Anna Cambron
This summer, I attended the Classical Summer School at the American Academy in Rome. In the program, I spent five weeks living in Rome with a group of graduate students and teachers, visiting museums and archaeological sites in the city and the surrounding area. In addition to sites in Rome, we went to Pompeii, Cosa, Paestum, Tarquinia, and a few other sites relevant to Rome’s history. Seeing Roman spaces around me in three dimensions encouraged me to think about the direct material experiences of Romans of all types: where a person might have to walk to get from one place to another, what they might see, hear, or smell as they went, how the space might prompt them to position themselves physically or mentally, and how these experiences might change based on different aspects of their identity. As I’m particularly interested in theater, seeing how theater is invoked in non-theatrical spaces such as homes and cemeteries was a particular highlight.
I also got to learn pedagogical strategies from teachers with years of experience at both the university and secondary level. The American Academy in Rome connected the students in the program with several established scholars and archaeologists. We got to learn from these experts in action onsite or in workshops, as well as through more casual conversations over dinner. The students in the program also held several pedagogical fora and teaching demonstrations for each other, where we discussed strategies that work well for teaching ancient languages and history, and considered how we might best introduce the material culture we were seeing in Rome into the classroom. I came away with useful tips and strategies for my future teaching, and an excitement to start incorporating more historical and cultural material into my future language teaching.
Seeing Roman spaces as they exist in the modern city of Rome also made me reflect on how these spaces came to look the way they do. I got to see firsthand how the preservation and reconstruction of ancient spaces has been heavily impacted by the priorities and ideologies of later people, from Renaissance humanists to 20th-century fascists. Considering these other layers of Roman history clarified to me that even seeing is not believing: how a site is presented visually does not necessarily reflect the ‘truth’ about antiquity, if such a thing exists. My experiences in Rome prompted me to more deeply consider my role and responsibility as a scholar. As I research and teach, I don’t uncover and convey information about the past, but actively shape that past, and I need to do so thoughtfully.
Daniel Orr
I had another wonderful year at Duke. Highlights included (1) TA-ing for "The Good Life" in the fall and (2) a year-long grad reading group of Plato's Republic that was sponsored by FHI and co-organized with Ben Moon-Black and Ivy Flessen (Political Science). Our reading group culminated with Melissa Lane's two-day campus visit. With the support of the department, I gave papers at CAMWS (Southern Section), the annual CAMWS conference, and the Renaissance Society of America on topics scaling the sublime to the ridiculous: Lucretius' debt to Thucydides, political dissent in the Frogs, and medical metaphors in Machiavelli's La Mandragola.
Ben Moon-Black
This past academic year, I apprenticed under Dr. Erika Weiberg in their Greek 101/2 course. After learning from them for the entire year, I feel more than prepared to teach the course on my own for the 2024/5 academic year. In addition to teaching, I successfully defended my dissertation prospectus and began writing my first chapter on the reception of the emperor Julian in fourth- and fifth-century Latin Christian historians. With fellow graduate students Daniel Orr (Classical studies) and Ivy Flessen (Political Science), I led a project titled “Platonic Questions, Contemporary Problems,” funded by the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, where we engaged with Plato’s Republic to unravel questions of justice that remain relevant to our society. This project included leading monthly discussion meetings, a guest lecture from Dr. Melissa Lane (Princeton), and a final symposium between our members. Last but not least, I delivered a paper, titled “Befriending The Living Martyr: Elite Christian Patronage in Paulinus of Nola, Epistle 18,” at the conference of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS).
Tara Wells
I spent the 2023-2024 academic year as a Regular Member at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA). I was lucky to have Dr. Brendan Burke as the year’s Mellon Professor leading our group, along with Dr. Bronwen Wickkiser and Dr. Louis A. Ruprecht Jr. as Whitehead Professors, all of whom I can’t thank enough for our time together. From September through mid-March we traveled to sites and museums across all of Greece, spending the fall focused on trips in Northern, Western, and Central Greece, and Crete. The trips were intense and exhausting, but greatly enriching and invaluable to my development as a scholar and instructor of ancient studies.
The winter kept us local to Athens and Attica, with a trip to Corinth and the Argolid in February. When in Athens, in addition to site and museum visits, our schedules were packed with various programming at the ASCSA, from major public lectures to smaller workshops with experts, designed specifically for our group of students. The winter term also featured the Whitehead Seminars, taught by Dr. Wickkiser and Dr. Ruprecht, each with a focus on their areas of expertise. The spring term then allowed time for members to focus on our own research and travels. During this time, in addition to revisiting favorite museums or other spots, I participated in the Postgraduate Epigraphy Course at the British School at Athens. I greatly enjoyed the 10-day class which gave me excellent foundations for working with epigraphic materials as I move forward in my career. Ultimately, it was a year overflowing with opportunities for constant professional and personal development.
Beyond the educational and professional benefits that have come from this past year, I will always cherish many fun and joyful memories with my colleagues and friends. My time at the school will certainly stand out as one of the most impactful on my life and career. Regardless of my physical absence from Durham, I made remarkable progress as a PhD candidate at Duke. In November 2023, I successfully completed and defended my dissertation prospectus. I am extremely grateful to my advisor and dissertation chair, Dr. Erika Weiberg, along with the members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Sheila Dillon, Dr. Kate Morgan, and Dr. Josh Sosin, for their patience and flexibility in making my work feasible while abroad in such a rigorous program. With their support, I passed my prospectus phase and am now working on the first chapter of my dissertation. While my time away from Duke was incredibly enriching and fun, it feels great to be back at Duke. I missed the wonderful community of the Classical Studies Department as well as the familiar comforts and resources I am privileged and grateful to have here at Duke.
Finally, I am quite proud to recall my participation in wider organizations within Classical Studies, namely, the Society for Classical Studies (SCS), the Mountaintop Coalition, and the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS). I am honored to have served as the organizer of the panel, “Indigenous Perspectives, Ancient and Modern: A Mountaintop Coalition Panel,” at the SCS/AIA Annual Joint Meeting, in Chicago, in January 2024. We were pleased to have our panel as one of the hybrid offerings, making it accessible to a wider audience – I myself joined via Zoom from Athens! The panel was extremely well received, even more than we could have hoped, and it was empowering and exhilarating to call notice to the importance of and need for including and supporting Indigenous voices in our field on many levels. It was especially exciting to work with a fellow Duke scholar, Dr. Cassandra Casias, as a presenter on the panel! Another accomplishment within my passion and commitment to continuing DEI progress in ancient studies and academia broadly was serving a second year on the CAMWS Excavation and Field School Awards Subcommittee. As a deeply grateful past recipient of one of these awards, I am delighted to pay it forward and help in continuing to make our field financially accessible.
Furthermore, I’m incredibly grateful to those who have made it possible for me to have such meaningful opportunities as those I’ve described here. Much of this support has come from the Classical Studies department at Duke University, fueled, of course, by its generous supporters, whom I thank endlessly. Overall, it was a busy and overwhelming year, but an incredible and enriching one too. Through all of it, I have had unwavering support in every way necessary. I am always so pleased and grateful to be reminded of the amazing communities I’ve found my way into throughout my time in ancient studies, at Duke and beyond. I am excited to embark on my fifth year at Duke and the new experiences it will bring.