News

This past weekend, the Classics Department traveled to Chicago to see a performance of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex at the University of Chicago's Court Theatre. Students and faculty began the day at the Oriental Institute, which displays the history, art, and architecture of the ancient Near East. After lunch and some time to explore the city, the group reconvened at the theatre to enjoy the performance. When asked what he thought of the performance, junior Classics major Will Lamara said, "Seeing the play performed on a modern stage really gave me a different perspective on the story. Reading the text of an ancient play can make it seem stoic and serious, but watching it actually be performed shows that it is just as lively and full of emotion as any modern work."…

You’ve heard of in vitro (the study of things in test tubes) and in vivo (the study of things in a living system). Now meet in fimo, a new scientific term coined by a Notre Dame classicist and researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine to mean “excrement examined experimentally.” Their proposal — largely written by Luca Grillo, chair and associate professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Classics — was published this year in the journal Gastroenterology.

This course examines the theory, practice, and development of ancient Greco-Roman democracy. Particular attention is devoted to comparing ancient with modern forms of self-rule. Among the special topics studied are the origins of Greek democracy, its advantages and disadvantages as a form of government, alternatives to democracy, and democracy as an abiding legacy of classical civilization for the modern world. Familiarity with ancient Greco-Roman history is recommended, but not required.…

This course examines the history of the Roman Empire, from the establishment of a veiled monarchy under Augustus to the Christianization of the empire following the reign of Constantine (ca. 1st century B.C. to 5th century A.D). Throughout the course, we will analyze and interpret ancient textual and archaeological evidence, from both Italy and the provinces, to assess the multi-faceted institutions and cultures of the Roman people. This body of material includes the writings of emperors (Augustus, Marcus Aurelius) and ancient historians (Tacitus, Suetonius, Ammianus Marcellinus), as well as the personal letters of Pliny to the emperor Trajan. Major themes discussed in the course include the nature of despotism, dynasties and the problem of succession; imperial governance of the Mediterranean (central, provincial, and local); cultural diversity and acculturation (so-called "Romanization"); religions and the imperial cult (worship of the Roman emperor); citizenship; urbanism, politics, and the economy; mortality and ecology; and the discrepant identities of women, children, slaves, freedmen, and freeborn under the imperial system of Rome.…

In this service-learning course, students who are participating in the Aequora program have the opportunity to earn academic credit by supplementing their teaching experience with critical study of current methods and theory in Latin language pedagogy.  In addition to teaching once per week at either Clay International Academy or Saint Joseph Elementary, students will meet as a class once a week to discuss assigned readings and to share perspectives.  Students will come away from the course with a better understanding of Aequora’s teaching philosophy and how it relates to larger developments in foreign language pedagogy.  Students will be graded on the basis of: 1) class participation; 2) short summaries of articles and book chapters; 3) a research paper on a topic related to current developments in foreign language pedagogy.  …

Associate professor and chair of the Classics Department, Luca Grillo, working with a team of researchers at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, has developed a new scientific term: in fimo. The term refers to excrement that has been examined experimentally. In developing the term, Professor Grillo analyzed the histories and connotations of four different Latin words- laetamen, merda, stercus, …

We cordially invite applications for the Eli J. and Helen Shaheen Professorship in Classics at the University of Notre Dame, to begin July 1, 2020. We welcome applications from Hellenists to be hired at the rank of Associate or Full Professor (with tenure), particularly those who specialize in Greek poetry of the Archaic or Classical periods or who would otherwise complement existing departmental strengths. Applicants are required to have a Ph.D. or equivalent and should already have significant records of publication, teaching, and service. Strong applications from candidates currently at the rank of Assistant Professor will also be considered. Applicants should be prepared to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Greek language and literature, and to offer courses in classical literature and culture in translation. The teaching load is two courses per semester.…

Brittany Coffman, a student in Prof. Tagliabue's Fall 2018 USEM "Love Stories from the Ancient World," recently had her final essay for the class accepted for publication by the prestigious Notre Dame Fresh Writing Journal…

Led by students from the University of Notre Dame, a group of 45 fifth-graders from Clay International Academy in South Bend gathered in adjacent classrooms recently to learn Latin as part of a pilot Aequora program sponsored by the Department of Classics. The program introduces K-8 students to the basics of Latin vocabulary and grammar, Roman culture and mythology and the connections between Latin, English, and Spanish with specially designed lessons and activities.

Want to Improve your ability to read ancient Greek?  

Preparing for language exams?

Take Intermediate Greek this summer

In this class, ancient texts and recent movies will introduce us to the lives of these ancient heroes and heroines, from Achilles through to Luke Skywalker. By studying them we will come to understand their ideals and ambitions, and compare them to our own ideals and ambitions. This class will raise this and similar questions. Finally, in the last part of the class, we will compare these heroes and heroines with Christian heroes, such as Dante in the Divine Comedy…

In August, the Notre Dame Aequora Program began its partnership with St. Adalbert School, a South Bend elementary school. The Program, headed by Professor Luca Grillo and Professor Tadeusz Mazurek, consists of twenty Notre Dame undergraduate and graduate students who go to St. Adalbert's once per week to teach Latin to fifth-grade students.

Final Exam week, Dec. 10-14, 2018.

College of Arts and Letters graduates find success in the business world in a variety of roles and industries. Major companies are seeking college graduates proficient in communication, analysis, empathy, and creative thinking — skills that all Arts and Letters develop through a broad liberal arts education. “There’s lots of different opportunities for liberal arts majors,” said Lindsey Jacob, university recruiting lead for Booz Allen Hamilton, a professional services firm. “Management consulting, process improvement, strategic communications, public policy work. You really are able to chart your own career.”

The Notre Dame Aequora Program, headed by Prof. L. Grillo and Prof. T. Mazurek, has been awarded a grant from the Center for Social Concerns that will help support our students as they bring the study of Latin to the students of Clay International Academy. Specifically, this grant will be used to cover the cost of materials from the Paideia Institute, transportation costs, and help sponsor an event for our elementary school students on Notre Dame's campus.…

On Wednesday, November 15, the Classics Department hosted an informational meeting about our new Aequora Program for potential volunteers. The Aequora Program invites Classics students to volunteer and teach Latin to elementary school students at Clay International Academy. Students were given the opportunity to learn about the curriculum they would be teaching and to meet the principal and director of the International Baccalaureate program from Clay International Academy.…

Drs. Amy Pistone and Aldo Tagliabue and graduate students, Maria Ma, Allie Roos and Melody Wauke, from the Department of Classics MA program attended a talk by Dr. Emily Wilson at Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana.  Dr. Wilson teaches in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and is Chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory. She is the first woman to translate Homer’s Odyssey…

In this Q&A, Nikolas Churik discusses how the Western tradition was shaped over time, why he was drawn to study late antiquity and the middle ages, and how Notre Dame's Early Christian Studies interdisciplinary master's program helped him land a spot in a Ph.D. program at Princeton. 

The Sound of Classics was a great success! A video of the event is now available on the Notre Dame Classics Youtube channel, and photos are available on the department Flickr page. 

We congratulate Elisabetta Drudi, an alumna of the Classics MA program, who successfully defended her PhD dissertation in Literature on April 3.