The Department of Classics at Brown University, Providence, RI Videos

Congratulations to our Classics Class of 2022! 🎓

Happy New Year everyone! #BrownUniversity #ClassicsAtBrown #ClassicalStudies #HappyNewYear #HappyNewYear2022

After another unconventional semester, Classics@Brown wishes everyone a safe and restful Winter Break! Stay healthy, and we will see you in 2022! #BrownUniversity #ClassicsAtBrown #ClassicalStudies #WinterBreak2021 #WinterBreak #Winter #Rest #Relax #StayHealthy #SeeYouNextYear

Conversations About Greece: The Normalization of Cyprus’ Partition Among Greek Cypriots
Last month, the Program in Modern Greek Studies hosted another successful webinar in the Conversations About Greece series, "The Normalization of Cyprus’ Partition Among Greek Cypriots". Gregoris Ioannou (University of Glasgow, U.K.) discussed his recent book, "The Normalization of Cyprus’ Partition Among Greek Cypriots," with Niyazi Kizilyürek (Member of the European Parliament) and Vangelis Calotychos (Brown University). This book explores the basic dynamics that shaped the Cyprus problem, with a focus on recent decades. The author deals with the periods, nodal points and fields that produced the conditions for the normalization of partition and also presents the Cyprus problem as viewed from the outside. The chapters approach Cyprus’ division in light of power relations in society, the interaction between the political elite and society, and discuss the political and ideological dynamics as manifested in the public sphere.

Since we were unable to host our normal Classics Commencement Reception and the Diploma Ceremony this year, we wanted to show our appreciation to all of our 2021 graduates by recognizing their achievements at Brown on our website. The Department conferred thirteen undergraduate degrees and three graduate degrees in May 2021. Please join us in saying Congratulations to the Classics Department Class of 2021! To view bios and additional information, please visit our website: https://www.brown.edu/academics/classics/alumnaei/recent-graduates

Conversations About Greece: Land of Aeolia
Last month the Program in Modern Greek Studies hosted another successful webinar in the Conversations About Greece series, "Land of Aeolia." Therese Sellers discussed her recently published translation of "Land of Aeolia" by the renowned Greek author Ilias Venezis (1904-1973) with Bruce Clark (author and journalist) and Johanna Hanink (Brown University). Originally published in Greek in 1943, LAND of AEOLIA (Αιολική Γη) is a lyrical memoir of a Greek childhood in Turkey before 1914 by refugee writer Ilias Venezis. This present translation, with an introduction by Bruce Clark, brings one of the most beloved works of modern Greek literature to readers of english for the first time in its entirety. Land of Aeolia tells the story of the author’s childhood summers in anatolia before World War i, before the Greek genocide, the GrecoTurkish war, the author’s captivity by the Turks, and before the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1922 that led to the permanent loss of his homeland. in this story of his childhood, half fiction, half truth, ilias Venezis describes and affirms a world inwhich the lives of humans, be they smugglers,saints, brigands, farmers, camel drivers or children, are reflected in nature — in her mountains, rivers, trees, eagles, bears, eels, and lizards, and all her manifestations — and therefore share an innate affinity with her mysterious world.

Digital Annotation of Classical Texts and Effective Digitization: The Dickinson College Commentaries Project
Classics@Brown graduate students hosted the 11th Annual Grimshaw-Gudewicz Lecture (via Zoom) in March. Originally planned for March 2020, "Digital Annotation of Classical Texts and Effective Digitization: The Dickinson College Comentaries Project" was presented by Prof. Christopher Francese (Dickinson College). Classical studies sits on a gold mine of print reference works (lexica, commentaries, grammars, concordances), many of them in the public domain, that are the envy of other fields. This talk discusses techniques of and further opportunities for effective digitization as a way to make direct experience of classical texts more available to people around the world, in the context of the peer-reviewed commentary series Dickinson College Commentaries. Christopher Francese is the project director of Dickinson College Commentaries, a series of online multimedia editions of classical texts, and is the author of three books: Ancient Rome: An Anthology of Sources (Hackett, 2014), Ancient Rome in So Many Words (Hippocrene, 2007), and Parthenius of Nicaea and Roman Poetry (Peter Lang, 2001). He also produces the Latin Poetry Podcast, and directs a series of professional development workshops for Latin teachers, the Dickinson Latin Workshops.

ICYMI - earlier in March, Modern Greek@Brown hosted another "Conversations About Greece" webinar featuring Andreas Algava's family memoir, "600 Days in Hiding: A Jewish Family in Nazi-Occupied Thessaloniki Greece." Andreas discussed his book with Prof. Elsa Amanatidou (Brown University) and Prof. Paris Papamichos Chronakis (Royal Holloway, London). It was a fascinating discussion about Andreas and his Jewish family hiding in plain sight in Thessaloniki, Greece during the time of Nazi invasion. Although Andreas was only a child at the time, thanks to conversations with his parents and grandparents over the years, he was able to convey their emotional true story of survival. "600 Days in Hiding" can be purchased on Amazon - we hope you'll take time to watch the webinar and read Andreas' amazing story.