The Department of Classics is pleased to welcome two new faculty members this year, Dr. Mark Thatcher and Dr. Philip Waddell, both of whom are serving as Visiting Assistant Professors during the 2012-13 academic year. This semester, Dr. Waddell is teaching CLAS 510A (Methods in Classical Studies), CLAS 116B (Word Roots: Science and Medical Terminology), and CLAS 160B1 (Rome: Life, Death, and Spectacle). Dr. Thatcher’s fall classes include LAT 400 (Republican Prose), CLAS 160D2 (Greek Mythology), and CLAS 335 (The Roman Empire: Rulers & Ruled).
Dr. Thatcher received his Ph.D. in Classics at Brown University after earning his B.A. in Classics at Northwestern University. He has taught previously at Creighton University and The Ohio State University. Dr. Thatcher’s research focuses on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, especially in Archaic and Classical Sicily and southern Italy. He also generally works on multiculturalism and cross-cultural interactions in Greek and Roman history and historiography. He has an article entitled "Syracusan Identity between Tyranny and Democracy” forthcoming in the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies (University of London). Dr. Thatcher is currently working on a monograph that examines the crucial role of collective identity (e.g., ethnic, civic, Hellenic) in shaping social and political events, decisions, and strategies in the Greek West (ca. 600-200 BC).
Dr. Mark Thatcher
A native of the flatlands and ice tundra of Minnesota, Dr. Thatcher appreciates Tucson’s climate and omnipresent mountain views. He is especially appreciative of our relatively light-pollution-free skies, as he has an interest in astronomy. His other hobbies include cooking (especially Indian), listening to NPR, and following politics as a spectator sport. Prompted by an interviewer to provide a Churchillesque quote about his new position, Dr. Thatcher quipped, “I’m here to give you my blood, toil, tears, and sweat—especially the sweat part.”
Dr. Waddell, a native Texan, earned his B.A. in Mediaeval History at Johns Hopkins University. He completed a post-baccalaureate program in the Department of Greek and Latin at the Catholic University of America, and subsequently received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Classical Studies at the University of Missouri. Before coming to the UofA, he served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Missouri and also spent two years in Geneva, where he sometimes worked as an Intern at the International Bureau of Education (a division of UNESCO) while completing his dissertation. His extensive teaching experience includes a course entitled "Princes and Tyrants," which examines the creation and reception of images of the emperors in material culture, ancient texts, and modern film. Dr. Waddell has an article entitled "Eloquent Collisions: The Annales of Tacitus, the Column of Trajan, and the Cinematic Quick-Cut" forthcoming in Arethusa. His research interests include Roman historiography and questions of narratology (especially in Tacitus). Among Dr. Waddell’s current projects are an article on failures of rhetorical self-characterization in the Annales, historiography in Ammianus Marcellinus's Res Gestae, and a monograph based on his dissertation, which explored the Annales as visual narrative.
Dr. Philip Waddell
In Dr. Waddell’s off time, he enjoys watching old movies, barbecuing, and playing board games. He also aspires to dust off his college fencing equipment one of these days. Dr. Waddell is favorably impressed with Tucson, especially its substantial rains (this time of year anyway) and cacti. Regarding his new position, Dr. Waddell states, “I am very excited about working here at the UofA and greatly enjoy teaching my courses.”
Please join the Department of Classics in welcoming these two new faculty members, who are making important contributions to our both our undergraduate and graduate teaching missions this academic year.