Dr. Norman Austin Presents Outstanding M.A. Thesis Award to Najee Olya
The Department of Classics 2014 Student Awards Ceremony was held on Friday, April 25, in the Learning Services Building courtyard. Special thanks are owed to Dr. Philip Waddell, who organized this year's wonderful event and served as master of ceremonies. Graduate students Elizabeth Del Curto, Jesse Muñoz, and Álvaro Pires delivered scintillating recitations of Greek and Latin poetry. Guests of honor included Emeritus Professor of Classics Al Leonard, Jr., Emerita Professor of Classics Marilyn Skinner, and Lee Thorn, who spoke of his partner Jim Doidge’s devotion to Greek and Latin before he awarded the 2014 Doidge Graduate Greek and Latin Prizes to Lucca Green and Ed Heffernan, respectively. The Norman Austin Award for the Outstanding M.A. Thesis went to Najee Olya for “Mismatched Names and Mixed Up Places: Understanding the Connections between the Amphorae of the Attic ‘Tyrrhenian’ Group and the Amphorae of the Etruscan ‘Pontic’ Group in Vulci.” The Richard Jensen and Thomas Worthen Prizes, awarded annually to the top undergraduate Latin and Greek students, went to Allison Benz and Ginevra Miglerina. Miglerina was also recognized for her organization of the 2014 Homerathon.
Jensen Award Winner Allison Benz
Mnemosyne Inspires Jesse Muñoz’s Recitation of Horace, Odes 3.30
Álvaro Pires and Alec Wall received the American Philological Association Outstanding Student Awards. Classical Association of The Middle West and South Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Classical Studies went to Elizabeth Del Curto and Ben Winnick. The Outstanding Undergraduate in Classics Award, which acknowledges high-level academic performance as well as excellence outside the classroom in the form of independent research and/or exemplary community service, was awarded to Ian Merrill. Stephanie Hutchings won the Sandra Rhead Jones Award, which is given in support of Latin teaching pursuits. The Ariana Mercedes Economou Award for Excellence in Modern Greek (Hellenic Cultural Foundation) went to Eleni Moschonas.
Doidge Award Winners Lucca Green and Ed Heffernan with Lee Thorn (L)
Outstanding Undergraduate in Classics Award Winner Ian Merrill with Dr. Philip Waddell
Twelve graduate students are expected to receive their M.A. degrees in spring/summer 2014: Christopher Baker, Cynthia Doody, James Duffy, Alexandria Elliott, Vishal Ganesan, Edward Heffernan, Najee Olya, Chantel Osborne, Álvaro Pires, Michael Spanne, Alec Wall, and Jessica Sue Wiles. Spanne (Classical Philology) has accepted a teaching position (Classics & Latin) at BASIS Schools in Phoenix, and Wall (Classical Philology) has secured a job teaching Greek & Latin at Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts. Pires (Classical Philology) accepted a fellowship package to attend Brown University, where he will pursue his doctorate in Classical Philology. Heffernan (Latin Pedagogy) has accepted a Latin position at Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, while Doody (Classical Archaeology) will teach Latin full-time at Martin County High School in Florida. Ganesan (Classical Philology) has accepted an offer of admission to the University of Virginia Law School. Elliott (Latin Pedagogy) has received multiple Latin teaching position offers in Arizona and Illinois.
Professor Rip Economou
APA Outstanding Student Winners Álvaro Pires and Alec Wall
Elizabeth Del Curto Heralds Winter’s Demise in Tucson (Recitation of Horace, Odes 4.7)
Alex Elliott was awarded the College of Humanities Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award. Special recognition went to Ed Heffernan for his organization and coordination of the 2014 Lectio Vergiliana. Latin GTAs Elizabeth Del Curto, Alexandria Elliott, Vishal Ganesan, Edward Heffernan, Stephanie Hutchings, Álvaro Pires, Alec Wall, and Benjamin Winnick were honored for their important contributions to the Department of Classics curriculum.
2014 Classics M.A. Recipients (L to R): Jessica Sue Wiles, Najee Olya, Michael Spanne, Vishal Ganesan, Ed Heffernan, Alex Elliott, Álvaro Pires, Chantel Osborne, Cynthia Doody, Alec Wall
Ten Classics graduate students were honored for presenting papers at CAMWS this spring in Waco, Texas: Elizabeth Del Curto, “Should Latin Versification be Entirely Forgotten?”; Lucca Green, “On Being Heard: Protest, Imperialism, and the Aidoniazousai”; Matthew Harder, “Architectural Competition in the Circus Flaminius Under Augustus”; Stephanie Hutchings, “Dire Developments of Dissembling: Duplicity in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses”; Michael Koletsos, “Just Monkeying Around? An Examination of Euboean Pottery from Pithekoussai”; Emily Prosch, “Continuity of Symbols and Administrative Capacity from Minoan and Mycenaean Seals to Archaic Greek Coins”; Cara Ramsey, “Virile Servitium: The Representation of Agrippina on Roman Imperial Coinage”; Justin Shaw; “Classical Learning in Paradise Regained”; Michael Spanne, “Guicciardini’s Sejanus: An Intertextual Death Portrait of Alessandro VI”; and Benjamin Winnick, “Pausanias and Continuity of Cult in Greece." Álvaro Pires was recognized for delivering a paper entitled “Amor in Chains: Echoes of Boethius in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale” at Harvard University's “Revisiting the Legacy of Boethius in the Middle Ages” Conference. Lucca Green was honored for publishing “On the Suppliants’ Sprint: The Socioreligious Context of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus 1-3” in the Classical Journal.
COH Outstanding GTA Winner Alex Elliott with Dr. Philip Waddell
Álvaro Pires Declares “Water is Best” (Recitation of Pindar, Olympian 1)
CAMWS Award Winners Ben Winnick and Elizabeth Del Curto with Dr. Philip Waddell
External Award Winners (L to R): Elizabeth Del Curto, David Pickel, Asia Del Bonis-O'Donnell, Michael Koletsos
Five Classics graduate students received special recognition for winning external awards: Asia Del Bonis-O'Donnell, Etruscan Foundation Fieldwork Fellowship; Elizabeth Del Curto, the Medieval Academy of America’s CARA Scholarship; Stephanie Hutchings, the American Philological Association’s Zeph Stewart Latin Teacher Training Award; Michael Koletsos, the P.E. MacAllister Excavation Fellowship from the American Schools of Oriental Research; and David Pickel, Cacioppo Foundation Travel Award.
Conference and Graduate Colloquium Presenters (L to R): Cynthia Doody, Jessica Sue Wiles, Ben Winnick, Mike Spanne, Elizabeth Del Curto, Najee Olya, Chantel Osborne, Ed Heffernan, Álvaro Pires, Lucca Green, Matt Harder, Michael Koletsos, Vishal Ganesan, Justin Shaw
Seven Classics graduate students were recognized for their upcoming participation in summer excavations: Cara Ramsey, Campo della Fiera Field School in Orvieto, Italy; Michael Koletsos, Jezreel (Israel) Expedition; Emily Prosch, Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project; Kazumasa Suzuki, Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project and the Via Consolare Project at Pompeii; Asia Del Bonis-O'Donnell, Troia, Portugal; Najee Olya, Populonia, Italy; Jessica Sue Wiles, Luxor, Egypt (Arizona Egyptian Expedition).
Graduate Students Participating in Summer Excavations (L to R): Jessica Sue Wiles, Emily Prosch, Kazumasa Suzuki, David Pickel, Najee Olya, Asia Del Bonis-O'Donnell, Michael Koletsos
Seven undergraduates received certificates for their performance on the College Greek Exam: Rachel Brown, Stephanie Della Cella, Kevin McClain, Cam Nguyen, Jayan Patel, Bryan Waldvogel, and Grace Welch-Zaricor. The officers of Eta Sigma Phi (Eta Iota Chapter) were recognized: Ginevra Miglerina, Brandy Gravett, Nyssa Turner, and Glenn Elms. Hellenic Cultural Foundation Scholarships went to Angel Bustamante, Jay Stephens, and Angela VanBlargan. Undergraduate John Keck was acknowledged for his acceptance (with funding) into the M.A. program in Classics at Florida State University.
Finally, the Department’s Graduate Student Representatives, Alex Elliott and Chantel Osborne, were thanked for their important departmental service, especially their excellent work in organizing this year’s exceptionally rich Graduate Student Colloquium.
Congratulations to all our most deserving student awardees this year!
Ceremony Reception (L to R): Álvaro Pires, Dr. David Soren, Dr. Philip Waddell, Dr. Robert Groves, Jesse Muñoz, Mike Spanne