The Department of Classics focuses on the interpretation of the culture and society of Greco-Roman antiquity in the widest sense of those terms. Learn more about us.
Learn more about the Classics honorary society for students of Latin and/or Greek. Meetings this spring semester (2011) will take place in the department seminar room (1518 Cathedral of Learning) on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. All interested students are welcome to attend.
Dr. Harry Avery is the faculty advisor for Eta Sigma Phi. We sincerely thank him for all the years of guidance and wisdom he has generously given. Nulli secundus!
This graduate program is joinly offered by the departments of Classics, Philosophy and History and Philosophy of Science. Learn more about the Program in Classics, Philosophy, and Ancient Science (CPAS).
Dr. Edwin D. Floyd is President of the Pittsburgh Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA). The University is host to several yearly lectures of international scholars. Read about forthcoming lectures here.
CONGRATULATIONS -
To Erin Boyles O'Bryan, PhD candiatate, for successfullying defending her dissertation on May 27, 2011.
To Michael Mello, graduate student, who completed requirements for M.A. Best wishes to you both and congratulations on your achievments!
Edwin D. Floyd has mentored two undergraduate students in their research through the Office of Experential Learning.
Tamara Fritz conducted her research titled Early Recognition and Modern Edmendations in Homer (read abstract here). Elizabeth Marriott completed her research project titled “Disguise and Advice in Les Aventures de Télémaque” (read abstract here ).
The Office of Experiential Learning connects Arts and Sciences undergraduates with opportunities to earn credits outside the classroom by engaging in internships, research, and teaching. It places students in “hands-on” activities that are tied to current coursework, and encourages them to reflect on and analyze their experiences in an academic context.
ALUMNI NEWS -The National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC has announced that Adam Kear (A&S Classics '09) has been selected to participate in a Summer Seminar for School Teachers held in Siena, Italy. The seminar, entitled “Dante’s Commedia” will last six weeks and will be directed by Dr. William Stephany, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Vermont at Burlington and Dr. Ronald Herzman, Distinguished Teaching Professor of English at the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Adam is one of sixteen participants chosen in competition from all parts of the United States. Nationally he is one of 240 schoolteachers chosen to participate in fifteen such seminars that enable participants to explore a topic or set of readings with an expert scholar. The principal goal of the seminar is to engage teachers in the scholarly enterprise and to expand and deepen their understanding of the humanities through reading, discussion, writing and reflection. Congratulations to Adam, from all of us in the Classics Department!
ALUMNI NEWS- Constance M. Carroll, PhD 1996, chancellor of the San Diego Community College District, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve on the National Council on the Humanities.
The 26-member council is an advisory panel to the National Endowment for the Humanities, a grant-making arm of government with a $160 million budget.
Carroll was nominated by President Barack Obama for the post in December and again in January after the new Congress was seated. She was confirmed by the Senate Thursday.
“The vetting process, which took about a year, the nomination, and now the confirmation have culminated in a wonderful opportunity for national service,” Carroll wrote.
Members serve for six-year terms. The panel plans to meet three times in 2011, with its first meeting set for July 14.
The humanities are defined as the study of history, literature, languages, philosophy, religion and related disciplines. The council reviews grant applications and makes recommendations to the endowment’s chairman. It also weighs in on endowment programs and policies.
“The disciplines of the humanities and the projects associated with them are directed toward understanding the meaning of human life, ethical and moral issues and the diverse cultural landscape all of us inhabit,” Carroll said in an email to board members and friends.
Carroll has a doctorate in classics from the University of Pittsburgh and has been chancellor of the college district since 2004. She has served on the boards of the American Council on Education, the California Council for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities Panel on Museums and Historical Societies.
The department extends it's congratulations to Dr. Carroll on this esteemed and well deserved honor.
Congratulations to Classics alumni, Dr. Karen Rosenbecker, who just accepted a tenure-track position with Loyola University in their Classics Department.
Study Abroad has some interesting information for Classics majors and the opportunities that exist to enhance their interest in learning and culture. Learn more about the study abroad opportunities for students in Classics. You may also stop by the department for a study abroad brochure.
New for Summer 2011- Pitt in Greece Program!
Apply online or contact Elizabeth Conforti, our department administrator, for more information.
University of Pittsburgh, Department of Classics
Greek houses of the Classical and Hellenistic periods incorporated a number of features that were designed for the safe-keeping of the entire oikos, the homeowner, his family and slaves, and their possessions. While many of these security measures do not survive intact in the archaeological record, they can be reconstructed from both scant remains and from literary and epigraphical accounts.
The physical provisions for security in Greek houses were many, including stoutly built doors and window shutters. Such means served both to enhance the actual security and the impression of it.
Additionally, human and divine protection alike were features of domestic security. Slaves were stationed at the street door and images of Hermes were placed there to add to that protection. Still other divinities, including Herakles Alexikakos, were also called upon to protect the home. On the other hand, while Classical Athens possessed a police force of Scythian archers, there is no evidence that this police force was charged with protecting private property.
Outside of urban areas, householders in the countryside gained added protection from the towers which were a common feature of farmhouses. Square or round in section, these towers were used both to protect the family and as storage places for grain.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
4:30 p.m., Cathedral 335
Dr. Mae Smethurst will present a paper at Columbia University on October 28-29, 2011. The conference, Performing Tragic identity Through a Non-Western Lens, is sponsored by the Onassis Foundation, USA
Kelvin Yang , (A&S, Classics, Philosophy and Political Science '12) has been invited to present his paper "Identity and the Changing Definition of Self in the Stoic Oikeisis" at the Cornell University Undergraduate Ancient Philosophy Conference On October 15-16, 2011.
Nicholas Thorne, graduate student, presented his paper "Justice and Power: The Attack on Plataea-Thuc. ii 2-6" at Dalhousie University on May 10, 2011.
At the University of Toronto, in February of this year, Dr. Mae Smethurst gave a public lecture on the performance of the Antigone, directed by Miyagi in Japan, and a seminar for graduate students and faculty on the comparison of noh and Greek tragedy .
Dr. Mae Smethurst, presented a paper at the Association of Asian Studies and International Convention of Asian Scholars in Honolulu, this past April, 2011. She presented it along with Dr. Richard Smethurst on the role of the artist of noh, Tsukioka Kõgyo, in helping to revive interest in noh at the turn inot the 20th century. ³Tsukioka Kõgyo and the Popularization of Noh².
Dr. Edwin D. Floyd presented his paper "Homeric and Koine Greek in Odyssean Criticism" at the International Linguistics Association Conference at Rutgers University, New Bruswick, New Jersey on April 15, 2011. An abstract of Dr. Floyd's paper is here.
Dr. Erin O'Bryan, presented her paper at Boston University on March 26, 2011. The topic of the conference is "Quis Spectatores Spectabit: Voyeurism and Spectatorship in Antiquity" .
Andrew Korzeniewski has presented his paper at the annual meeting of the Classical Association of the United Kingdom, April 15-18, 2011 in Durham, England. An abstract of Andrew's paper is here.
Dr. Edwin D. Floyd presented his paper "Tis pothen eisai? An Indo-European Formula/Idiom in Byzantine Greek" at the International Linguistics Association Conference in New Paltz, New York on April 16, 2010.
Reece Lutz, graduate student, presented his paper at the International Linguistics Association Conference in New Paltz, New York on April 16, 2010. His paper is titled "What's So Funny About Boeotian?"