News

Ancient Rome met 21st-century game show at the second annual Princeton Certamen on March 2, organized for middle and high school students by undergraduates interested in classics. The word certamen means “contest” in Latin — an appropriate name for this quiz bowl focusing on the language, literature, culture and history of Ancient Rome. About 200 students from 13 schools traveled to Princeton’s campus to compete, some coming from as far away as Wisconsin.

The department’s annual newsletter is now available online and paper copies have been mailed. Inside you can find updates from faculty and students, an article by alumnus Kevin Moch ’10, and stories of last summer’s “Plato’s Republic” study program in Paris.

Interested in speaking Latin or ancient Greek? Speaking is an excellent way to solidify your grasp of grammar and vocabulary and to learn how to understand Latin and Greek as what they are — languages and not puzzles. It’s also great fun! The Latin table meets at 6:30pm on Mondays in Whitman dining hall, and the Greek table meets at 6:30pm on Thursdays. All are welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Duraiswamy ’19.

Earlier this year, at the national meeting of our major scholarly society, a member of this department was subjected to a racist verbal attack in a public forum. I write as chair to deplore and refute the sentiments directed against him and to commit our department to working to eliminate the conditions that make such incidents possible in the professional lives of colleagues in our, or any other, academic discipline. For other responses, please see this roundup.
—Andrew Feldherr

Sara Magrin, associate professor of Classics at UC Berkeley, spoke on Princeton’s campus on Tuesday, December 4th, delivering a lecture entitled “Being of Two Minds: Plotinus’ Account of Psychological Conflict in Ennead 4.3.31.”

Update: the recording is now available.

On the evening of Thursday, November 15th, Christopher B. Krebs, associate professor of Classics at Stanford, spoke on Princeton’s campus, delivering an engaging and energizing Prentice Lecture entitled “Classics As Crime Fiction: A Conversation with Caesar, Labienus, and Polybius.” Despite mother nature’s best efforts, the event was well-attended, and the Q&A period produced an…

We are delighted to pass on the good news that our colleague Harriet Flower has won a Goodwin Award from the Society for Classical Studies for her book The Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner. Only three of these awards are given annually, and they are recognized as the highest honor for books published in our field. Congratulations too to our alumna Amy Richlin (Class of ’73, and last year’s Faber Lecturer) who received the same prize.

Professor Barbara Graziosi recently discussed The Iliad with host Melvyn Bragg and other panelists on the iconic BBC Radio 4 program In Our Time. A recording of the broadcast, along with lists of related recordings and readings, is now available online.

The Department of Classics is offering a one-year, fully funded pre-doctoral Fellowship. Members of groups that have been historically and are presently underrepresented in the academy (e.g., racial and ethnic minorities and individuals from low income backgrounds), and those who have made active contributions to enhancing access, diversity, and inclusion in the field of Classics are especially encouraged to apply.

A computer science major and the Class of 2018 salutatorian, Lim began studying Latin in middle school. “Somebody had said it was very formulaic and mathematical in nature and I was like, great, that sounds fantastic, I enjoy math,” she said. She expanded her Latin studies at Princeton with courses such as “Invective, Slander and Insult” with Robert Kaster, and “Introduction to Medieval Latin” with Brent Shaw.

Distinguished humanities scholars and dedicated teachers, Behrman Professors serve a three-year term both directing and teaching in the Humanities Sequence. “Future humanities students can look forward to their [Feeney’s and fellow appointee Moulie Vidas’] stellar lecturing and deep-dive seminars,” notes Esther Schor.

Congratulations to Jaylin Lugardo, a recently declared Classics major, for receiving a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. She was recently interviewed on “60 Minutes” and discusses the “FLI is Fly” campaign, which aims to educate Princeton students on the resources available to first-generation low-income students, and raise awareness of the challenges they face.