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Scholars of ancient languages and cultures are turning to large language models to help decipher ancient texts. “Developments in AI are transforming how we reconstruct the records of antiquity,” said Barbara Graziosi, chair of the Department of Classics and the Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature. She hinted that upcoming papers, drawing from her AI-assisted work, would reveal new sides of several ancient authors. “People think that we know what Aristotle said. They’re going to be surprised!”
Earlier this month, two Princeton graduate students—Pria Garcelle (Classics) and Cece Ramsey (French and Italian)—joined members of the Freedom Reads team in a visit to the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice to further explore the history and the roots of racism and mass incarceration in America.
It was a busy day last week in Princeton Classics, as two undergraduate courses hosted guest lectures from experts in their respective fields. With a horse skull and several smaller bone-bags in tow, Prof. Katie Tardio of Bucknell came to introduce methods of zooarchaeology to “The Science of Roman History” (CLA 247). At the same time, Prof. Michael Weiss drove down from Ithaca to deliver an introduction to the obscure Italic language of Umbrian.
“…the plan is also to include the creative side, so we get artists involved, we get poets involved, and we get them into discussion with people doing fantastic things in the Department here. And the reality is that Princeton sees value, and the Department sees value, in those kinds of activities and supports them to no end. It’s one of the fabulous things about being here, to get that kind of support.”
After Princeton University announced it would begin offering undergraduate minors, the Classics Department’s proposal for a new minor was among the earliest accepted. We sat down with Alex Konovalov '25, the first student to enroll in the new program, for a conversation about his classics journey, his course of study, and how the two intertwine.
Froma I. Zeitlin, Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature, Emerita, celebrated her 90th birthday last spring. More recently, her new book The Retrospective Muse, was published by Cornell University Press in December. In this Q&A from the Humanities Council, Prof. Zeitlin discusses her book, her career in classics, and the enduring value of her work.
We are thrilled to congratulate Dr. Thomas Davies *20 on his appointment to the University of Melbourne, where he will teach as Lecturer in Classics and Archaeology. In his words, this permanent, research-oriented position (equivalent to Assistant Professor in the United States) will see him teaching the history, cultures, and literatures of Bronze and Iron Age Afroeurasia, building "the existing discipline of Classics and Archaeology into a comprehensive program on the ancient Afroeurasian world."
Princeton Classics is absolutely overjoyed to announce that Prof. Ilaria Marchesi will be joining our faculty as University Lecturer in Greek and Latin and as the new Director of the Classics Language Program. An expert in Latin pedagogy and a leading authority on Pliny the Younger, Prof. Marchesi comes to the Department as Princeton's first ever externally appointed University Lecturer.