We can’t wait to see where this new trajectory of research will lead!

Read more about recent SSHRC grants to Brock faculty in the Brock News.

“Today’s federal government investment is a testament to the depth and breadth of Brock University research and its impact locally and internationally,” says Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines. “The wide array of topics being funded by these awards is impressive and will contribute much to the vibrancy of communities here in Niagara and worldwide.”

Check out some of Dr Glazebrook’s other recent papers and publications:

“Discourses of Desire in Ancient Greece and Rome” is out in the new Cambridge World History of Sexualities, Vol. II: Sexualities: Systems of Thought and Belief. Edited by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks and Matthew Kuefler (Cambridge University Press, 2024) 87-113.

In July, she delivered a paper, “(Re)Housing Women’s Knowledge in the Attic Orators” in the panel What do Women Know? Gendered Knowledge and its Rhetorical Representations in Classical Athens at the Twenty-Fourth Biennial Conference of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric, in Vancouver BC.

Categories: News
Undergraduate Student Published in Philomathes 8.1 Journal

Friday, August 02, 2024 | By jhawman

A hearty congratulations to Classics minor James Moens on the release of Philomathes 8.1, A Journal of Undergraduate Research in Classics in June through Austin Peay State University. James’s piece, “Agronomic Policy: Re-evaluating the Agricultural Decline of the Later Roman Empire,” along with the other articles in the journal, can be read here: www.apsu.edu/philomathes/Issues.php

Congratulations, James Moens!

Categories: News
Photo Contest 2024: Share your photos with the Department of Classics and Archaeology

Tuesday, July 02, 2024 | By jhawman

Let us show how Classics and Archaeology transformed your Brock experience. Share a photo of your memories of Classics and Archaeology and you could be featured in a department exhibit, as we prepare to celebrate the Department’s 60th birthday.

All photographs will be entered into one pool, but winners will be selected in each of the following categories:

(1) Classics at Brock
(2) Archaeological fieldwork
(3) Study tours and travel
(4) Department life

Prizes for top entries!

Eligibility

All past and present undergraduate and graduate student majors and minors, faculty, and staff in the Department of Classics and Archaeology are eligible to submit photos for this contest. Submitted photos should capture some aspect of your Brock experience in Classics and Archaeology—from the classroom to the field, including the many adventures, discoveries, friendships, and memories you encountered along the way.

Please submit your photograph by email as a high resolution .jpg (a clear cell phone shot of a printed photo is also fine—we recognize that some people’s experiences may predate the digital era) to [email protected] with the subject heading, Brock Classics Photo Contest. Include the following in the body of your email:

(1) Your name (as well as your name at Brock, if different), current address and email, graduation year and major, minor or stream.

(2) A title and short description of your photo including the names (if applicable, and if you remember) of any people represented.

For full consideration, entrants from alumni/ae must also update their contact information with Alumni Relations at the following link before the submission deadline.

Submission Deadline: Friday, August 26th 2024 at 11:59 p.m. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Categories: Events, News
Congratulations to our June 2024 graduates!

Friday, June 21, 2024 | By egreene

The Department of Classics and Archaeology is so proud of our graduates who received their diplomas at June Convocation!

The following students earned a Bachelor of Arts in Classics:

Anna Harley, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics (Ancient Art and Archaeology)
Samuel Hough, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics and History
Samuel Kelly, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics (Ancient Art and Archaeology)
William Kiernan, Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Sociology
Jessica Kroeze, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics with First-Class Standing (Ancient Art and Archaeology), minor in Business and Management
Frederick Loucks, Introductory Certificate in Ancient Greek and Latin Language
Lucie Mackintosh, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics with First-Class Standing (Greek and Roman Studies)
Connor O’Rourke, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics with First-Class Standing (Classical Civilization)
Kathryn Pye, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Classics with First-Class Standing (Classical Civilization), minor in Italian Studies

Two students received a Master of Arts in Classics:

Madelyn Huston, Master of Arts in Classics (Text and Culture)
Jessie Simpson, Master of Arts in Classics (Art and Archaeology)

We enjoyed teaching and learning from all of you over the past few years and wish you many future successes, which we hope you will share with us through the alumni portal. Please keep your contact information updated so we can stay in touch. Surgite!

Categories: News
Connor O’Rourke awarded the Desmond Conacher Scholarship

Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | By egreene

Congratulations to recent graduate, Connor O’Rourke, who was awarded the Desmond Conacher Scholarship by the Classical Association of Canada to support his M.A. study in the Department of Classics and Archaeology here at Brock.

This scholarship is offered in memory of Desmond Conacher, formerly Professor of Classics at Trinity College, Toronto, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Honorary President of the CAC. The scholarship has been endowed through donations from his family, friends, colleagues, and universities with which he was associated. Its purpose is to assist and encourage a young scholar entering graduate studies in classics. The scholarship is administered by the CAC through its Awards Committee. One award of $4,000 is offered each year.

After spending his summer working with Carrie Murray on the excavations at Pantelleria, Connor will return to Brock to begin research with Angus Smith on regional trade and interaction in the Minoan World as visible through the circulation networks of Marine Style pottery.

Categories: News