ancient mediterranean studies/classical tradition

coordinators:
Derek Counts, Art History
Carlos R. Galvao-Sobrinho, History

Spring 2008

Friday, February 1; 3-5 pm, Center Conference Room, Curtin Hall 939
Gualtiero Calboli (Retired Professor of Latin, University of Bologna),
"Two letters of Claudius Terentianus, a Roman Soldier in Egypt: Michigan Papyri, Vol.VIII"

Professor Calboli has suggested some advanced reading - from the primary publication of the papyri. That file is attached here in .pdf. (See also here). You may want to bring a copy of the reading with you as a reference during Professor Calboli's talk.

Other events for the Spring:

Thursday, March 6, 3-5 PM, CRT 939 (note different day)
Greg Aldrete (Professor of History and Humanistic Studies University of Wisconsin-Green Bay), "The Eternal City Goes Under: Tiber Floods in Ancient Rome."

Friday, April 25, 3-5 PM, CRT 939 Elisabetta Cova (Assistant Professor of Classics [FLL], UWM). Topic: Civic Museums of Northern Italy

In the past several years, the field of ancient classical studies has expanded at UWM with the addition of new faculty in the Departments of Art History, Foreign Languages and Linguistics (Classics), History, and Philosophy. Drawing on the resources of this expanded community and building on a tradition of interdisciplinary work that has long characterized the field of classical studies, this workshop seeks to create a forum for debate and discussion among UWM faculty with a research focus on the ancient Mediterranean world and the classical tradition. We seek to maintain a broad disciplinary scope that we hope will attract scholars working on the ancient Mediterranean (not only Greece and Rome, but also the Near East, Egypt, North Africa, Northern Europe) as well those researchers with an interest in the interpretation and meaning of classical influence in later periods. The foundations of many modern institutions are to be found in the literary and material culture of antiquity; the study of these formative processes, as well as the recognition of their historical development, is crucial to assessing their continued meaning in the present. By committing ourselves to a broad geographical and chronological scope, we acknowledge the multi-faceted dynamics of cultural encounters between center and periphery and past and present. Moreover, analysis of the reception and/or rejection of classical ideas in later periods offers an ideal opportunity to cross chronological boundaries and examine not only the diffusion, but also the transformation of literary, artistic, philosophical, and even religious ideas in new environments. This workshop provides the opportunity for faculty to engage in critical dialogue by reading and discussing each other's work as well as reviewing and evaluating new directions in the study of the ancient world and its legacy. From a more practical point of view, the group also seeks to devise strategies to (1) promote the study of the ancient world and the classical tradition at UWM; (2) suggest initiatives for education outreach into the larger Milwaukee community; and (3) foster professional development and collaborative research projects among its members. The workshop meets two or three times each term. At present, the group consists of faculty members drawn from four different departments already collaborating in such collective projects as the creation of an undergraduate Certificate Program in Ancient Mediterranean Studies. We expect this group to expand further with the participation of faculty from other areas (e.g., Philosophy, Communications, etc.) in addition to graduate students with a research interest in antiquity and/or its reception in later periods.

Center for 21st Century Studies

Daniel J. Sherman, Director