News

The LaFortune Ballroom came alive last year during Foreign Language Week 2022 with the smell of food, the beating of drums, the sound of music, and the grace of the dancers from different cultures. The Notre Dame community watched in awe as the performers transported them to different parts of the world, each dance telling a story of its own culture and tradition. From the graceful and elegant classical Chinese dance to the energetic and lively Irish jig performance, the dance floor became a mosaic of cultures. The dancers were not just performers but also ambassadors, showcasing the beauty of their cultures to the audience. Foreign Language Week became a true celebration of diversity and a feast for the senses.…

The Center for Italian Studies invites applications for short-term fellowships from Notre Dame faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows whose work would benefit from conducting research in Rome.

Majors and minors, students taking Classics courses, and the Classics Club returned from a recent trip to the Art Institute in Chicago.  A wonderful time was had by all!    [Video]

Ancient Christianity developed and spread from within the borders of the Roman World. As a result of its emergence, everything in the Roman world changed: thoughts, beliefs, norms, aesthetic preferences and social norms. But how exactly did that shift happen? How was Christianity itself shaped by that interaction? In this program, we will tour landmark Roman and Christian monuments (e.g. the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, San Clemente and the Vatican), and, through these monuments, we will explore the social, cultural and political preconditions and consequences of Christianization.…

Rhetoric and Historiography: New Perspectives

A two-day conference to be hosted by The University of Notre Dame, Rome Gateway Center

May 18-21, 2023, Rome

Conveners: Luca Grillo (University of Notre Dame), Emily Baragwanath (UNC, Chapel Hill), Andrew Feldherr (Princeton University) and Christopher Krebs (Stanford University)…

David Ladouceur, an associate professor emeritus in the Department of Classics, died May 8 at his home. He was 73. Ladouceur joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1976 after earning his Ph.D. in classics at Brown University and his bachelor’s degree at Cornell University. He served as department chair for nine years, leading the Department of Modern Classical Languages and then the Department of Classical and Oriental Languages at a time before regional language groups were separated into their own departments.

Karl Berg ’22, who earned an M.A. in Early Christian Studies from Notre Dame’s Department of Classics, is co-organizing the Inaugural Graduate Conference on Early Christian Studies, to be held May 23–25 in Jenkins Nanovic Halls and on Zoom. The conference, which will be the first of its kind in the United States, is free and open to the public. Berg will present a paper, “Augustine of Hippo and Late Roman Slavery.” Next up for the Littleton, Colorado, native: pursuing a D.Phil. in ancient history at the University of Oxford.

2022 Senior Thesis Projects

Congratulations to Zef Crnkovich, Julia McSpedon, Thomas Moynihan, and Christopher Parker on the completion of their honors thesis presentations.…

Notre Dame junior Noelle Dana has been named a 2022 Phi Beta Kappa Key into Public Service Scholar for her academic excellence, leadership and commitment to public service. She was chosen from among nearly 900 applicants from Phi Beta Kappa institutions nationwide. Established in 2020, the Key into Public Service Program highlights the wide range of opportunities for liberal arts graduates to pursue rewarding careers in public service. Key into Public Service scholars receive a $5,000 undergraduate scholarship, along with the opportunity for in-person training, mentoring and reflection on pathways into active citizenship.

Located in Albania between Greece and Italy, the Roman forum at Butrint has attracted Notre Dame archaeologist David Hernandez and others for nearly 20 years. They grab pickaxes, shovels and a water pump to reveal a town plaza and emerging technologies of the time that are well-preserved because they stayed submerged underwater for centuries. An associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Classics, Hernandez is now pouring his insight into a book about the Roman forum at Butrint. Supported by a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship at Harvard University, which he was awarded this spring, the book will explore why Butrint is far more significant than scholars have previously recognized.

The Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures at Notre Dame has launched the Globally Engaged Citizens program, designed to reward students for their engagement with language and culture studies and encourage participation by students who are not required to take language classes. Through a combination of coursework and cultural experiences, the program offers Notre Dame students from all colleges and schools the opportunity to demonstrate that they have spent time during their college experience preparing to be a global citizen.

Caesar in Gaul is a two-week seminar designed to enhance participants’ appreciation of Caesar's Gallic War. Developed specifically with the AP curriculum in mind, but now open to all students of the influential text, the program includes lectures and seminars led by Luca Grillo (Notre Dame) and Christopher Krebs (Stanford), as well as visits to key sites of the Gallic War…

March 16  - Registration Begins at 6:00 a.m. for Current ND Students / Application Opens for Non-Degree, Visiting Students …

"There are plenty of things in Herodotus' writing that we can pretty certainly say are not true, and there are many stories that today we would classify as legendary or mythical," Baron said.  Read more.…

Thank you to all of the students and faculty who joined the Classics Lake Walk in September!  It was a great success!

Photo Album…

Thanks to a grant from the Provost's office, the international project on the history of Latin school books is planning a series of workshops and lectures. The Digital School Book Project, directed by Prof. Bloomer, ND,  and by Prof. Andrew Irving of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, is finalizing an online resource for study of the late ancient and medieval texts, commentaries, and translations of the Distichs of Cato…

“There’s a difference between just taking the photos and reading them, and having a program to provide a searchable reading,” said Hildegund Müller, associate professor in the Department of Classics at Notre Dame. “If you consider the texts used in this study — ninth-century manuscripts — that’s an early stage of the Middle Ages. It’s a long time before the printing press. That’s a time when an enormous amount of manuscripts were produced. There is all sorts of information hidden in these manuscripts — unidentified texts that nobody has seen before.”  Read more…

“Shaun is an outstanding example of a bright mind formed by the humanities at Notre Dame, having studied in the theology, philosophy and classics departments during his time here. We are exceptionally pleased that his intellectual curiosity, diligent work ethic and commitment to integrating faith and learning have been recognized by the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program,” said Smith.…

Aldo Tagliabue is fascinated by the power of a great narrative to draw the reader in. An assistant professor in the Department of Classics, Tagliabue wants to ensure that the study of ancient narratives encompasses not just the intellectual aspects of literature, but that experiential side, as well. “For many years, there has been a more intellectual approach to ancient narrative, which has had great results. But I think it has missed another vital aspect,” he said. “My research tries to recapture the importance of the full experience of what it means to be a reader — now and in the ancient world."

Congratulations to all of our seniors who completed Senior Thesis projects!

2021 Senior Thesis Projects…