Duke Department of Classical Studies

Hello from the department's new Program Coordinator! I wanted to take a moment to say hello to followers of our page and to introduce myself. I am Nicole Coscolluela and I started as the Program Coordinator in May 2024. I also serve as the DUSA and DGSA, so I have a hand in almost all of the goings-on within the department. I will play a large role in managing communications for Classical Studies, including our socials.

You can read more about me here:
https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/news/meet-our-new-program-coordinator-nicole-coscolluela

Or, you are welcome to stalk me the web.

Congratulations to Tori Lee (PhD '22) for winning the Women's Classical Caucus Leadership Award for her efforts in supporting the diversity and inclusivity of the field.

Award & Prize Winners — THE WOMEN'S CLASSICAL CAUCUS (WCC) Current Award Winners 2024-2025 The WCC Sharon L. James Mentorship Award: T. H. M. Gellar-Goad (Wake Forest University)The WCC Public Scholarship Award: Elizabeth Bobrick (Wesleyan University), “This Won’t End Well: On Loving Greek Tragedy"The WCC Leadership Award: Tori Lee (Boston University)Th...

Professor Jed Atkins spoke on "Fostering Transformative Conversation Across Difference" along with panelists from Braver Angels, Duke Library, UNC, and UC-Boulder for the conference “Combating Hate and Violence,” Polis: Center for Politics, Duke University, November 5, 2023.

This week the Society for Classical Studies featured the work of our recent PhD student, Sinja Küppers, in a post titled: "Women in Roman Higher Education: Marginal(ized) Learners, Teachers, and Intellectuals." Read more about her work and future plans here!

Blog: Women in Roman Higher Education: Marginal(ized) Learners, Teachers, and Intellectuals | Society for Classical Studies Sinja Küppers November 9, 2023 This month, we spotlight the graduate research of Dr. Sinja Küppers, who recently defended her dissertation on marginal learners in Roman higher education. Our knowledge of Roman higher education is based on the biographies and letters written by a handful of adult m...

During the summers of 2016 and 2017, a series of Unoccupied Aircraft System (UAS, aka drone) missions were flown over the Vulci plateau, an archaeological relevant site near Rome, Italy. The city of Vulci played a prominent role in Italian history and remains a pivotal piece in understanding the physical and social changes that occurred for both Etruscan and Roman cultures between ~9th century BCE and the ~4th century CE. Given the temporal and financial costs of conducting traditional archaeological excavation on a city-wide scale, remote sensing provides a practical and effective method of collecting data that can give archaeologists a crucial perspective on the remains that lie beneath the surface. The UAS flights were conducted using fixed-wing drones equipped with optical (RGB), red edge (RE) and near-infrared (NIR) sensors. The present dataset provides raw geolocated images and processed geospatial products (orthomosaics, digital elevation models, and reflectance maps) for both survey years and all sensors. These data products are supplemented with information on individual flight dates, areal coverages, image processing workflows, and associated details on spatial accuracy and resolution. These data will expand the potential for new discoveries in this location through direct access to high-quality geospatial information.
https://research.repository.duke.edu/concern/datasets/f4752h80h?locale=en

Spring 2024 registration begins tomorrow. Here's one last look at all of our featured courses.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

Spring 2024 registration begins Wednesday. Today's featured course of the day is CLST 360 The History of the Book being taught by Clare Woods on MW from 3:05-4:20 pm.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

Spring 2024 registration begins next week. Today's featured course of the day is CLST 307/HISTORY 413/POLSCI 380 Ancient Athenian Law being taught by Josh Sosin on TuTh from 1:25 to 2:40 pm.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

Spring 2024 registration begins next week. Today's featured course of the day is CLST 290S/HISTORY 290S Special Topic Ancient S*x Ed being taught by Cassandra Casias on TuTh from 1:25 to 2:40 pm.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

Spring 2024 registration begins next week. Today's featured course of the day is CLST 284/HISTORY 233 Roman History being taught by Cassandra Casias on TuTh from 3:05 to 4:20 pm.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

Come on out to the today from 1:00 to 4:00 PM in the Penn Pavilion and learn all about our Classical Studies majors and minors.

Spring 2024 registration begins next week. Today's featured course of the day is CLST 222/HISTORY 241 The Age of Nero: History, Art, and Literature being taught by Lauren Ginsberg on MW from 1:25-2:40 pm.

To see all of our Spring 2024 courses, please visit:https://classicalstudies.duke.edu/sites/classicalstudies.duke.edu/files/documents/CLST%20Consider%20the%20Classics%20SP24.pdf

The Duke Chronicle recently profiled Duke's Transformative Ideas Program, led by Classics professor Jed Atkins, and its Living-Learning Community, co-led by Classical Languages Major Jason Murray, Jr. See here: https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2023/10/duke-university-transformative-ideas-interdisciplinary-program-sophomores.

Transformative Ideas: Interdisciplinary program encourages sophomores to step away from ‘pressure to perform’ This semester, 279 students are participating in the program, which offers multidisciplinary courses spanning areas from religion to medicine and co-curricular activities that foster faculty-student interaction. 

Research Travel Report by Jess Cruz-Taylor: Archaeological Field School, Redondo, Portugal

Jess Cruz-Taylor: Archaeological Field School, Redondo, Portugal Thanks to the generous travel funding provided by the department, in the final weeks of summer 2023, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in an archaeological field school in the Alentejo region of Portugal at a Bronze Age site known as Castelo, under the direction of Bianca Viseu (McMasters...

Research Travel Report by Srinjoyi Lahiri: Neurocities and Ruinscapes - Vulci 3000 Project

Srinjoyi Lahiri: Neurocities and Ruinscapes - Vulci 3000 Project Thanks to the research travel funding from the Classical Studies Department this summer, I was able to conduct research that seamlessly combined my two academic interests of neuroscience and visual studies through the Vulci 3000 Project. As a Neuroscience and Visual Media Studies double major, I had...

Research Travel Report by Andrew Welser: Vasilikos Valley Project

Andrew Welser: Vasilikos Valley Project I am grateful for the department’s travel funding, which enabled me to travel to Cyprus for an archaeological excavation, and to go to Turkey to observe important archaeological sites in-person. In Cyprus, I helped investigate Kalavasos Vounaritashi, an Iron-Age site in the middle-south of the Isl...

Research Travel Report by Caitlin Childers: Neurocities and Ruinscape: Eye Tracking Experiments

Caitlin Childers: Neurocities and Ruinscape: Eye Tracking Experiments Hello! I am Caitlin Childers and I’m originally from Gaffney, South Carolina. I’m a first-year Master's student, focusing on Digital Art History. I am spending two weeks as project manager on a Bass Connections project called Neurocities and Ruinscapes. We are at an archaeological site called Vu...

Research Travel Report by Mariami Shanshashvili: Horace and Living Latin in Rome

Mariami Shanshashvili: Horace and Living Latin in Rome This summer I participated in the Living Latin in Rome organized by Paideia Institute. LLIR is an intensive program conducted almost exclusively in Latin. This year’s theme was Horace’s poetry. In seminar-style daily meetings we read and discussed Horace and the relevant cultural and historical ...

Research Travel Report by Sidney Jordan: Neurocities and Ruinscapes Bass Connections Project

Sidney Jordan: Neurocities and Ruinscapes Bass Connections Project With the aid of the Research Travel Award, I was able to travel to Italy this summer to participate in data collection for Dr. Maurizio Forte’s Neurocities and Ruinscapes Bass Connections team, as part of the Vulci 3000 Project. Our work was primarily based in the archeological site at the Etrusca...

Research Travel Report by Tara Wells: The Pompeii I.14 Project

Tara Wells: The Pompeii I.14 Project For summer 2023 I had the opportunity to participate in an excavation at Pompeii, the Pompeii I.14 Project supported by Tulane University and directed by Dr. Allison Emmerson. I joined the project as a ceramics specialist and had a wonderful experience as a member of the project. My work focused on....

Research Travel Report by Christian Ellis: Latin Conventiculum-Immersive Spoken Latin

Christian Ellis: Latin Conventiculum-Immersive Spoken Latin This summer I participated in the Dickinsoniense Conventiculum, which was an immersive spoken Latin experience. The program itself was held at Dickinson College—a small liberal arts college in Carlisle, PA. The Conventiculum was five days long and a true test of the skills I had learned so far at ...

Research Travel Report by Aadesh Anchaliya: Homeric Greek in Chios, Greece

Aadesh Anchaliya: Homeric Greek in Chios, Greece The program in which I participated through a grant given by the Classics Department at Duke was called Summer School in Homer. This was a one-week course on all things Homer located in Chios, Greece which is rumored to be the birthplace of Homer (if he did in fact even exist). The course was design...

Congrats to Alex Karsten for successfully defending his dissertation last week. His dissertation title was The Theognidea in Reperformance: A Rhetorical Rereading. Well done Dr. Karsten!

Congrats to Sinja Küppers for successfully defending her dissertation today! Her dissertation title was Marginalized Voices and Nontraditional Pathways in Higher Education in the Late Roman Empire. Well done Dr. Küppers!

Congratulations to our CLST Class of 2023!

Classical Civilizations Major
Abong’o Adongo
Eric Johannessen
David Mellgard Jr.
Amanda Turner

IDM: Classical Studies/History
Tyler Donovan

Classical Civilizations Minor
Alexandra Brice
Zachary Burd

Greek Minor
Greg Orme

Latin Minor
Anneke Zegers

Graduation with Distinction & Awards
David Mellgard Jr. - High Distinction
David Mellgard Jr. - David Taggart Clark Prize in Classical Studies Award

Doctor of Philosophy
Erickson Bridges
Michael Freeman
Alex Karsten
Sinja Küppers
Antonio LoPiano

Master of Education
Danielle Vander Horst

This past Thursday, April 27th, Class of 2023 CLST graduate, David Mellgard, presented his Senior Honors Thesis titled, "Claudius' Conquest of Britain: The Importance of Cultural Capital in the Early Roman Empire."

At this year’s meeting, the Classical Association for the Middle West and South, the largest regional conference for Classical Studies in the United States, honored two Duke Classical Studies Graduate Students with major awards.

Sinja Küppers is the graduate student winner of this year’s Rudolph Masciantonio CAMWS Diversity Award. Each year the awards committee selects one graduate student and one undergraduate student whose work towards diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as their own identities help the field of Classical Studies build a more inclusive future. This award recognizes Sinja’s extensive work on DEI, especially her work as co-founder of Duke F1RSTS, a program aimed to support first generation graduate students. As Sinja herself notes, her commitment to creating broader pathways into and through higher education stems from her own experiences as a first generation student.

Michael Freeman is the winner of this year’s Presidential Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Presentation. His paper, “the Body of the Scribe,” combines archaeological evidence alongside embodied scribal knowledge, preserved especially from the Ethiopian Ge’ez scribal tradition (continuous in the region since the 4th century CE and employing many of the same tools and techniques that were used in Roman Egypt) to show that ancient Mediterranean scribes built their craft, their production of manuscripts, and the design and use of all their others implements and techniques around their most important tool: their bodies. This stems from Michael’s wider research which re-centers scribes’ labor, their practices, and their voices.

Congratulations to you both on these impressive achievements!

Kate Morgan has been awarded a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship as well as three residential fellowships: a Getty Villa Scholar Grant (Malibu, CA; research theme: The Classical World in Context: Anatolia), a Fellowship in Hellenic Studies at Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., and a Visiting Research Scholar position at NYU’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New York. All are to support the completion of her monographic project, provisionally titled Beyond Midas: Towards a Postcolonial Archaeology of Phrygia. She plans to be in residence at the Getty Villa from late September through December 2023.

Alicia Jiménez will give the opening keynote at the conference "A Roman World? Imperial Power and Provincial Communities", organized by Sailakshmi Ramgopal (Columbia University).

The phrase “the Roman world” has long served as a useful shorthand to describe Rome’s vast sphere of influence. Yet it homogenizes: the peoples who inhabited the Roman Empire were tremendously diverse; until 212 CE most were not, legally speaking, Roman citizens. Moreover, they exerted great agency in their responses to and relationships with Roman power and, in so doing, profoundly shaped the empire’s social, political, cultural, and economic expressions.

“A Roman World?: Imperial Power and Provincial Communities” shares new research that explores these dynamics from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Emphasizing a diversity of actors, regions, and media, this workshop-conference addresses topics that include the creation of new Italian identities in the Republican province of Africa; the relationships between industrial activity in Carthago Nova and the natural environment; and the use of portrait sculpture by religious communities in imperial Thessaloniki as a means by which locals redefined themselves in relation to Rome. “A Roman World?” rejects the traditional dichotomy of colonizer and colonized and instead interrogates the politics of writing and rewriting the Roman past. Ultimately, it presents a new history of a world that was, in important ways, not Roman at all.

Columbia University, Italian Academy, 5th floor conference room
open to the public; in-person and on Zoom

Full program: https://ancient-mediterranean.columbia.edu/events/a-roman-world-imperial-power-and-provincial-communities/

Please fill out this form if you plan to attend the conference remotely. Upon registration you will receive the Zoom link, which will be also circulated on the morning of the event: https://forms.gle/tfvQqK3TNnjvZaPP7