Ohio State Department of Classics

On Tuesday, April 2nd, the Classics X NESA Coffee Hour hosted their final meeting of the semester. NESA PhD candidate Asad Uz Zaman gave a presentation titled "Is Satan a Fallen Angel in the Qur'an?," and students had the chance to speak with visiting scholar Dr. Bronson Brown-deVost (Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities).

This month's undergraduate spotlight is Abigale Luber, a senior who is majoring in Classics and Romance Studies! Read more about her time in the our department at our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/undergraduate-student-spotlights/abigale-luber

PhD candidate Matt Maynard has been awarded this year's Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth by the Center for the Study of Religion. The award will support Matt's dissertation research on the myths of Pan and how we develop new eco-critical ways of understanding the ancient Greek worldview by studying those myths.

Congratulations, Matt!

Looking for a course to take online this summer? Consider enrolling in our Classical Mythology course! Enrollment is open now!

Meet Professor Gregory Jusdanis! Read more about his background and experience in our department on our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/faculty-spotlights/professor-gregory-jusdanis

This month we are featuring Aristogeneia Toumpa in our graduate student spotlight! Aristogeneia has been getting firsthand experience studying in the field this year in Athens. Read more on our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/graduate-student-spotlights/aristogeneia-toumpa

Remember that cool statue we shared in December from one of our Honors mythology classes? It's now on display at the Warner Library at the Ohio State University at Newark, along with other artwork from the class! Read more about the projects below.

Ancient Greek-Inspired Student Art on Display If you’ve visited the Warner Library at The Ohio State University at Newark recently, you may have noticed classic art pieces inspired by ancient Greece dotted throughout. These are courtesy of Dana

Autumn 2024 courses are now available on our website. Check out what our department will be offering before registration begins on March 18th!
https://classics.osu.edu/autumn-2024-course-offerings

February's undergraduate student spotlight features a new Classics major, Emma McConnell! Emma is an Honors student who is majoring in our Latin track - read more about her journey so far at our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/undergraduate-student-spotlights/emma-mcconnell

We are featuring one of our new graduate students, Matthew Herzog, in this month's graduate student spotlight! Matthew has a lot of good advice for anyone interested in pursuing graduate coursework in Classics - read about it on our webpage!
https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/graduate-student-spotlights/matthew-herzog

Professor Sarah Iles Johnston has been chosen to speak at this year's TEDxOhioStateUniversity event! Her talk will focus on the way that modern supernatural horror fiction invites its audience to think about matters that are traditionally called 'religious.' The event will take place in Mershon Auditorium on Saturday, March 2, 2024.

Congratulations to Professor Johnston!

Our next speaker is Sarah Iles Johnston. Sarah is fascinated by the question of how people come to believe what they believe about gods, ghosts and other inhabitants of the unseen realm. Her recent work has focused on how stories—myths, sacred tales, novels, TV programs and films—can influence those beliefs and she loves to exemplify this by telling stories as part of her teaching.

Our undergraduate student spotlight for this month is Caroline Redder! Read more about Caroline's story and advice for students thinking about a minor in Classics on our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/undergraduate-student-spotlights/caroline-redder

We hope you will join us on Thurs., Jan. 11th at 4 p.m. for "The Deborah Panel in the Huqoq Synagogue," with Ra'anan Boustan, Princeton University. Held in room 168 Dulles Hall, this presentation is about the “Deborah Mosaic” from the amazing (fifth-century CE) Huqoq synagogue in Galilee. Professor Boustan will be discussing the mosaic in terms of its history and gender dynamics.

This event is co-sponsored by the Melton Center for Jewish Studies and the Department of Classics Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization: Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean.

This month's alumni spotlight features Stephanie Mercer, Class of '23! Stephanie is currently pursuing a master's degree in Latin and hopes to pursue a PhD in Classics from OSU in the future! Read more at our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/alumni-spotlights/stephanie-mercer

Our graduate student spotlight this month focuses on Marianna Esposito! She began our graduate program this year, and she is studying Roman history and Latin epigraphy. Check out her full feature on our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/graduate-student-spotlights/marianna-esposito

Throwback Thursday!
Last spring Collin Robbins, a recent graduate who minored in Classics, had his paper on Epicureanism published in Ohio State's newly founded undergraduate philosophy journal, Sorge. His paper was titled "The Scientific Prescience of Epicureanism" - read it here:

Sorge Vol. 1 | Sorge Sorge Vol. 1 Sorge Vol. 1 (2023) The full volume can be accessed above as a PDF. Below are individual components that can be read in browser or as PDF. A Letter From the Editors PDF/HTML   An Argument for the Regulation of LAWS Development Jacob Moore PDF/HTML   Defense Against The “Dark” Arts...

Professor Sarah Iles Johnston is the star of our faculty spotlight this month! Her main areas of study are Ancient Greek Myths and Religion. Read more about her experience and research by visiting our website below.
https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/faculty-spotlights/professor-sarah-iles-johnston

Happy Reading Day! Check out this cool final project - Gavin Eastep, a student in our Honors Mythology course at OSU Newark, created this statue by welding random metal pieces together. It is life-size and weighs 88 pounds! Nice work, Gavin!

The statue will be on exhibit next semester at the OSU Newark library, along with some other paintings and art pieces inspired by the class. Be sure to stop by to see them if you get a chance!

This month, our undergraduate student spotlight is Caroline Borrillo! Caroline is an Honors student who is double majoring in Mathematics and Classical Humanities. Read more about Caroline on our website: https://classics.osu.edu/people/department-spotlights/undergraduate-student-spotlights/caroline-borrillo

Our alumni spotlight this month features Melina Edic! Check out our website to read more about how Classics has helped shape Melina's career: https://classics.osu.edu/people/alumni-spotlights/melina-edic

Meet Rachael Knodel, one of the graduate students in our Greek and Latin PhD program! Read more about Rachael's story by visiting our website below.
https://classics.osu.edu/people/graduate-student-spotlights/rachael-knodel

This month's faculty spotlight is focused on Professor Benjamin Acosta-Hughes! Read more about his background and research here: https://classics.osu.edu/people/faculty-spotlights/professor-benjamin-acosta-hughes

Meet one of our undergraduate students, Elizabeth Roberts!
Elizabeth is a Greek & Latin major who transferred to OSU this year. Check out our website to read more about their experience: https://classics.osu.edu/people/undergraduate-student-spotlights/elizabeth-roberts

A big congratulations to Professor Chris Parmenter on publishing his article “The Twilight of the Gods? Genomic History and the Return of Race in the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean” in History & Theory! Check it out now!

THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS? GENOMIC HISTORY AND THE RETURN OF RACE IN THE STUDY OF THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN This article discusses the impact of genomic history, a subdiscipline that emerged in the study of the ancient Mediterranean in the 2010s. In 2014, scientists first published a method for extracting ...