Archive for the ‘@ECU’ Category
Spring Courses Posted
The Spring 2010 Classical Studies course schedule is now available online. It features a new course by Prof. Stevens entitled “The Power of Images in Ancient Greece and Rome,” in which students will study significant monuments and art works of the classical world side by side with Greek and Roman literature. Other courses include Prof. Romer’s Greek and Roman Religions, Prof. Papalas’s Greek History, Prof. Teske’s Greek Tragedy, and my own Classical Mythology. And, as I mentioned in my last post, Prof. Peter Green will be returning to ECU and will offer a course on Herodotus and the Persian Wars. Prof. Green has recently finished a new translation of Herodotus’s Histories. Many of the historical and historiographical issues he faced in his translation project will be fodder for the class. If you saw the movie 300 and want to know more about Xerxes’ invasion of Greece, this is the course for you.
100th Anniversary of Latin at ECU
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the day when classes were first offered at East Carolina University, then known as East Carolina Teachers Training School. Among those first classes was instruction in Latin, offered by Ms. Birdie McKinnie. Below, I copy Chancellor Steve Ballard’s announcement of this occasion, along with a photograph of the first ECTTS faculty.
The first faculty sitting on the steps of Austin Building. Top row, left to right, Kate W. Lewis, art; William Ragsdale, education; Birdie McKinney, Latin; Sallie Joyner Davis, history. Middle row, left to right, Maria D. Graham, mathematics; Mamie E. Jenkins, English. Front row, left to right, Claude W. Wilson, education; Jennie Ogden, home economics; Fannie Bishop, piano; Herbert E. Austin, science, and Robert H. Wright, president.
A Centennial Moment…the First Day of Classes at East Carolina
One hundred years ago today, on October 5, 1909, 123 students (104 women and 19 men) entered the institution known as the East Carolina Teachers Training School. Today marks the last major event in our Centennial Celebration – the first day of classes at East Carolina.
On the day preceding the opening of school, citizens of Greenville had turned out in large numbers to welcome the arrival of a new type of Greenville resident – the student. Most of these young men and women had arrived by train from 31 counties in North Carolina and from four states. They traveled on Greenville’s dirt and plank roads to the campus by carriage.
Upon arrival, the students discovered four completed buildings – an administrative building, Old Austin; West Dormitory, the women’s dormitory (later called Wilson, and razed in 1968); East Dormitory, the men’s dormitory (now Jarvis Hall); and a dining hall (now Old Cafeteria), then called a refectory. Two other buildings, a central power house and an infirmary (now the Mamie Jenkins Building) were under construction. Despite attempts at having the campus ready for the first day of class, chairs had not been delivered, so borrowed church pews were used; electricity had not been connected, so kerosene lamps were requisitioned from the local hardware stores; the paving of Fifth Street had only just begun; and the podium in the auditorium from which the new president spoke was borrowed.
Greeting the first students were 10 faculty members (7 women and 3 men) and the president, Robert H. Wright. The faculty members were: Claude W. Wilson, pedagogy (he was also the bursar) ; W. H. Ragsdale, public school administration; Mamie E. Jenkins, English; Herbert E. Austin, science; Maria D. Graham, mathematics; Sallie J. Davis, history; Birdie McKinney, Latin; Jennie M. Ogden, household economics; Fannie M. Bishop, public school music and voice; and Annie Lee Davis, music. Staff members included Mrs. Kate R. Beckwith, lady principal; Charles O. Laughinghouse, physician; and Emma R. Jones, stenographer.
Today, 100 years later, East Carolina University enrolls 27, 666 students (16,831 women and 10,835 men), has a faculty of 1,867 and a staff of 3,548 (including 187 administrators). Today’s class comes from all 100 of counties in North Carolina, 46 other states, and 46 foreign countries. Today’s campus includes three sites, the original campus (now referred to as the east campus), which includes 150 buildings on 523 acres, the health sciences campus (referred to also as the west campus or medical campus) which includes 55 buildings (two under construction – The Family Medicine Center due to be completed in fall 2010 and the School of Dentistry due for completed by the end of the year 2011) on 206 acres, and the former Voice of America site northwest of the City of Greenville which includes 7 buildings on 650 acres.
What a difference 100 years has made!! Please join the entire ECU family today in celebrating in your own way the centennial anniversary of the first day of classes at East Carolina.
Dr. Green Returns
Great news! Dr. Peter Green will be returning to ECU for the spring semester. He will most likely be teaching a course on Herodotus and the Persian Wars on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Watch this space for more news.
Meanwhile, I note that Athena’s Owl has had its thousandth visitor. Thanks to all of our regular readers and to those who drop by occasionally.
Spring 2010 classes
The Classics faculty in Foreign Languages and Literatures has completed its schedule for Spring 2010 classes. It will feature a few new twists to the usual spring fun, along with our usual fine crop of courses in introductory and intermediate Latin and Greek.
Prof. Stevens will for the first time be offering Classics 2600, The Power of Images in Ancient Greece and Rome. It will be a unique tour of extant monuments and material remains of the ancient world against the background of contemporary literature and philosophy. Students will be asked to think about how intellectual concepts can be expressed in artistic and architectural products. The course will cover the major monuments of both classical Athens and Rome in their historical and intellectual contexts.
Prof. Teske will bring back his popular Classics 1300, the Greek and Latin Roots course. Students learn to break down the most complex of English words into their constituent parts and to understand how a word’s etymology impacts its present meaning. Prof. Teske will also be teaching the Age of Augustus course (Latin 3002), in which students read the major poets of the Augustan era, including Horace, Vergil, Propertius and Ovid.
Prof. Given (yours truly) will be teaching Classical Mythology, Classics 3460. Although I taught mythology in my job previous to ECU, this will be my first chance to teach it here. It will feature all the gods and heroes that you’ve encountered in childhood stories and popular culture. I will also be focusing a special section on the character of Odysseus and how he has been appropriated at different times from the ancient world until today. We start with the Odyssey and end up with the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Several past popular courses are returning this spring. Prof. Romer will again offer Greek and Roman Religions (Classics 3600) and Prof. Teske will have Greek Tragedy (Classics 2500). Students should remember that all the Classics courses satisfy the Foundations requirement for the Humanities.
I will be happy to answer any questions about any of our courses. Drop me a line at any time: givenj@ecu.edu.
Classics Club Meeting
Jim Duffy, who is organizing the new Classics students’ organization, has called an initial meeting for Thursday, September 17 at 3:00 in the lounge of the Foreign Languages & Literatures Department (Bate 3318A). Anyone interested in Classical Studies is encouraged to attend. This will be a good chance to meet your fellow students and to learn more about what the Classics Program is doing.
New Year
Anyone who knows the program director here at ECU Classics knows that I am a big football fan. It’s been a pleasure to root for the Pirates these past eight seasons. I’m pleased to be writing this new post as ECU is dominating Appalachian State. I find it especially pleasing since the last time I watched App State play, they were embarrassing my poor Big Ten alma mater, whose fortunes have only gotten worse since that shameful day two years ago. Go Pirates!
At ECU Classics, we’ve had our first full week of classes in the 2009-2010 academic year. It’s shaping up to be an excellent year. Our enrollments are as high as they’ve been in at least five years, thanks to strong interest in our Latin courses taught by Prof. Stevens and Prof. Wilson-Okamura, and in Prof. Teske’s Mythology and Etymology courses. I’ve had six students come to me to declare a Classics or Classical Civilization major just since the beginning of summer. We have three seniors who are pursuing major undergraduate research projects this year, all of whom will write a senior thesis at the culmination of their work. The Ancient Greek Reading Group got off to a strong start on Wednesday, reading one of the goriest texts to survive from the ancient world, “The Martyrdom of Polycarp.”
The Classics faculty held our first meeting of the year on Thursday. After welcoming our newest member, Prof. Marylaura Papalas, we discussed several new initiatives. Our participating Anthropology faculty members, Profs. Mazow and Perry, are working on course proposals for several archaeology courses that will eventually span the ancient world from the early Egypt to the Byzantine Period. Archaeology has been a big hole in our curriculum for a long time. It will soon be filled. (Or excavated?) We’re also planning some changes to our Mythology course. Right now, it’s only offered as a 3000-level course, meaning that freshmen have to get special permission to take it. We intend to lower the number so that it becomes an entry-level course for our curriculum, like Etymology and Intro to Classics. Extracurricularly, Prof. Wilson-Okamura is planning to start a Latin Reading Group to complement the Greek group. And we will have our production of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata next March 25–27.
Finally, thanks to the efforts of senior James Duffy, our Classical Studies Student Association is getting started for the year. If you are interested in participating, please contact him. I’ll give him space here for any announcements he would like to post.
Thanks to all our ECU students and our Athena’s Owl readers for your interest in Classical Studies!
Ancient Greek Reading Group
Prof. Tricia Wilson-Okamura passes along the news that the Ancient Greek Reading Group will continue this year. If you’re not familiar with it, this is a reading group for all those interested in reading ancient Greek literature in the original language. Anyone who has completed one year of Greek is welcome to attend. Past readings have ranged from Homer’s Odyssey and Herodotus’s Histories to the New Testament Gospels. This semester, the group is turning to two second century A.D. writers: a non-scriptural early Christian (Polycarp) and then an ancient traveloguist (Pausanias). Prof. Wilson-Okamura writes:
We’ll be having our inaugural meeting for the Ancient Greek Reading Group next Wednesday, September 2, 2009, and readings are now available on the desk in the entry of the Foreign Languages offices (Bate 3324, to the left of the 3rd floor elevators, as you face them). I’ll also bring a few to the meeting to distribute.
This semester, we’ll be beginning with Polycarp, and ending up with selections from Pausanias I. If you are not on campus regularly and would like one posted to you, send me your address and I will do so. If you would like to practice sight-reading and meet with other Classicists, you are most welcome to join us. Also, if you know of anyone who might be interested in joining, please pass this message along.
Ancient Greek Reading Group
Wednesday, September 2nd, 5:00 P.M.
Marathon Restaurant
706 S. Evans St.
Classes Begin
Athena’s Owl extends a warm welcome to all our students, returning and incoming. The Classics Program is looking forward to an exciting year. We have a full lineup of exciting classes this fall, and we’ll announce our spring classes in the coming weeks. We expect to have a visiting scholar come in for a lecture sometime this semester. And we are already looking forward to our production of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, March 25–27. (If you’ve not already subscribed to this blog, please do so to keep up to date with all events, including Lysistrata auditions. Just type your e-mail address in the Subscribe box in the right margin.)
If you’d like the chance to reconnect with old friends and make new friends, please join us for an informal lunch at Mike’s Deli, across 10th Street from the Bate Building, at 1:00 on Friday, August 28. All are welcome.
Classes that start today, Tuesday, August 25, include: Anthropology 3113, Archaeology of the Old Testament World, with Dr. Laura Mazow; Classics 2500, Greek Tragedy, with Mr. Michael Teske; Classics 3460, Classical Mythology, with Mr. Teske; and Greek 3001, Homer and Hesiod, with Dr. John Given. Tomorrow’s schedule will kick off most of our language classes: Latin 1001 with Dr. John Stevens; Latin 1003 with Ms. Tricia Wilson-Okamura; and Greek 1001 and 1003 with Dr. Given. It will also see the debuts of Classics 2000 (Introduction to Classics) with Dr. Frank Romer; Classics 1300, Greek and Latin for Vocabulary Building, with Mr. Teske; Classics 2230, Roman Literature, with Dr. Stevens; and English 3600, Homer to Dante, with Dr. David Wilson-Okamura.
Have a good semester!
New Faculty Member
Dr. Marylaura Papalas
As we begin the 2009-2010 academic year, the ECU Program in Classical Studies is pleased to welcome Dr. Marylaura Papalas as a new member of the program faculty. Dr. Papalas has been at East Carolina for two years, and is a member of the French section of the ECU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. After completing her undergraduate work at UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Papalas took two degrees from the Ohio State University: a Ph.D. in French Literature and an M.A. in Modern Greek Literature. In both languages she has studied surrealist and avant garde literature. She has published an article entitled, “Nicolas Calas’ Surrealism: Liberating the National Greek Identity”. The Classics Program has frequently used special events to remind our students of the continuity of culture from ancient to modern Greece, including most recently Dr. Peter Green’s staging of the Yannis Ritsos Festival last spring. We look forward to having Dr. Papalas’s keen insights into Greek culture as part of our program.
In addition to Dr. Papalas’s arrival, the Classics program is proud to announce that three of our faculty begin the new year with promotions. Drs. Megan Perry (Anthropology) and John Given (Foreign Languages & Literatures) have moved from assistant professors to associate professors with tenure. Dr. Laura Mazow (Anthropology) joins the ranks of the tenure-track faculty as an assistant professor.
Final Week of Summer
We’re in our last full week before ECU classes begin on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. Athena’s Owl wishes all students and faculty a happy last few days of summer. (And Dr. Given reminds his Greek students to review your vocabulary and morphology before the semester begins!)
The fall Classics schedule will be an exciting one. If students are still looking for a class or two, you can see all your options here. Classics 1300 (Greek & Latin Roots in English), Classics 2000 (Introduction to Classics), Classics 2230 (Roman Literature in Translation) and English 3600 (Homer to Dante) are all full, but you can still find some available seats in Classics 2500 (Greek Tragedy), Classics 3460 (Mythology), Anthropology 3113 (Archaeology of the Old Testament World) as well as the Greek and Latin language classes. If any incoming students have had Latin or Greek in high school, especially if you passed the AP Latin exam, please contact Dr. Given immediately so we can get you placed into the right level of your language.
Meanwhile, to get you ready for your plunge back into the world of Humanities education, I invite you to read this article from Inside Higher Education, called “Iphigenia and the iPhone,” about the place of the humanities in an America that so highly values innovation and entrepreneurship. Never doubt that you can change the world with the critical thinking skills and unique, complex perspectives provided by the humanities!
