Evan Brandon

I am a Senior in the Classics department also pursuing a certificate in Linguistics. I became interested in Latin when I began learning the language in middle school, and it has remained a staple in my academic curriculum ever since. My first JP explored etymological wordplay in Vergil’s Aeneid and its technical and ideological underpinnings in Varro’s De Lingua Latina. However, after being enthralled by the Epic of Gilgamesh in the course, ‘What is a Classic?,’ my research interests shifted eastward. While learning Akkadian, I wrote my second JP on the social institution of intergenerational counsel that pervades Gilgamesh. For my Senior Thesis, I plan to continue working with Akkadian literature, this time by exploring its abundant wordplay and intertextuality.

Outside of the classroom, I am a Latin peer tutor with the Classics Department (I still have a soft spot for Latin), and I work in Mendel Music Library as a Circulation and Digital Projects Assistant. This past year I served as vice president of the Classics Club, and for the last two years I have co-led the effort to write questions for Princeton’s annual Certamen tournament. I also co-lead and play Mandolin with Princeton Rise Up, a group of music-lovers who regularly get together to play and sing songs in a casual setting. 

Through studying Classics and working in Mendel I have developed an enthusiasm for preserving and making accessible works and objects of historical significance. After Princeton, I plan to pursue a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science with a focus in Archival Studies, so that I may continue to cultivate this interest as a vocation.