NEWS & EVENTS

Upcoming Guest Speakers

The Department of Classics is pleased to welcome the following guest speakers in the Winter term:

Dr. Tim Lilburn: a professor in the department of Fine Arts at the University of Victoria. Dr. Lilburn will be giving a lecture titled "Turning the Soul Around: the Ascetical Practice of Philosophy in the Republic" on February 4, 2010.

Dr. Michael Harrington: a professor in the department of Philosophy at Duquesne University. Dr. Harrington is an alumnus of our department and we are proud to welcome him for his visit on February 18, 2010 when he will present "The Emperor Julian's Use of Neoplatonic Philosophy and Religion." 

Dr. Edward Butler: an independent scholar. Dr. Butler will be giving a talk on March 11, 2010 concerning the logic of the henads.

Dr. Francisco Gonzalez: a professor in the department of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Gonzalez will be lecturing March 25, 2010 on Heidegger and ancient philosophy.

 Fall Convocation, 2009

On October 16th, the Department of Classics celebrated 3 new graduates from our Master of Arts program, all of whom have gone on to do PhD work. Our new Master's alumni are:

Simon Fortier, with a thesis on The Proclan Theodicy supervised by Wayne Hankey.

Carolyn MacDonald, with a thesis on Poetic Infidelties in Catullus' Carmina Docta, supervised by Peter O'Brien.

Tim Riggs, with a thesis on Eros  as Cosmic and Hierarchical Principle: Christ and the Socratic Hierarch in the Thought of Dionysius the Areopagite supervised by Wayne Hankey.

Currently, Carolyn is enrolled in the PhD program in the department of Classics at Stanford; Simon has entered in the PhD program in the Faculté de Philosophie at Université Laval; and Tim has begun his doctoral position in the SSALT (Subjectivity and Selfhood in the Arabic and Latin traditions) project at the University of Jyväskylä in Jyväskylä, Finland. 

 The Department congratulates all three and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavours.

Applications Invited for Appointment in Roman History  

The Department of Classics at Dalhousie University invites applications for a tenure stream appointment at the Lecturer/Assistant Professor level effective July 1, 2010, in Roman History with a secondary interest in Latin Studies.  All candidates will possess philological competence in Greek and Latin normally expected in international Classical Scholarship, and will follow a text-based approach to teaching and research. At the undergraduate level a demonstrated ability to teach large introductory classes in Ancient History, as well as  intermediate level classes in Greek and Roman History, is essential.  The successful applicant will be able to contribute to the Graduate Programme of the Department:  the preferred research area is Roman Republican and Imperial History; an interest in historiography and cross-disciplinary approaches to cultural history would be advantageous.  In Latin studies, competence and readiness to teach Latin language and literature at the undergraduate level are expected.  Applicants should have completed the PhD or have the PhD in-hand and show competence in teaching, research and publication appropriate to their experience.  The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. 

Applicants should send, in hard copy, a letter of application, complete curriculum vitae, a statement of research and teaching interests and philosophies, evidence of teaching competence, and arrange to have three confidential original letters of professional recommendation forwarded by referees under separate cover to:

Dr. Wayne Hankey, Chair

Department of Classics

Dalhousie University

Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3H 4P9

claswww@dal.ca 

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.  Dalhousie University is an Employment Equity/Affirmative Action employer.  The University encourages applications from qualified Aboriginal people, persons with a disability, racially visible persons and women.

The closing date for applications is October 15, 2009. 

MA Candidate Awarded Schmeelk Fellowship

Simon Fortier, who is currently completing an MA thesis on Proclus, has been awarded a Richard J. Schmeelk Canada Fellowship.  The Fellowship, founded by American businessman Richard J. Schmeelk, is designed to promote interrelations between Francophone and Anglophone universities in Canada by sponsoring promising young scholars wishing to study in the national language which is not their native tongue.  Simon, a native Haligonian, will be commencing his doctorate in the Faculté de Philosophie at Université Laval (Québec, QC) in September.  Although the Faculté and the Department of Classics have a long-standing relationship, this marks the first time a student from Dalhousie Classics has gone on to study at Laval. We hope that Simon's will be the first of many scholarly migrations between Halifax and Québec.

Spring Convocation 2009 

The Department of Classics is very proud to recognize its graduating students of Spring 2009.  This was a particularly exciting convocation for the department, as we celebrated the achievements of scholars from all of our distinguished programmes:

Seamus O'Neill, PhD (“Towards a Restoration of Plato’s Doctrine of Mediation: Platonizing Augustine’s Criticism of ‘The Platonists.’”).

Naomi Blackwood, MA ("The Activity of the Unrecognizable in Book XIII of Homer's Odyssey).  

Peter Bullerwell, BA Hons.

Chris Gibson, BA Hons.

Elisabeth Kleven, BA Hons.

Alex Plumb, BA Hons.

Martha Sellens, BA Hons.

Samuel Sutherland, BA Hons.

Luke Togni, BA Hons.

Hearty congratulations to all, and the very best in all future endeavours!

Once again, the department of Classics has proven itself a leading center of Neoplatonic scholarship in English speaking North-America, thanks to its very strong showing at The Legacy of Neo-Platonism, the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s 2009 Annual Conference on Christian Philosophy (April 24 and 25^th). The department contributed one of three keynote speakers in the form of Wayne J. Hankey, who presented "God's care for Human Individuals: What Neoplatonism gives to a Christian Doctrine of Providence” (alongside his fellow keynote speakers and eminent scholars John Dillon and Stephen Gersh).  Furthermore, the Department contributed a triad of papers from its current Masters students, Tim Riggs (“How to Speak of the Trinity: Henadology, Dionysius and Modern Commentary”), Simon Fortier (“’Dear Proclus…’: Epistolary Philosophy in the Neoplatonic Tradition”), and Emily Parker (“The Legacy of Lex Divinitatis: Philo’s topos in the Neoplatonic Tradition”).  Finally, there was a very strong showing from department alumni now teaching and studying at various universities across North America, including: Dr. Gregory Mac Isaac (Carleton University), Dr. Barry David (Ave Maria University), Dr. Richard Upsher Smith (Franciscan University of Steubenville), Dr. Michael Harrington (Duquesne University), and Adam Labecki (PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky). 

In the unanimous opinion of the keynote speakers, and many participants, the conference was a great success.  The members of the Dalhousie contingent greatly enjoyed the warm welcome from their gracious hosts at the Franciscan University (most notably Dr. Mark Roberts, whose capacity for organization is comparable to that of Aquinas in his Summa).  At the close of the conference, there was general agreement among all participants that something real had been accomplished.  Through the presentation of papers, and the subsequent question periods, it became clear that Neoplatonism is now generally recognized as a substantial school of religious and philosophical thought that has much to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates.  In sum, the conference showcased a bright future for Neoplatonic scholarship, illuminated in large part by the Classics Department.

10-Month Sessional Appointment                                        
Ancient Greek History                                                          
Lecturer / Assistant Professor

Applications are invited for a 10-month sessional appointment at the Lecturer/Assistant Professor level effective August 1, 2009 in Ancient Greek History.  This position is subject to budgetary approval.  The successful candidate will be expected to teach classes in Ancient Greek at the introductory and/or intermediate level, as well as intermediate level classes in Greek and Hellenistic history.  An ability to teach introductory level art history would be an asset.  

Applicants should have completed the PhD or have the PhD in-hand and show competence in teaching, research and publication appropriate to their experience.  The salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.  A letter of application, complete and updated curriculum vitae, and three confidential letters of professional recommendation forwarded by the referees under separate cover to:

Dr. Leona MacLeod, Acting Chair

Department of Classics

Dalhousie University

6135 University Avenue

Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3H 4P9

Leona.MacLeod@dal.ca

The closing date for applications is May 29, 2009.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.  Dalhousie University is an Employment Equity/Affirmative Action employer.  The University encourages applications from qualified Aboriginal people, persons with a disability, racially visible persons and women. 

This has been quite a year for alumnus Seamus O'Neill -- he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in the fall, and has just been appointed to a tenure-track position in Ancient Philosophy at Memorial University.  This is wonderful news for Seamus, and the department is tremendously proud of his accomplishments.  As a doctoral student in the Dalhousie Department of Classics, Seamus completed his thesis, “Towards a Restoration of Plato’s Doctrine of Mediation: Platonizing Augustine’s Criticism of ‘The Platonists," under the supervision of Dr. Wayne Hankey.  We are delighted to extend our heartiest congratulations to Seamus for his many triumphs this year.

We are very excited to be hosting a visit from Dr. Jack Mitchell, Canadian scholar, novelist, and epic poet. Professor Mitchel will perform selections from his original epic poem from memory in the style of a Homeric rhapsode, and will also deliver a paper to the department on "Pedagogy and Performance: A Social History of the Homer Scholia."

The Plains of Abraham: an Epic Poem
performed by Dr. Jack Mitchell
Monday, March 9
Ondaatje Hall
Marion McCain Arts and Social Science Building
7:00 pm

Reception to Follow.
**This event is being sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President, Research, the Department of Classics, and the Arts and Social Sciences Society, Dalhousie University.

Pedagogy and Performance: A Social History of the Homer Scholia
Dr. Jack Mitchell
Thursday
March 12, 2009
6:00 pm
Room 1184
Department of Classics
Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building

Three Doctoral SSHRC Nominations

We are delighted to announce that MA candidates Simon Fortier, Carolyn MacDonald, and Timothy Riggs, have been nominated for prestigious Doctoral SSHRC awards.  The Dalhousie University 2009-2010 SSHRC/CGS Doctoral Fellowships Competition Committee has recommended their applications for further consideration at the national level competition, which promises to be at a high standard.  The Department of Classics congratulates Simon, Carolyn, and Tim, and wishes them every success in the national competition and their future studies.

Sunday Night at the Opera with Michael Parker 

Dr. Michael Parker, who joined the Department of Classics this term to teach Greek History, hosts a series of informal opera screenings on Sunday nights in Ondaatje Hall, Marion McCain Building. The series began in the fall of 2008 with Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco, and has continued monthly since then. Dr. Parker selects the operas from his wide-ranging DVD collection, and introduces them with a brief informative talk. The screenings are free, but new viewers are requested to reserve a seat by emailing michael.parker@dal.ca. Upcoming operas include Jules Massenet's Manon on March 15 and Leonard Bernstein's Candide on April 5.

Dr. Christopher Austin Appointed to Religious Studies Programme

 We are pleased to announce that Dr. Christopher Austin has accpeted the the post in Central and Eastern Asian religions in the Religious Studies Programme administered by the Department of Classics.  Dr. Austin holds a PhD in Religious Studies from McMaster University; his areas of special interest include Indian Epic and Dharmasastra literature, and Mahayana Buddhism.  We are impressed by his philological and historical knowledge, and the depth and seriousness of his understanding of the religions he teaches.  We are confident that his approaches to the study and teaching of religion will blend with those developed within the Classics Department and the Religious Studies Programme.  With this appointment, the core of the Religious Studies Programme is in place.                       

MA Candidate to join SSALT Project in Finland

Tim Riggs, one of the Department’s candidates for the Master of Arts program and a Killam Scholar, has accepted a doctoral position with the SSALT (Subjectivity and Selfhood in the Arabic and Latin traditions) project, led by Dr. Taneli Kukkonen at the University of Jyväskylä in Jyväskylä, Finland. The project is funded by the European Research Council and aims to study the development of conceptions of selfhood and consciousness throughout the medieval period, considering both the Arabic and Latin streams together as a single ‘Western’ tradition, and emphasizing the effect of these conceptions of selfhood and consciousness on the moral and political theories of the era. Upon completion of his Master of Arts degree, Tim will be joining Dr. Kukkonen’s team of five dedicated scholars in Jyväskylä where, as his scholarly contribution to the project, he will be focusing on the influence upon the Arabic philosophical tradition of the conceptions of selfhood in the political philosophy of Alfarabi. The Department extends its heartiest congratulations to Tim for his acceptance into this prestigious and exciting project.      

Successful PhD Defence

The Department of Classics is proud to congratulate Seamus O’Neill for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation, “Towards a Restoration of Plato’s Doctrine of Mediation: Platonizing Augustine’s Criticism of ‘The Platonists.’”  The dissertation was supervised by Dr. Wayne Hankey, and the defense took place on Friday, November 14.  Seamus is currently teaching in the Department of Philosophy at Memorial University.

Visit from Distinguished Scholar

Thursday, November 13 was a significant day for the study of Neoplatonism at Dalhousie and in the international scholarly community.  John Dillon, professor emeritus at Trinity College Dublin, gave a seminar presentation in the Department of Classics on his recent collection and translation of the letters of Iamblichus.  Professor Dillon’s paper, “Iamblichus’ Letters: Popular Philosophy in a Neoplatonic Context,” introduced these never-before-translated letters as an important indication of the active role played by philosophers in Hellenistic society.  Professor Dillon is a distinguished scholar of the Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophical traditions, and the Department of Classics was honoured to host his very first  presentation of this latest contribution to the field.  Professor Dillon also served as external examiner at Seamus O’Neill’s successful doctoral defense, and joined students and faculty in several celebratory receptions. It was an exciting two days for Dalhousie Classics, and we thank Professor Dillon for his visit.

Fall Convocation 2008 

Graduates Reuben Penner, Michelle Wilband, Benjamin Lee, Andra Striowski, and
Kristin Slonsky, with Professors Wayne Hankey, Eli Diamond, and Peter O’Brien

October 20^th was another proud day for the Dalhousie Department of Classics, as we celebrated with 5 new graduates from the Master of Arts program. The new MAs are:

Benjamin Lee, with a thesis on Mens and Self-Cognition in Augustine’s De Trinitate, supervised by Wayne Hankey;

Reuben Penner, with a thesis on Political Theology in Eusebius Panegyric to Constantine, supervised by Peter O’Brien;

Kristin Slonsky, with a thesis on the Manipulation of Fear in Julius Caesar’s Bellum Gallicum, supervised by Sarah Cohen;

Andra Striowski, with a thesis on Philia in Plato and Aristotle, supervised by Denis House;

Michelle Wilband, with a thesis on the Reception of Aristotelian Categories in Eriugena’s  Periphyseon, supervised by Wayne Hankey.
 

Neoplatonic Scholarship Shines Forth Most Brightly in the Dalhousie Classics Department

Just as it was at the 2006 Conference held in Quebec City, once again Dalhousie’s Department of Classics was well represented at the sixth annual conference of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies (ISNS), June 19th – 21st 2008.  Sponsored by the University Press of the South, this year’s conference met in the heart of New Orleans, its historical French Quarter.

Representing Dalhousie Classics were three of its current graduate students, Simon Fortier, Tim Riggs, and Emily Parker.  Each presented a paper on a different aspect of the Neoplatonic tradition, indicating the diverse pursuits encouraged and offered within this Classics Department.  Simon’s paper, “Unde Malum: An Examination of the Neoplatonic Critiques of Manichaeism,” investigated the different ways three Neoplatonic authors criticized the Manichaean position and highlighted the implications of their criticism within the Neoplatonic tradition.  In his paper, “The Socratic Hierarch: Dionysius and Proclus on the Providence of Love,” Tim outlined similarities between passages from Dionysius’ Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and Proclus’ Commentary on the Alcibiades of Plato, in order to show the degree to which Dionysius relies on Proclus for the derivation of his doctrine.  In “Politics and Revelation in Philo’s De Vita Mosis: The Character of Moses the King, Legislator, High Priest, and Prophet,” Emily detailed the role of Moses for Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, whose works integrate Greek philosophy and Jewish monotheism.  The ISNS awarded $750 travel grants to Simon and Tim based on the merit of their abstracts.  All three papers were very well received by an international audience comprised of scholars from across the world (which included Kevin Corrigan, who received his PhD from our Department with a thesis on Plotinus).

Once again (as at the 2006 ISNS Conference), the papers from the Dalhousie Classics department outnumbered those given by any other school, or department.  The diversity of the subject matter presented by Emily, Simon, and Tim, is vocative of the depth to which Neoplatonism is explored in the Classics Department at Dalhousie—all three are writing M.A. theses directed by Dr. Wayne Hankey.  Interest in Neoplatonism is growing - the number of participants at the ISNS conference this year was a new record - and attendance by members of the Classics Department at scholarly events such as this establishes Dalhousie as an intellectual centre for this growing field of research.

Shop in New Orleans, employing "Greek" script!

Wandering through the French Quarter in the smothering, late afternoon heat, the Dalhousie triad spotted a sign hanging outside of a shop that catered to the nocturnal crowd.  The sign afforded them an opportunity to implement their knowledge of the ancient languages in determining what is wrong with its inscription (see ‘Vampyre Boutique’ picture).  Can you figure out what is amiss (αβ ινιτιο - αδ ινφινιτυμ)? - Emily Parker

Programme in Religious Studies established within Classics

I have the great pleasure of announcing that Alexander Treiger has accepted Dalhousie University’s offer to occupy the first professorial chair in the new Programme in Religious Studies, administered by the Department of Classics. With his appointment, the new Programme will be inaugurated.

Sasha Treiger’s initial education was received in Russia; his B.A. (Arabic and Islamic Studies) and M.A. (Comparative Religion) degrees are from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. For his MA, he edited part of a manuscript of an early 11th century translation of the complete Corpus Dionysiacum into Arabic preserved in the Monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai. As a result, he published “New Evidence on the Arabic Versions of the Corpus Dionysiacum,” Le Muséon, 118 (2005): 219-240 and “The Arabic Version of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite’s Mystical Theology, Chapter 1: Introduction, Critical Edition, and Translation,” Le Muséon, 120 (2007): 1-26. Mr Treiger will receive the PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Yale University this May with a dissertation on al-Ghazali entitled: “The Science of Divine Disclosure: al-Ghazali’s Higher Theology and Its Philosophical Underpinnings” (advisor: Dimitri Gutas).

He has wide teaching experience, having instructed, or assisted with teaching, classes in Arabic, Syriac, Islam, Christianity, Western and Middle Eastern Culture. Next year Mr Treiger will teach an introductory class to Western Religions and advanced classes on Islam, Judaism, and Sufism. He will provide leadership both in developing a curriculum enabling the rich resources for the study of religion in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and at King’s College to be made more fully available to students and also in the search for the holder of a second core professorship devoted to the religions of Central and Eastern Asia. His languages include Classical and Modern Arabic, Biblical, Medieval and Modern Hebrew, Russian, German, French, Persian, Syriac, and Ancient Greek. Between 1998 and 2001, he was a research affiliate of the Institute of Judaic Studies in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In the new Programme in Religious Studies, several departments will continue to make important contributions to the study of religion at Dalhousie; these include Classics, History, History of Science and Technology, Philosophy, and Sociology. Areas with a special interest in this appointment in Islam and Judaism include the Foundation Year Programme at King’s College, International Development Studies, the Minor in Medieval Studies being developed within FASS, and Gender and Woman’s Studies.

During this period when religion’s central role in human life and in determining history has become apparent again, Mr Treiger’s appointment is of the greatest importance for the future of the University and the communities it serves. It is splendid to be able to announce that a dedicated and enormously accomplished young scholar, who already has international standing in his field, has accepted the responsibilities of this post.

Dr Wayne Hankey
Chairman, Department of Classics
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A Surprise Farewell Party

Dr. Dennis House

On 8 April 2008, long-time Classics professor and former Chair Dr. Dennis House taught his final seminar class in Hellenic philosophy, and he enters into retirement this summer. Dr. House's teaching in ancient philosophy, history and the Greek language has been an essential part of the Dalhousie Classics Department for decades, and to mark this momentous occasion, a group of appreciative students crashed his final seminar class with a surprise cake and champagne. Chief among his retirement plans, he says, is a long overdue first visit to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Dr. House will be greatly missed by all, but the Department now eagerly looks forward to the arrival of his recently-appointed successor, Dr. Eli Diamond.

On the same evening, the Nicole Knox Memorial Award was presented to fourth-year undergraduate student Luke Togni. This departmental award is presented annually to one student for outstanding achievement in ancient languages at the advanced level. Congratulations Luke!

I would not eat them on a boat!
By Ryan McNutt, for DalNews (reprinted with permission)

Dr. Christopher Grundke

Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. A rendition of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.” A reading about Paddington Bear.
 
Sound like your average university classroom? Hardly. But Christopher Grundke, who teaches courses in Latin and Ancient Hebrew in the Classics Department, believes that learning a new language — even a very old one — means going back to basics.
 
“It requires becoming childlike,” he explains. “You have to set aside ideas that as one gets older, one ought to function exclusively on so-called higher levels of thought and inquiry. Beginning a language is like beginning to learn to do math: you have to start with the most elementary, basic matters.”
 
Dr. Grundke’s childlike approach to the basics not only provides his students with a break from the nose-to-grindstone work of learning a new language — recently, he was asked to offer a live reading for CBC Radio of Dr. Seuss’ classic “Virent Ova, Viret Perna,” better known by its English title, Green Eggs and Ham.
 
“I try to work them in as little luxuries along the way,” he says of his more novel teaching tools. “They hopefully remind people that Latin isn’t just about the adventures of senators and emperors, medieval poets and theologians. People lived and spoke and talked about their everyday lives in these languages as well.”
 
Teaching runs in the family, it seems — Dr. Grundke’s father, Ernst, is a professor in the Faculty of Computer Science. Christopher was originally set to follow his father’s footsteps into the sciences, but ended up changing course and doing graduate work in theology.
 
For him, learning ancient tongues provides a window into the past. “I’m fond of telling my students that learning languages is the next best thing to time travel,” he says. “You really do encounter the thoughts of the men and women of antiquity as they were forming them. If you want to meet the ancients on their own terms, you have to meet them in their own language.”

The Classics Department has been a very busy place so far this term. With the introduction of a brand new Religious Studies programme at Dalhousie—to be administered by the Classics Department—we are now hosting the interviews and public lectures by the candidates for the new position in Judaism and Islam.  In addition, we have lately  been occupied with public lectures and interviews by the candidates for our new appointment in Ancient Philosophy, which is set to begin this fall. 

Recently, the distinguished professors Robert Lamberton (from Washington University) and Robert Kaster (from Princeton University) were visiting with us as External Reviewers; while he was here, Professor Lamberton graciously offered the department a lecture on Proclus’ allegorical interpretation of Homer. We plan to host several more guest lecturers this term, including Dr Gregory Shaw from Stonehill College in March, as well as our retired colleague Dr Peter Kussmaul.

Another Clean Sweep

Last year both of our PhD candidates and all three of our MA candidates who applied for funding made the list of those the Dalhousie scholarship committees forwarded to Ottawa to receive Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council / Canada Graduate Scholarships. This year we had another clean sweep. Congratulations to Benjamin Lee and Andra Striowski for the PhD and to Carolyn MacDonald, Kate Allen, and Simon Fortier for the MA.

Dalhousie Classics hosts ACA Conference, unveils Doull portrait

Sabine MacCormack, Keynote Speaker

On 27 & 28 October, the Department of Classics hosted the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Classical Association. Our keynote address was delivered by Dr. Sabine MacCormack from the University of Notre Dame; her well-attended address was entitled “Ways of Textual Exegesis: Augustine Thinks about the Book of Genesis.” Throughout the weekend, the conference also featured nearly thirty presentations on various classical topics, offered by faculty and graduate students from the Atlantic provinces and beyond.

Moreover, on the evening of Dr MacCormack’s lecture, the Department held a reception at which a portrait of the late Professor James Doull was unveiled.  The portrait was commissioned in honour of Doull’s important contributions to philosophy in Canada and to classical studies at Dalhousie, and its artist was our current Classics graduate student Andra Striowski.  Many alumni of the Department were in attendance, as well as members of Doull’s family. The portrait now hangs in the Classics Departmental Library, as we entertain hopes for more such paintings in the future.

The 2007 ACA conference website & programme may be viewed HERE.

Fall Convocation 2007

Graduates Daniel Wilband, Bethie Baxter, and Colin Webster, with Dr Gary McGonagill and Dr Peter O'Brien.

At Convocation on October 20, we maintained our high numbers of successful graduates, with the creation of another five new Masters of Arts in Classics. The recent graduates are:

• Elizabeth Baxter with a thesis supervised by Professor McGonagill on Sappho, Socrates and the nature of Eros;
• James Bryson with a thesis supervised by Professor Hankey on the doctrine of the intellect in Albertus Magnus, Siger of Brabant, and Thomas Aquinas;
• Ben Frenken with a thesis supervised by Professor MacLeod on divine justice and character development in Homer’s Odyssey;
• Colin Webster with a thesis supervised by Professor McGonagill on the relation between tragic and Socratic irony;
• Daniel Wilband with a thesis supervised by Professor Hankey on Plato’s Alcibiades dialogue.

Dr. Peter O'Brien.

Dalhousie Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching

Congratulations to Dr. Peter O'Brien who has been awarded Dalhousie University's premiere teaching award, the Dalhousie Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching. The whole university now recognizes what his students know, that Dr. O'Brien is a role model for excellence in teaching. Congratulations to Dr. O'Brien for his dedication to students and for his demonstrated passion for the study of Classics.

Well done and well deserved! Read the Dal News story.

Hearty congratulations to Ross Gower and Colin Webster our two candidates for the 2007-2008 SSHRC/CGS Doctoral Fellowships Competition!  As was mentioned in an earlier posting, both of them were among the 26 names forwarded to SSHRC for award by Dalhousie University, and now both have been approved by SSHRC for Doctoral Fellowships. The Dalhousie committee noted that "all the applications were very effective and the national competition promises to be at a high standard."  Colin will take his fellowship with him to Columbia University, where he will continue his studies in Classics and Ancient Philosophy, and Ross will take his to York University, where he will pursue research on Hegel. The whole Department is pleased and proud.

To add to our success with SSHRC PhD Scholarship Competition, Classics will now have three SSHRC/Canada Graduate Master's Scholars: Timothy Riggs, Benjamin Lee, and Andra Striowski. Congratulations to all three. Tim Riggs gives us a special reason for pride: he is ranked first of all the 20 names being forwarded to Ottawa from Dalhousie and King's for the award.

Sarah Prest, Peter O'Brien, Bethie Baxter, Jamie Nay.

In early January MA student Bethie Baxter and Dr. Peter O'Brien travelled to San Diego, California, for the annual meeting of the American Philological Association. Bethie, among other things, attended sessions devoted to the new Sappho fragment and Dr. O'Brien, among other things, delivered a paper on Ammianus Marcellinus in English translation. The conference also allowed for a pleasant reunion with alumni Sarah Prest and Jamie Nay (BA Hons., 2005), both of whom are completing MA theses in the Department of Classics at the University of Victoria.

Killam Scholars

Masters students Bethie Baxter, Colin Webster, and Michelle Wilband were honoured at the annual Killam Scholars' dinner hosted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies on Oct. 30. The Killam Scholarship is the most prestigious and competitive graduate schoarship available at Dalhousie. Bethie, Colin and Michelle join a long list of Dalhousie Classics graduate students who have held the Killam or other valuable scholarships and awards over the years. Congratulations!

Philosophical Association meeting

Six present and former members of the department delivered well-received papers to the conference accompanying the annual meeting the Atlantic Region Philosophical Association, held at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University in Fredericton on Oct. 27, 28. In the order of their appearance before the cheering throngs, they were:

• Eli Diamond on “The Hierarchy of the Five Senses in Aristotle’s De Anima”
• Wayne Hankey on “9/11 and the History of Philosophy”
• Adam Labecki on “Does Being Need the Event or the One? A Platonic Intervention Upon the Philosophy of Alain Badiou”
• Michael Fournier on “Homer the Philosopher in Boethius’s Consolation”
• Daniel Wilband on “Much Ado About Nothing: Ancient and Modern Approaches to the One”
• James Bryson on “Evaluating the role of the A Priori in Aquinas’s Epistemology and Placing Him in the History of Philosophy.”

In accord with the customs and character of the department, the gathering provided an occasion for a very happy party!

Endowment fund established

An endowment fund in memory of James Alexander Doull and in tribute to his work as scholar, teacher, and philosopher has been established in the University of King’s College Library. Income from the James Alexander Doull Memorial Library Endowment Fund will be expended for the purchase of books in the Platonic and Aristotelian traditions throughout their histories. Those wishing to contribute to the memorial endowment should send cheques made out to the King’s College Library, with the notation that they are for the James Alexander Doull Endowment, to: Drake Petersen, Librarian, University of King’s College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2A1. Receipts for tax deduction will be provided.

Fall convocation

Peter O'Brien, Gary McGonagill, Adam Labecki, Rebecca Coughlin, Kevin Powers with son, and Wayne Hankey.

• Rebecca Coughlin with a thesis in Ancient & Medieval Philosophy supervised by Professor Hankey on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of the Pseudo-Dionysius;
• James Fleming with a thesis in Ancient History supervised by Professor O’Brien on the Emperor Julian as Apostle of Paganism;
• Adam Labecki a thesis in Ancient Philosophy supervised by Professor Hankey on the productivity of the One in Plotinus;
• Kevin Powers with a thesis in Ancient & Medieval Philosophy supervised by Professor Hankey on Augustine’s interpretation of Romans 1.19-20;
• Mark Reitsma with a thesis in Ancient Philosophy supervised by Professor House on Plato’s Symposium;
• Martin Sastri with a thesis in Ancient & Medieval Philosophy supervised by Professor Hankey the Spiritual Senses in Augustine and the Neoplatonists;
• Tyler Young with a thesis in Greek Religion and Philosophy supervised by Professor McGonagill on Parmenides. Mr Young is continuing in the Department as a Ph.D. candidate.

These distinguished new graduates came to the department both from within Nova Scotia and from Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Québec. Their work is a splendid evidence of the strength and attractiveness of our graduate program.

New appointments, a new position, and a new language

Alumni and friends of the department who access our redesigned website will notice many new developments; I wish to highlight a few. The first is the appointment of Dr. Gary McGonagill who returns to us after completing a distinguished doctorate at Harvard to what is a new post. Gary is the first professor to be appointed to a chair in Greek history in which he will share responsibility for teaching ancient history with his new colleague, Sarah Cohen.
Sarah comes to us after outstanding academic accomplishments at Yale, King’s College, Cambridge, and the University of Chicago. She has already established herself as an excellent teacher and colleague here. With her appointment, for the first time, the department now has chairs in both Greek and Roman history and returns again, after more than a decade, to a professorial complement of seven positions. This is a very remarkable measure of our success when we compare this to the fates of other departments of Classics in Canada.

In July Michael Fourier came home again after a Ph.D. at Boston College. He replaces Colin Starnes with a chair in the growing field of Late Antiquities studies entitled “Religion, Philosophy, and Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.”

Nor is this the last of our good news. Our department continues to expand its student and faculty numbers, raise its standards, and increase its range. The teaching of Arabic — the second most spoken language in Halifax — is now administered by the department and taught by Dr. Rodica Firenescu, who comes to us with degrees in linguistics from Romania and in Arabic from Cairo. Wayne Hankey, who served a year as acting chair of the department three years ago, has accepted a three-year appointment as Chair; he began in July.   

— Wayne Hankey 
 

Department of Classics makes waves at conference

Dalhousie participants enjoy the conference banquet at Chateau Frontenac.

Notable scholars from Japan, South America, Europe, the U.S. and Canada attended the conference. Also noteworthy were the people with links to Dalhousie; fully 11 of the papers were offered by faculty, current graduate students and alumni of the department — an accomplishment not even distantly matched by any other university.

For 40 years, research in Neoplatonism has been one of the particular strengths of Dalhousie Classics and is a central concern of the international journal it publishes, Dionysius. The department’s overwhelming presence at this important bilingual conference is a strong indication that the effort put into this research is truly bearing fruit. All of the papers were very well received, offering proof that Dalhousie is a key player in this exciting field, an area of philosophical and cultural study that has been attracting more and more attention in recent years.
The Dalhousie contingent was headed by senior faculty member Wayne Hankey, who has published widely on Neoplatonism and who chaired one of the conference’s panels. His latest monograph, One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France, was one of the principal foci of the conference. Current graduate students James Bryson, Rebecca Coughlin, Adam Labecki, Martin Sastri and Daniel Wilband, and alumni Stephen Blackwood (Emory), David Butorac (Leuven), Dr. Gregory MacIssac (Carleton), Dr. Kyle Fraser (King’s), and David Puxley (King’s) also delivered papers.

— Dan Wilband

Arabic language study introduced

The word العربيةal'arabiyyah, "the Arabic language" in Arabic. The first line shows the letters in bidirectional display, and in the second, the glyph shaping mechanism has rendered the letters according to context.(Wikipedia)

Studying Arabic at Dalhousie University means learning the official language of more than 20 countries from Africa and Asia, which have Modern Standard Arabic (or "literary Arabic," al-‘arabiyya al-fusha al-mu‘asira) as a common feature in formal communication. Modern Standard Arabic is used in writing, but it is also a spoken language in formal situations such as official meetings, academic lectures, conferences, cultural activities, cultural programs on TV or radio, diplomatic and political activities, etc.

Studying Arabic offers many opportunities — for the non-native speakers, the access to an interesting culture; for native speakers, the acquisition of the standard level (including correct writing and reading), grammar and correct pronunciation, as well as the contact with Arabic culture and literature topics.
Classes in Arabic are administered by the Department of Classics and taught by Rodica Firanescu. Classes in Modern Standard Arabic are offered at various levels: Beginners (Complete beginners and Beginners), Intermediate Arabic and Advanced Arabic. For further information, see the listing for Arabic in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Dr. Peter O'Brien and Marian Binkley.

Dr. Peter O'Brien lauded

Members of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences presented Dr. Peter O'Brien with the 2005/2006 FASS Teaching Award recently. “The ability to teach is a sign of one who knows,” said Dean Marian Binkley, quoting Aristotle as she welcomed guests at a gathering in the Marion McCain building.   Read more...