In Memoriam Geraldine Visco

We were very saddened to hear of the recent passing of Gerry Visco, our inimitable departmental administrator who did so much to enrich our daily operations from the late 1990s until her retirement in 2015. When she joined the department, she had already worked in various administrative capacities at Columbia and she therefore brought to her new role an enviable depth of institutional knowledge.

Gerry was a very able departmental administrator, and she also knew whom to turn to in the wider Columbia Community as and when further consultation was needed. She constantly defended and furthered the Department’s interests. Beyond her professional expertise, however, she made an indelible impression on generations of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. Gerry’s occasionally unconventional style was the stuff of legend, as was the thoughtful kindness that underlay her sometimes gruff demeanor. Hers was a singular form of diplomacy that struck many visitors to the department, and through these interactions, Gerry became well-known in the wider Classics community beyond Columbia.

She gave great support to many graduate students: with a kind word here, and a generous gesture there, she helped many towards the finish line of the Ph.D. The departmental parties she organized were invariably spectacular, and few could match her ability to make her office routine resemble a final dress rehearsal for a performance of Cabaret.

She was endlessly colorful of character, with a rich and varied existence beyond her day job—a legend in old-style New York nightlife which she documented in her photography. Many aspects of that wider life gave a wonderful exuberance to her presence in the Classics department, a ceaseless energy for the unexpected. All who knew her much lament her passing: Gerry Visco touched our lives in ways that will long be fondly remembered.

For more about Gerry please see her interview with the New York Times from 2016

Classics Department Graduation Celebration - May 17th 12p-2:30p 618 Hamilton Hall

The Department of Classics would like to formally invite all of you and your families to a gathering after University Convocation on May 17th.

We will have food and drink in the Classics Department, Hamilton Hall, 618 from 12-2:30 for you and your families to enjoy and celebrate the day with a toast with the Classics Faculty. 

We would be delighted if you would join us. 

Columbia wins big in Recitation Contest!

For its Greek and Latin Recitation Contest this past weekend, the New York Classical Club received seventeen submissions from Columbia and Barnard students, three of whom went on to win prizes:

Umberto Verdura (Ph.D. program): First Prize in Latin

Octavio Vourvoulias (Columbia College): First Prize in Greek

Grace Clifford (Postbaccalaureate Program): Third Prize in Greek

Congrats to these gifted performers—and thanks to everyone for submitting!  The contest takes place every year, so please try again in 2024.

Mary-Evelyn Farrior Awarded Rome Prize

Mary-Evelyn Farrior, a Ph.D. candidate in Classical Studies, has received the Emeline Hill Richardson/Jesse Howard, Jr. Rome Prize in Ancient Studies for 2023-24. Awarded annually by the American Academy in Rome (AAR), the fellowship supports advanced work and research in the arts and humanities. This highly competitive prize is given each year to artists and scholars, both at the early and middle stages of their careers, who the Academy feels represent the highest standard of excellence in their respective fields. Fellows remain in residence at the Academy in Rome and are encouraged to collaborate across disciplinary divides.

Thanks to the support of the AAR, Mary-Evelyn will continue her doctoral research on Inscribing Community: Mapping Greek Inscriptions in Imperial Rome. See more about Mary-Evelyn Farrior.

Paraskevi Martzavou - Joining the Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris

Our very own, Dr. Paraskevi Martzavou has joined the Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris!

We are so proud and excited about the great work that will come from this fellowship

Columbia’s Institute for Ideas and Imagination has just announced its lineup of 2023-24 fellows. The cohort blends Columbia faculty and postdocs with creative artists of global renown, from Ted Hughes Award-winning poet Jay Bernard to the interdisciplinary artist Ana María Gómez López. The new fellows are working on a range of topics, including the fate of the Egyptian gods in ancient Greece, the life of the Jamaican cultural theorist Stuart Hall, and the environmental and social degradation of contemporary Venezuela.

The Institute for Ideas and Imagination is a residential fellowship program at Reid Hall, offering support for faculty and recent doctoral students from all departments and schools to work alongside writers and artists from outside the academy. It is a presidential initiative launched just five years ago that now forms part of Columbia Global, which brings together global initiatives at the university, including Columbia World Projects and the Columbia Global Centers.

Read the Full Announcement Here

Reframing Hellenistic Poetry: Hidden Figures and Local Canons

The Center for the Ancient Mediterranean invites you to their panel discussion on 22 April, 2023 at the Italian Academy.

For more information please see the event here.

New York Classical Club Greek and Latin Reading Contest

New York Classical Club Greek and Latin Reading Contest - *** Video Edition ***

To enter, e-mail Katharina Volk (kv2018@columbia.edu) by April 29th. Send either a video file or provide a link to your posted video.

Female Agents: Gender, Drama, Reception, Performance - A Conference in Honor of Helene Foley

Please join us in celebrating Dr. Helene Foley with a Conference in her honor highlighting her amazing legacy and lasting impact.

FEMALE AGENTS: GENDER, DRAMA, RECEPTION, PERFORMANCE

A CONFERENCE IN HONOR OF HELENE FOLEY

MARCH 31-APRIL 1, 2023

MILSTEIN 912 AND 914

BARNARD CAMPUS

Organized by Nancy Worman

– in collaboration with students and former students of Helene –

Francisco Barrenechea, Claire Catenaccio, Anna Conser, Elizabeth Heintges, Carina de Klerk, Izzy Levy, Melissa Mueller, Sarah Nooter, Simone Oppen, Cristina Perez, Charles Pletcher, Melinda Powers, and Caleb Simone

– as well as her colleagues –

Gisela Cardenas, Marcus Folch, Erin Mee, Kristina Milnor, Ellen Morris,

Elizabeth Scharffenberger, Debbie Steiner, Oliver Taplin, and Froma Zeitlin

– with assistance from Columbia graduate students –

Emma Ianni, Giovanni Lovisetto, Valeria Spacciante, and Brett Stine

SPONSORED BY THE COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND THE BARNARD PROVOST’S OFFICE

Imperial Attica: A Greek Region in the Roman Empire 3/30-4/1

Imperial Attica: A Greek Region in the Roman Empire

Attica in Imperial times provides a remarkable success story. Starting in the late Republican period, this region became a place imbued with cultural meaning like no other in the Mediterranean. In a sustained, creative response to its incorporation into the geopolitical frame of the Roman empire, a "dense" Attic identity developed not simply by consolidating and reviving traditional features, but also by innovatively reshaping and expanding them. The conference aims to explore the dynamics of this historical phenomenon by addressing it from a multiplicity of disciplinary perspectives. It will investigate the literary representations of Attica and its landscape. It will ask how the new ideals impacted and shaped the reality of the region—its architectural landscape, its artistic production, and its material culture. It will examine the various forms of social and religious life that flourished in Roman times. It will devote attention to the role of individuals like Pomponius Atticus, Arrian, Hadrian, Gellius, and of course Herodes Atticus. And it will address the issue of Attica's "exportability" beyond geographical boundaries, be it in the form of a stylistic ideal or as an artifact.

Thursday, March 30, 6 pm:

Keynote Talk: Angelos Chaniotis (followed by reception)

Friday, March 31, 9 am-5:20 pm

Speakers: Ada Caruso, Nigel Kennell, Jason König, Paraskevi Martzavou, Sabine Müller, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Estelle Oudot, Maria Papaioannou, Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis, Mantha Zarmakoupi

Respondents: Alessandro Barchiesi, Barbara Borg, Sailakshmi Ramgopal

Saturday, April 1, 9 am-5:20 pm

Speakers: Anna Anguissola, Elena Calandra, Francesco Camia, Francesco de Angelis, Björn Ewald, Joseph Howley, Lawrence Kim, Annalisa Lo Monaco, Lindsey Mazurek, Laura Viidebaum

Respondents: Alessandro Barchiesi, Barbara Borg, Ilaria Bultrighini, R.R.R. Smith

Free and open to the public

(Please note: The conference will take place in Schermerhorn Hall 807.

The keynote talk only will also be available online: register here).

Celebrate Professor Karen Van Dyck's Book Launch

The Program in Hellenic Studies at Columbia University invites you to celebrate the launch of the bilingual collection  ΑΛΛΩΝΩΝ/LIFTED.  Karen Van Dyck and Eleni Bourou will talk about their collaboration followed by authors and translators reading “their” poems.

Thursday, March 30th, 2023 at 7:00 PM 

at Book Culture (536 W 112 St.) 

between Broadway and Amsterdam

Register Here

Rules

1. Take a prose passage that wants to be a poem.

2. Transcribe it.

3. Note the author,

4. the title of the book where you found the passage,

5. and the translator, if originally in another language.

6. Rework it as a poem:

7. break it into lines,

8. create stanzas,

9. change the punctuation,

10. but don’t delete or add words, except a title.

About the author
Karen Van Dyck is a critic, translator, poet and founder of Hellenic Studies at Columbia University. Her recent translations include Jazra Khaleed's The LIght that Burns Us, Maria Laina's Hers, Margarita Liberaki’s Three Summers,  and the anthology Austerity Measures: The New Greek Poetry. Her essays, translations, and poems have appeared in the PMLA, the LARB, the Guardian, The Paris Review, Asymptote, and Tender.

About the translator

Eleni Bourou is a translator, poet and editor. Her translations include poetry by Yosano Akiko, Nanni Balestrini, Nicole Brossard, Audre Lorde, and Keston Sutherland. Her poetry can be found in the collective works Virgulentxs (Berlin), A Chama Depende do Combustível vol. 2 (Fortaleza), What the Fire Sees (Brussels), ANAMESA (Athens) and in the literary magazine Lichtungen (Graz). She and Jazra Khaleed edit the Greek poetry magazine Teflon.

Classics Graduate Research Colloquium Series: Genres of Academic Writing - The Book Review

The Classics Graduate Research Colloquium Series: Genres of Academic Writing Presents:

The Book Review with Gareth Williams (former Book Review Editor, Classical World) and James Zetzel (Editorial Board, Bryn Mawr Classical Review).

Moderated by Katharina Volk (Latin Editor, Gnomon).

Friday, March 3rd, 4:10pm 603 Hamilton Hall

Classical Studies Talk: Tal Ish-Shalom "The Seleucid Paradox: Ethnicity and Cultural Change in Late-Hellenistic Sidon and Tyre" - Friday, February 17

Dear all,

The Classical Studies Graduate Program warmly invites you to a talk entitled "The Seleucid Paradox: Ethnicity and Cultural Change in Late-Hellenistic Sidon and Tyre" by Tal Ish-Shalom, PhD candidate in Classical Studies at Columbia University. Please join us on Friday, February 17 at 4:10 pm in Room 616 Hamilton Hall, with a reception to follow in Room 618. This talk is being presented in preparation for job interviews.

Dr. Cristina Pérez Díaz Book Launch Event 2/10/2023

Greetings!

Columbia University Classics Department is super excited & proud to announce the Book Launch of Dr. Cristina Pérez Díaz's new book Antígona by José Watanabe A Bilingual Edition with Critical Essays.

To celebrate this amazing achievement, we invite you to her book launch event happening on Friday, February 10, 2023, at 4:10p in 603 Hamilton Hall.

This book brings to English readers, in its entirety for the first time, a translation of José Watanabe’s Antígona, accompanied by the original Spanish text and critical essays.
The lack of availability in English has resulted in the absence of Antígona from important Anglophone studies devoted specifically to the reception of ancient Greek tragedy in the Americas. Pérez Díaz's translation fills this gap. The introduction provides the performative, political, and historical contexts in which the text was written in collaboration with the actress Teresa Ralli, from the Peruvian theater group Yuyachkani, who also originally performed it. Following the bilingual text, a critical essay provides an analysis of textual aspects of Antígona that have been disregarded, situating it in relation to Sophocles' Antigone and in conversation with relevant moments of the vast traditions of reception of the Greek tragedy. An appendix briefly surveys some notable productions of the play throughout Latin America.
This comprehensive volume provides an invaluable resource for readers interested in José Watanabe's work, students and scholars working on classical reception and Latin American literature and theatre, as well as theatre practitioners.

Moses Hadas and Historical Black Colleges and Universities - Classics, Racism, Segregation -12/7 6:10pm | Casa Hispanica, Room 201, and via Zoom.

Moses Hadas and Historical Black Colleges and Universities - Classics, Racism, Segregation

Justice Forum Series

Event link: https://sofheyman.org/events/justice-forum-moses-hadas

A panel featuring Rachel Hadas, Roosevelt Montás, and Dan-el Padilla Peralta

In the summer of 1963, Moses Hadas (1900-1966), Jay Professor of Greek at Columbia, used what was then a new AT &T technology to deliver a series of telelectures. Passionate about transmitting the classical legacy to the broadest possible audience, Hadas delivered 18 lectures to students at Historical Black Colleges and Universities in Mississippi and Louisiana. Materials pertaining to these historic lectures will be presented by Rachel Hadas -- poet, translator, educator, essayist, and the youngest daughter of Moses Hadas. Using these materials as a starting point, Rachel Hadas, Roosevelt Montás, and Dan-el Padilla Peralta (SOF 2014-16) will discuss the context of these lectures and the cultural shifts that have had an impact upon pedagogy and technology, the classical tradition, and equity in education-- all issues which, sixty years later, remain not only relevant but urgent.

This event is free and open to the public but requires prior registration (access through the website).

January 25, 2023, 6:10 pm | Casa Hispanica, Room 201, and via Zoom. 

The Classics Department's very own Cristina Perez Diaz published new book "Antígona by José Watanabe A Bilingual Edition with Critical Essays"

This book brings to English readers, in its entirety for the first time, a translation of José Watanabe’s Antígona, accompanied by the original Spanish text and critical essays.

The lack of availability in English has resulted in the absence of Antígona from important Anglophone studies devoted specifically to the reception of ancient Greek tragedy in the Americas. Pérez Díaz's translation fills this gap. The introduction provides the performative, political, and historical contexts in which the text was written in collaboration with the actress Teresa Ralli, from the Peruvian theater group Yuyachkani, who also originally performed it. Following the bilingual text, a critical essay provides an analysis of textual aspects of Antígona that have been disregarded, situating it in relation to Sophocles' Antigone and in conversation with relevant moments of the vast traditions of reception of the Greek tragedy. An appendix briefly surveys some notable productions of the play throughout Latin America.

This comprehensive volume provides an invaluable resource for readers interested in José Watanabe's work, students and scholars working on classical reception and Latin American literature and theatre, as well as theatre practitioners.

CLST FACULTY RICHARD A. BILLOWS PUBLISHES NEW BOOK: 'THE SPEAR, THE SCROLL, AND THE PEBBLE'

The Classics Department is delighted to announce the publication of The Spear, The Scroll, and The Pebble by Professor Richard A. Billows. This book presents a powerful new argument for how and why the Greek city-states, including their distinctive society and culture, came to be - and why they had the highly unusual and influential form they took. After reviewing early city-state formation, and the economic underpinnings of city-state society, three key chapters examine the way the Greeks developed their unique society. The spear, scroll, and pebble encapsulate the book's core ideas.

The Spear: city-state Greeks developed a citizen-militia military system that gave relatively equal importance to each citizen-warrior, thereby emboldening the citizen-warriors to demand political rights.

The Pebble: the resultant growth of collective political systems of oligarchy and democracy led to thousands of citizens forming the sovereign element of the state; they made political decisions through communal debate and voting.

The Scroll: in order for such systems to function, a shared information base had to be created, and this was done by setting up public notices of laws, proposed policies, public meeting agendas, and a host of other information.

To access this information, these military and political citizens had to be able to read. Billows examines the spread of schools and literacy throughout the Greek world, showing that the male city-state Greeks formed the world's first-known mass literate society. He concludes by showing that it was the mass-literate nature of the Greek city-state society that explains the remarkable and influential culture the classical Greeks produced.

Classics Department Textbook Donation - Donate in 617 Hamilton Hall

The Department of Classics is holding a textbook drive for students to drop off gently-used textbooks they wish to pass on to future students.

We are accepting textbooks that are Classics-related only (Ancient/Modern Greek, Latin, and Books assigned for in-translation courses). 

After finals please feel free to come to 617 Hamilton Hall to drop off your books in our donation box.

Thank you all for being amazing and wishing you the best with finals!

Classics Department Holiday Celebration - 12/15

Dear Members of the Classics Community,

We will be holding a holiday celebration from 11am-4pm on Thursday December 15th 618 Hamilton Hall.

Please stop by anytime between 11 and 4 to help yourself to some sweet treats and drinks to celebrate the end of the semester and the beginning of the holiday season. 

In an effort to keep our community healthy this will be a 'grab and go' event rather than a formal gathering. 

We hope to see you on the 15th! 

Auditions for Greek Play: ‘Aristophanes’ Women-at-the-Thesmophoria’s Euripides’ Helen.’

Two of our PhD Students, Izzy Levy and Charles Pletcher, are writing as co-directors of 2023’s Barnard Columbia Ancient Drama Group play, ‘Aristophanes’ Women-at-the-Thesmophoria’s Euripides’ Helen.’

The show is a tragicomic mashup of Aristophanes’ Thesmophoriazusae (Women at the Thesmophoria) and Euripides’ Helen. It will be performed entirely in Ancient Greek, with a contemporary drag cabaret twist.

Genderbending and genrebending are going to be at the heart of the performance. No previous performance experience or knowledge of Ancient Greek is required to participate, although both are very welcome!

On Tuesday, December 13, we will be holding auditions for the show in Hamilton 618, from 5-8pm. Sides will be provided at the audition with English translations of scenes from both Helen and Thesmophoriazusae — no need to prepare anything in Greek. If you are interested in a singing role (Chorus members, as well as ~3 main characters), please prepare to sing a brief (roughly 16-bar) selection of your choice (unaccompanied)

If you’d like to get involved behind the scenes, please fill out this Google Form with your interests and information and Izzy and/or Charles will be in touch.

First Classical Dialogues of the 2022-2023 Academic Year: Professor Maggie Popkin

Columbia University’s interdisciplinary and interdepartmental Classical Studies Graduate Program is delighted to announce the first Classical Dialogues talk of the 2022-2023 academic year.

Professor Maggie Popkin (Art History, Case Western Reserve University) will be on campus to discuss her recent book Souvenirs and the Experience of Empire in Ancient Rome (Cambridge UP, 2022) on Friday October 28, 11:00-1:00 in 603 Hamilton Hall.

This in-person only event has an author-meets-readers format. Thus, we are circulating in advance two of Prof. Popkin’s chapters: “Introduction: Souvenirs of the Roman Empire” and “Souvenirs of Cult Statues” Please email Lauren Palmer for a copy of the chapters

After an introduction by Prof. Francesco de Angelis (CU Department of Art History & Archaeology), Prof. Popkin will discuss her book, engage in dialogue with two graduate student respondents (Giulia Bertoni and Giovanni Lovisetto), and answer questions from attendees.

We look forward to seeing you there and to welcoming you to a short reception following the event.

About Souvenirs and the Experience of Empire in Ancient Rome

In this book, Maggie Popkin offers an in-depth investigation of souvenirs, a type of ancient Roman object that has been understudied and that is unfamiliar to many people. Souvenirs commemorated places, people, and spectacles in the Roman Empire. Straddling the spheres of religion, spectacle, leisure, and politics, they serve as a unique resource for exploring the experiences, interests, imaginations, and aspirations of a broad range of people - beyond elite, metropolitan men - who lived in the Roman world. Popkin shows how souvenirs generated and shaped memory and knowledge, as well as constructed imagined cultural affinities across the empire's heterogeneous population. At the same time, souvenirs strengthened local identities, yet excluded certain groups from the social participation that souvenirs made available to so many others. Featuring a full illustration program of 137 color and black and white images, Popkin's book demonstrates the critical role that souvenirs played in shaping how Romans perceived and conceptualized their world, and their relationships to the empire that shaped it.

– Cambridge University Press webpage https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/archaeology/classical-archaeology/souvenirs-and-experience-empire-ancient-rome?format=AR&isbn=9781009051347

About Maggie Popkin:

Maggie L. Popkin is Robson Junior Professor and Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History and Art at Case Western Reserve University. She is the author of The Architecture of the Roman Triumph: Monuments, Memory, and Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and numerous articles on Greek and Roman art and architecture. She has received fellowships from the Fulbright Organization and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome.