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Mac Classics in Athens

August 8, 2011, 2:40 am
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The Department of Classics at McMaster University was represented in Athens this summer by Prof. Spencer Pope and Katherine Denkers (M.A. `12), who met up at the Kerameikos for dinner in Gazi. Both are working at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, where Ms. Denkers also participated in the Summer Session program. For more information on the American School in Athens, go to www.ascsa.edu.gr.
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Mac Classics Graduate Student in Athens

August 24, 2011, 9:17 am
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Ms. Katherine Denkers (MA `12) spent her summer in Athens, Greece. She reports:

For the past two months I have had the privilege of living in Greece. Thanks to the support of the Department of Classical Studies at McMaster University and the Raynsford Eatock Award I was able to participate in the Summer Session of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens and I was able to get an early start on my MA thesis research while staying at the Canadian Institute in Greece.

The American School Summer Session is an intensive learning program where participants travel to nearly all of the major historical sites in Greece under the guidance of experienced and knowledgeable directors. While the Summer Session was an amazing educational experience, there were also a number of other benefits. Because the Summer Session students are housed at the ASCSA residence Loring Hall, there were many opportunities to network not only with the other Summer Session students but also prominent and expert scholars who were also staying there. The regularly scheduled tea and ouzo hours in the saloni at Loring provided a friendly environment meant for exactly this purpose.

Also, Summer Session student participants are encouraged to use the Blegen and Gennadius Libraries' resources. The access to these facilities and resources were invaluable to me in pursuing research for my thesis. I was lucky enough to be able to extend my stay in Greece beyond the end of the 6 week Summer Session by staying at the Canadian Institute in Greece. The Institute is within walking distance of the ASCSA libraries so I was able to continue my research. The hostel maintained by the CIG was just like being at home with a fully stocked kitchen, air conditioning and friendly staff. It was also another great opportunity to meet other people from all academic levels in the field of Classics.

Traveling all over Greece was both physically and mentally exhausting. One student in my group wore a pedometer for the duration of the trip and at final count we had each taken somewhere around 1 000 000 + steps! However, the hot sun and aching feet were easily forgotten when we were given the opportunity to run a race at Olympia, to stand on top of the Parthenon, or explore the labyrinthine corridors behind the throne room at Knossos. I can honestly say that besides being a wonderful educational experience it was also an unforgettable life experience as well.

(Photos courtesy of K. Denkers. Clockwise: K. Denkers and the Athenian Acropolis, K. Denkers in front of the statue bases from the Philippeion at Olympia, K. Denkers inside the Parthenon)

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Mac Master's Student working in Italy

August 29, 2011, 12:47 pm
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Liana Brent (M.A. `12) recently returned from a summer of research and fieldwork. She reports:

This summer, I was an assistant trench supervisor at the Coriglia Project near Orvieto with a team from St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire for May and June. The site was in use from the sixth century BC until the fourth century AD, with various Etruscan and Roman phases. It was the first time I’ve ever worked at an Etruscan site, and we had some pretty interesting finds. Weekends were spent site-seeing in Tuscany and Umbria at sites such as Orvieto, Cortona, Perugia, Florence, and Assisi.

After leaving Orvieto, I spent a week researching for my MA thesis at the British School at Rome. The School has a great library with many archaeological publications that are not available anywhere in Canada. For July and August, I went down to Gravina in the Puglia region of southern Italy where I was a trench supervisor at the Vagnari Project. There I worked with a team of undergraduate anthropology students from McMaster University (under the direction of Dr. Tracy Prowse, Dept. of Anthropology) in a first to third century Roman cemetery. Since my MA research is related to burial practices in the Vagnari cemetery, working in the necropolis was the highlight of my summer, next to all the incredible Italian food!

(Photo of author working on-site at Vagnari, Italy)
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Mac Classics Graduate Student in Rome

August 31, 2011, 9:08 am
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Ms. Barbara Scarfo (M.A. '12) spent her summer researching in Rome. She reports:





This summer I spent three weeks in Rome, to begin research for my Master’s thesis on the funerary commemoration of children. I stayed at the British School at Rome (BSR), located in the Valle Giulia near the Borghese Gardens. Thanks to its academic environment, I was able to interact with other scholars from Britain and Australia who research different areas of Roman history. I spent the majority of my time in museums looking at material related to my thesis, such as freedmen reliefs, funerary altars and sarcophagi. I was able to visit the various museums of the Museo Nazionale Romano (Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Massimo and the Baths of Diocletian) as well as the Musei Capitolini. However, the highlight of my trip was visiting the Musei Vaticani. Through the BSR I was able to obtain a special permit that gave me access to areas of the Vatican that are usually closed off to visitors, such as the Museo Gregorio Profano and the Galleria Lapidaria. I also went on daytrips to Tivoli, to visit Hadrian’s Villa, and Ostia, an expansive archaeological site with a great museum. In addition to doing research for my thesis, I did some sightseeing at the Forum Romanum and the Imperial Fora, St. Peter’s, and other areas of Rome – including the incredible restaurants and sights in Trastevere. It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget!

(Photos courtesy of B. Scarfo: top left: Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, top right: Vatican, Cortile del Belvedere)

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Mac Classics Graduate Explores Archaeology of Jordan

September 2, 2011, 9:42 am
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Recent graduate Nermin Abdulla (McMaster Classics '10) has continued in Classics and spent the summer working in Jordan. Ms. Abdulla reports:

Since graduating from McMaster in 2010, I have moved to the U.K where I am currently working on my thesis for a Master’s in Classical Art and Archaeology at King’s College London. My particular interest is in the Roman military in provincia Arabia, looking closely at military-civilian interaction and the socio-economic status of towns with Roman forts. Therefore, it was particularly fortunate that I had the opportunity to go to Jordan this summer and participate in the 2011 field season of the Bir Madhkur Project, run by Dr. Andrew Smith II of George Washington University.

Bir Madkur is the site of a Roman fort in the Wadi Arabah region (the area between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea) of southern Jordan. This season’s focus was on surveying the fort’s hinterland, which means we were walking through alluvial fans (fields of boulders and rocks), wadis (large valleys, typically with ephemeral riverbeds), and up mountains along transects. Transects are pre-determined paths which are assigned through geo-spatial information system (GIS) software. The goal was to find, record, draw, and photograph the remains of anything that looked man made in order to determine how the land around the fort was used. As well as finding walls, graves, and possible structures the area was littered with pottery, we even found the occasional coin and ring. One of the more interesting aspects of working in Jordan is meeting the people, especially the Bedouin, who are incredibly friendly. The Bedouin are nomadic peoples and thus, are extremely familiar with the topography of Jordan and very often can identify the remains of something “old” in areas where it is particularly difficult. It was a special and unique experience working with the Bedouin, who in turn taught me a little bit of Arabic.

On the weekends, we had the chance to go out and explore Jordan.I used this time to go to Aqaba (Roman Ailia) and Petra, where I got up close and personal with the Khazneh, walked into the Urn Tomb, explored the Great Temple, and rode a camel. I also saw the Roman forts at Humayma and Da’ajaniya, as well as a medieval castle at Shobek.At the end of my trip, I got to spend a little time in Amman at the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR), where I had the chance to do some research and explore the city.

Jordan is an amazing country and its people are incredibly welcoming. I am grateful to ACOR and King’s College London for funding my Jordanian adventures, through the Jennifer C. Groot Fellowship and the Jeeve’s Travel Grant. This experience has greatly informed my research and I hope to return to Jordan next summer to continue adventuring in the desert.

(Photos courtesy of author: top: the author on camelback, below: the Wadi Arabah region with Roman settlement circled in red)

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Mac Classics Major in Germany, Austria and Italy

September 8, 2011, 1:40 pm
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Ms. Katarina Benusova (Art History/Classics '12) spent part of her summer break touring Classical sites and museums in Europe. Her report from the field:




This May I was fortunate enough to travel to Europe and spend the entire month touring various countries, includingAustria, Germany and Italy.As an Art History/Classics major, the focus of my travels were mainly museums, galleries and archaeological sites that I had previously studied at McMaster and now had the chance to experience in person. While every sight I visited was exciting in its own way, there were couple of highlights that made my trip really memorable. The first one was the Pergamon Museum, one of five large scale museums on the so called “museum island” in Berlin. The museum takes its name from the Pergamon Temple of Zeus , whichis displayed inside along with the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, Miletus market gate and other architectural wonders, all moved here brick by brick from their original settings . My trip to Vienna involved a visit to another vast museum of art, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which, among others, has an extensive collection of Roman antiquities – my favourite being the sardonyx cameos such as the Gemma Augustae. Last but not least was my trip to Sicily where I was particularly interested in visiting the Valley of Temples in Agrigento. Since I’ve not yet been to Greece, this was my first encounter with ancient Greek temples in situ. It was an amazing experience which inspired me to further research this ancient site, in particular the Olympieion, for the seminar courses I’ll be taking in the upcoming year at McMaster. Looking back at my trip, despite all the blisters from walking and many hours spent at airport terminals, I am glad that I packed my itinerary with so many destinations and in turn got to see some of world’s greatest works of art. No textbook image can beat the experience of standing before an ancient marble statue admiring its beauty or retracing the sacred route to a temple honoured centuries ago.


Photos: (top) Author at the Temple of Concord, Agrigento; (above) The Altar of Zeus from Pergamon, in Berlin


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Classics USRA Project in Turkey

September 12, 2011, 7:54 pm
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Mr. Owen Phillips (Classics '12) received an Undergraduate Student Research Award for summer 2011, through which, under the direction of Prof. Martin Beckmann, he was able to conduct original research on Roman Turkey. He reports on his work:




I spent this summer carrying out research on gymnasium porticoes in Roman Asia Minor, funded by a McMaster Undergraduate Student Research Award. The first 3 months of my summer research were dedicated to examining bath-gymnasia complexes throughout this region through archaeological reports and architectural studies, with the purpose of both understanding the architectural context of the gymnasium at Nysa - dating tentatively to the Antonine period - and of finding parallels in the region so that I could assemble an accurate reconstruction of the gymnasium's portico. In August I traveled to Turkey, spending my first week helping out with a geophysical survey for the excavation of the ancient city of Teos. My next two weeks were dedicated to visiting the other prominent cities of Asia Minor and, more specifically, of the Meander River Valley to look for structures which were similar in design to the gymnasium at Nysa. The main sites which I traveled to were Smyrna, Priene, Tralleis, Aphrodisias, Hierapolis, Ephesus, and Pergamum, whose acropolis and remaining fortification walls were challenging to climb and navigate! At the end of this trip and at the conclusion of my research, I have learned much about Roman architecture and history in Asia Minor and I hope to continue studying this area of the Eastern Mediterranean, but most of all I have reaffirmed my interest in, and dedication to, archaeology and Classics.

For more information on the USRA see: http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/awards/usra.html
(Photos: Top: Author at in the cella of the Temple of Pluto and Kore of Acharaca, about a 2 hours hike to the west of the ancient city of Nysa, Above: The Agora at Nysa)
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Classics Coffee Hour 3:00 Wednesday 12 October

October 10, 2011, 3:17 pm
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Classics Coffee Hour: Please join members of
the Dept. of Classicsfor coffee and treats on
Wednesday, 12 Oct. at 3:00 pm in TSH 719.


Come meet other students, meet faculty members and

learn more about Classics at Mac.


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C. Smith lecture, "Thinking About Kings"

October 18, 2011, 9:52 am
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Prof. Rodney Fitzsimons Talk 11-11-11

November 4, 2011, 8:15 pm
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Dept. Lecture by Prof. Leanne Bablitz

November 14, 2011, 1:16 pm
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Classics Coffee Hour 3:00 Wednesday 12 October

November 22, 2011, 9:36 am
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Classics Coffee Hour 25 January

January 23, 2012, 7:41 am
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March Events in the Department of Classics

March 2, 2012, 8:06 am
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Please join the department for the events upcoming in March:

Thursday 15 March --- Prof. Robert Tordoff, Dept. of Classical Studies, York University, "The Communism of Aristophanes' Assembly Women: Problems in Comic Criticism and Politics"
4:30 pm in TSH 701

Tuesday 27 March --- Prof. Peter White, Dept. of Classics, University of Chicago, "Storytelling and Truth in the Confessions of St. Augustine" 4:30 pm, location TBA

Wednesday 28 March --- Prof. Peter White, "Emptying the Scrinia: Published Letter Collections after Cicero" 4:30 pm, TSH 701


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Salmon Visiting Professor Peter White Tuesday 27 March

March 20, 2012, 8:36 am
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Undergrad Thesis examines Old Comedy

April 19, 2012, 12:35 pm
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Jason Binder (Classics '12) recently completed an undergraduate thesis under the direction of Dr. Daniel McLean:

My undergraduate thesis has focused on Athenian Old Comedy with a concentration on the most famous of the Athenian comic poets, Aristophanes (ca. 446 – 386 BCE). Of his 11 extant plays I explored three of the most abusive and topical:Acharnians,Knights, andClouds. My goal has been to disentangle the ostensible contradictions between the poet’s self-presentation in each play and the overarching values that the plays extoll. For example, is the Aristophanes who virulently attacks the sophistic ‘Socrates’ ofCloudsat odds with his own use of sophistic argumentation? Is it not ironic that the choral leader inKnightsutilizes rhetoric while the Paphlagonian (Cleon) is mocked for his own use of rhetoric? While on the surface these paradoxes may seem irresolvable, through a closer examination I argue that they point to a critique not of the aforementioned individuals but rather the sociocultural movements of Aristophanes' day that they served to epitomize. As such I postulate that the plays are commentaries on the limited tools for sociopolitical engagement in 5th century Athens.

Congratulations, Jason!

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Welcome to Summer, Welcome to a New Season

May 24, 2012, 2:17 am
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Now that winter classes have ended, many Classics undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty are engaged in the second season, or research time. The concept of summer vacation has become a distant memory for many of us, as summer is now an integral part of academic life and is used to advance research, complete projects, or start a new investigation. The break from the regular rhythm of classrooms and lectures allows everyone a moment to focus on their own projects and to further develop our own contributions to the field and to the mass of information that gets disseminated in those classrooms. If academics were a sport, research season would be offence: the power play, passing from the line of scrimmage or getting multiple at-bats: it is the moment to move forward toward large goals. At its best, this time is an invigorating series of moments in which swarms of new ideas are developed, tested, refined, tested again and eventually presented to the academic community and the greater public. The reality, however, is that the research process conforms to Thomas Edison’s maxim suggesting that successful endeavors are more perspiration than inspiration.

Research will bring many of us to the field for archaeological excavations; Prof. Martin Beckmann is leading a group of student including Mr. Owen Phillips (Classics `13), Ms. Emily LeMond (Classics `13) and Mr. Jason Binder (MA `14) on a McMaster excavation at Teos in Turkey; Ms. Naomi Neufeld (Classics `13, Humanities USRA recipient for 2012 and the E.T. Salmon Travel Fellow) is excavating at Cerveteri in Italy and travelling in Italy (http://www.queensu.ca/classics/matera.html); Mr. John Fabiano (MA `13) and Ms. Barbara Scarfo (Ph. D. candidate) will spend time in Rome doing both first-hand research in the Eternal City and profiting from the world-class libraries there to advance their research. Mr. Jonathan Reeves will travel within Greece and spend time in Athens at both the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (www.ascsa.edu.gr) and the Canadian Institute in Greece (www.cig-icg.gr) including attending The CIG’s “Meditations on the Diversity of the Built Environment in the Aegean Basin: A Colloquium in Memory of Frederick E. Winter” (http://www.cig-icg.gr/index.php?cat=4&item=4&lang=en). Mr. Jonathon McCallum (MA `14) will also have an extended stay in Athens as a participant in the Summer Semester of College Year in Athens. Classics faculty are spending time in Rome, Athens, Copenhagen, London, Oxford, Brussels, Bologna, and Freiburg both in the library and participating in conferences.
Regardless of specific plans, the summer is the perfect time to get ahead in your work or satisfy your own intellectual curiosity. Perhaps it is the moment to re-read Homer, to dig into a book on Greek history, to read a recent article from a scholarly journal, or to simply wander through the shelves at Mills (or your nearest library) and open up a book on a topic that has interested you. Or maybe it is the right time to build on a term paper that ignited your imagination or revisit material from lecture that you want to learn more about. Whatever your interest is, this is a good time to explore ideas and expand your understanding of the ancient world; without the pressure the semester, it is a ripe opportunity to pursue your interests. Even a small investment now, with deadlines and term papers and final exams far in the distance, will pay off greatly in the fall. Enjoy the summer; enjoy the second season of academia.
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Congratulations to Mac Graduates!

June 14, 2012, 7:47 am
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Congratulations to all new McMaster Graduates and special Congratulations to all Classics Graduates.
  
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L'Arte Rinnova I Popoli e Ne Rivela La Vita

July 1, 2012, 9:32 am
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After presenting at the EAHN conference in Brussels, I had a moment to walk around the city and enjoy something new to me. My reaction reminded me of something I had seen in Sicily (as is often the custom): The Teatro Massimo in Palermo and its pedimental inscription “L’Arte Rinnovo il Popolo e Ne Rivela la Vita…Art renews the population and reveals life.” Seeing a new city is invigorating and approaching it as a Classicist is a type of exam, but also a type of payoff from many previous exams. I admired the triglyphs on the Neoclassical (but still exuberant) Bourse. I marveled at the neoclassical Triumphal Arch at the Parc du Cinquantenaire, and was reassured that the forms, architectural orders, and symbolic weight of Classical monuments we often discuss in 1A03 and elsewhere resonate far and wide across time and space.

What really captivated me about the city, however, was Art Nouveau. I got the chance to see the Maison Cauchie, and marveled at the engraved composition of the five senses. Even in the Art Nouveau style, the severity of the Classical and the decadence, drama, and tantalizingly charged style of the Hellenistic are echoed so that they partially betray the term “nouveau.” Glass, often stained glass, windows and dramatic flourishes of narrow iron made me feel as thought the Maison Horta (Horta Museum) were Pompeian fresco styles designed in full.
A quick tour around the city instantly demonstrated that this experience is the reward for a Classical education. The city unveiled itself as a playground of styles that either directly embraced the Classical world and deliberately evoked their venerability, or meaningfully turned away from the Classical tradition to create a clashing visual and functional contrast (I think this is why I love the Brutalist style so much – it is an expression of freedom from Classical tradition and a complete reinterpretation of public, visual, spatial and architectural objectives of a building). As the great poet wrote, “we buy with contrast.”
Small moments such as these made Classical Architecture, and Classics in general, immediate and relevant. It becomes clear to any observer that the Classical portion is just a few pieces of the puzzle and there many more that follow in place after them. The experience is the reward for studying this material: the jumble of names, dates, locations, sponsors, architects and artists that get lobbed out in 1A03, 2B03 and 2C03 were suddenly contextualized; it was then possible to see them not as a chore to master, but as the object of intellectual curiosity to chase back following the immediate visual input. In short, connecting the Triumphal Arch in Brussels with those of Septimus Severus and Constantine in Rome, and especially the entranceway to the Forum of Trajan (among others) scratched an intellectual itch.

This experience is not limited to European capitals; the same fascination and wonder can be developed in downtown Hamilton and Toronto or nearly wherever the Summer has taken you: turn on your sense of exploration and wonder the next time you go out: there will be a payoff to it, and to the investment you have already made in Classics. 
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Mac Classics Student Excavates in Italy

July 23, 2012, 2:01 am
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Ms. Naomi Neufeld (Classics '13) recently returned from the field and reports:

This June, I had the privilege of accompanying Dr. Fabio Colivicchi and the Queen’s Classics department (http://www.queensu.ca/classics/matera.html) on an archaeological excavation in Cerveteri, Italy. The excavation explored the Etruscan site of ancient Caere, which was a major southern Etruscan coastal city. Caere was one of the closest Etruscan cities to Rome, and was renowned for its religious significance and customs (the word “ceremony” even comes from the Latin word caeremonia, which means “pertaining to Caere”). We were working in the civic and spiritual centre of the city, excavating an exceptional Etruscan religious structure, called the Hypogeum of Clepsina. It is a subterranean ritual chamber which is constructed and oriented according to Etruscan cosmology, and which contains Hellenistic Etruscan frescoes, inscriptions, and a network of tunnels and staircases. In a nearby trench, we also excavated a late Etruscan and Roman urban area, in which we uncovered a Roman road, a possible domestic structure, and an underground shrine. This was my first archaeological excavation, and I was thrilled to learn more about archaeological theories, techniques, and practices.
On the weekends, we visited many important Etruscan sites, such as the Villa Giulia in Rome, the Banditaccia necropolis of Caere, and the painted tombs of Tarquinia. We also visited many of the important Classical sights in Rome, such as the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon. One of the highlights of the trip was an excursion to Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, which had some of the most fascinating and beautiful Roman ruins I have visited. I had such an amazing experience on this excavation that I hope to return and continue digging next year.

For the rest of the summer I am continuing to work on my USRA project, in which I relate what I learnt about the Etruscans during my trip, to further research about their culture and art. My research focuses on the vibrant funerary frescoes which adorn many Etruscan tombs, examining their thematic content and iconography to reveal evidence of Greek influence. Through this research I hope to understand better about the formative influences and cultural stimuli, both foreign and local, that created and contributed to the colourful and unique society of the Etruscan peoples.

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