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CAAS NEWSLETTER
The Classical Association of the Atlantic States
http://www.caas-cw.org
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Electronic Newsletter Issue 2.1 May 2010
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The Classical Association of the Atlantic States is pleased to present issue 2.1 of its electronic Newsletter. Immediately following Phyllis Culham's President's Message, there are two important announcements pertaining to the Annual Meeting: the inaugural Jerry Clack Lecture and the nominations for elective office. Also included in this issue are three reminiscences of Martin Ostwald, who died in April at the age of 88. The annual listings of Summer Study Programs for 2011 will appear in the fall. As always, news and announcements, as well as ideas and suggestions, are welcome.
David J. Califf
dcaliff@ndapa.org
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| President's Message
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 October 8, 2010, will offer a great event in CAAS
history: the Inaugural Jerry Clack
Lecture at the Newark Museum, as part of the 2010 Annual Meeting (Oct. 7th
through Oct. 9th at the Hilton Newark Airport Hotel). Jerry Clack himself plans to be
present. W. Robert Connor will
deliver the inaugural Clack Lecture. His topic looks clear-sightedly back yet also forward
to our future, appropriately to this inaugural event honoring a long record of
professional service and scholarship. Dr. Connor will speak on, "We Must Call the Classics Before a Jury of
the Shipwrecked: What Classics Can Do Now."
Prof. Clack taught Classics at Duquesne University and
published on Hellenistic poetry as well as many other topics. He is a past President of CAAS and was editor of Classical World from 1978 to 1993. Prof. Clack then resigned the
editorship to become CAAS' first Executive Director! He reframed CAAS. to assume its modern reputation,
complexity, and ambitions and thereby probably ensured that no one will
ever be able to wear all three of
those hats again, even sequentially.
Attendees in Newark this fall will be able to take buses from the conference hotel to
the Newark Museum's lovely courtyard for an elegant Mediterranean reception in
honor of Prof. Clack; the Museum's classical collections will be open. After Dr. Connor's lecture, buses
will return to the hotel to continue the celebration with dinner and ovationes.
An ad hoc Clack Committee chaired by past President David
Murphy has brought us to the point at which we can inaugurate this series in
2010. Over $4,500 was raised in
fiscal 2009, and we are now 80% of the way to the goal of raising $10,000 in
capital to safeguard the future of the lecture. Given continuing financial uncertainties, it would, of
course, make sense to exceed that $10,000 original target, if we can. I urge all of you to participate fully
in all the aspects of this much-deserved celebration by contributing to the Clack Fund which
will preserve Jerry's legacy and ours in his. You can do this by visiting the Philosophy
Documentation Center (which will open in a new window) or by writing a
check to: Professor Donald H. Mills, 203 Radcliffe Road,
Dewitt, NY 13214, noting "Clack Fund" in the memo line.
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Announcements
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Inaugural Jerry Clack Lecture
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 CAAS is pleased to announce the first annual lecture in honor of Jerry Clack, Professor of Classics at Duquesne University, past President of CAAS, Executive Director, and Editor of Classical World from 1978-1993.
The lecture will take place on Friday, 8 October 2010 during our Annual Meeting in Newark, New Jersey. Dr. W. Robert Connor will present a paper titled, "We Must Call the Classics Before a Jury of the Shipwrecked: What Classics Can Do Now." Dr. Connor's theme is inspired by a passage in Ortega y Gasset's Revolt of the Masses. Formerly of Princeton, Duke, the National Humanities Center, and currently the Teagle Foundation, Dr. Connor has published widely on Athenian history and modern liberal education.
We are thrilled that Jerry Clack plans to attend this highlight of our 2010 annual conference. A reception for Jerry at five o'clock in the Court of The Newark Museum will be followed by the Clack Lecture at six o'clock. Beginning at four o'clock, buses will bring us from the Hilton Newark Airport, the site of the conference, to the museum. After the program, buses will bring us back to the hotel for dinner. During the initial hours, participants may also visit the museum's classical collection.
The CAAS Board established the Jerry Clack Lectureship Fund in 2002 in Professor Clack's honor to bring a distinguished speaker from outside the CAAS region - North America, Europe and beyond - to deliver a keynote lecture on the world of ancient Greece and/or Rome at our annual meeting. Contributions to the fund are designed to build up its principal, the income of which will underwrite the lectureship series. We are now some 90% of the way toward achieving the original fundraising goal of $10,000. Since costs have risen in the years since the program was conceived, however, donations are still earnestly solicited. A check with Jerry Clack Lectureship Fund written in the memo line may be sent to Treasurer Donald H. Mills, 203 Radcliffe Road, Dewitt, NY 13214.
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Nominations for CAAS Elective Office |
Instructions for Voting
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Members attending the annual Business Meeting on Sat. Oct.
9, 2010, at the Hilton Newark Airport Hotel, will be asked to vote on the
following nominations from the Nominations Committee. (See further instructions
below on voting by those who cannot attend.)
Nominated for one-year, non-renewable terms:
Officer-at-Large: Phyllis Culham, US Naval Academy
President: Sarolta Takács, The Sage Colleges
1st Vice President: Shelley Haley, Hamilton College
2nd Vice President: Frederick Booth, Seton Hall
University
Nominated for a second two-year term:
Director from
Eastern Pennsylvania: Mark Clauser, Easton Area High School.
Nominated for a two-year term (and eligible for
nomination to a second, successive two-year term):
Director from New York City and Long Island: Sulochana
Asirvatham, Montclair State University and resident of Manhattan
Director from Northern New Jersey: Sean Lake, Seton
Hall University
Director from Southern New Jersey: Elizabeth Bache,
Wall Township Intermediate School
Director from Philadelphia: Valentina DeNardis,
Villanova University
Director from Central and Western Pennsylvania: Brett
Rogers, Gettysburg College
Director from Delaware: Lynn Sawlivich, University of
Delaware
Director from Maryland: Thomas McCreight, Loyola
University Maryland
Members will receive a printed
packet this summer on the 2010 Annual Meeting in Newark enabling them either to
register to attend the meeting (in which case they will participate in the
electoral process in person at the Business Meeting) or to return a Proxy
Ballot to the Secretary of CAAS. Those who cannot attend are asked to return their Proxy Ballot VERY
PROMPTLY so that the process can comply with all of CAAS' Regulations.
Members may nominate an additional
candidate or candidates through a petition signed by at least fifteen CAAS
members eligible to vote. The petition must be received by the Executive
Director no later than July 1, and
nominees must be CAAS members who reside and/or work in the CAAS region.
Nominees with a valid petition will be added to the slate of candidates mailed
to members along with materials for the annual meeting and will be presented for election in the
Business Meeting .
The Nominations Committee also proposed to the meeting of
the Board of Directors on April 24, 2010, the following appointments to
appointive offices, and the Board voted to accept all these recommendations:
Secretary, second three-year term: Barbara Pavlock, Lehigh University
Treasurer, three-year renewable term: John Jacobs,
The Montclair Kimberley Academy
Hahn Committee Chair, three-year non-renewable term: Ray Capra, Seton Hall University
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Introducing Mary Brown
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The Executive Director of CAAS
| by Phyllis Culham, CAAS President 2010
Some of our members have already had the pleasure of meeting
Executive Director Mary Brown, since she assumed responsibility for our fall Meeting
in Wilmington, DE, when former Executive Director Mary English was temporarily
felled by health issues.
Maybe you thought that the efficient, peripatetic woman who knew
everyone on the hotel staff and the capabilities of every room worked for the
Doubletree Downtown and just happened to get jokes in Latin? No, a search
committee of long time leaders of CAAS had hired Mary Brown for her amazing
skill set. We may all feel
fortunate that they did, since she was scheduled to enter office after the
Wilmington meeting but agreed, as a good sport (see below!), to suit up and take the field to lead us
through the fall Meeting.
Mary's work as a classicist contributes to her ability to
navigate the various terrains on which CAAS operates. She has taught at public high schools
and preps and at the college level at such institutions as Harriton High
School, Lower Merion High School, Valley Forge Military Academy, and Delaware
Valley Friends School (the first three all in PA). She has worked on such projects as labyrinth imagery in Aeneid IV as well as on the Ecloguesand on Catullus' "Lesbia" poems. As
one would expect of someone who enjoys the challenges of C.A.A.S.' forays into
the modern world, she has also taken an interest in such projects as plays in
English based on Latin texts. Her
contribution to the teaching of ancient languages in the Philadelphia region
has been immeasurable through, e.g., sponsorships of exam competitions. It's not surprising that she is an
old-timer in the region, with B.A. and M.A. from Villanova, Non-profit Executive
Leadership Certificate from Bryn Mawr, and Principal's Certificate and
candidate status in the Education-Administration Certificate Program at Saint
Joseph's. It's amazing that Mary
ever looked outside the Philadelphia area, where she had plenty to do an
Officer of the Philadelphia Classical Society, adding to her portfolio service
to CAAS as a Regional Representative (who would now be called a Regional
Director).
Maybe the most convincing evidence of the energy she brings
to CAAS is her membership in the Lower Merion Township Youth Sports
Coalition (with Commissioners' Recognition) and her Co-Directorship of the
Rosemont-Villanova Civic Association Sports Program at Harriton High for twenty-seven
years. Even in an e-format, we
can't list all her contributions to education and to community. Given such activities as her founding
and directing the Teen Learning Community, she has received such awards as
Lower Merion High School's John "Fritz" Brennan Award for Outstanding
Contribution to School and Community.
If you are able to join us in Newark next October, you will definitely
see Mary in the center of the action. And if you and she have a moment, your conversation need not be restricted
to classical languages or administration. Mary also has five children and five grandchildren who enrich her life,
along with commitments to yoga, running, and organic cooking and baking. If you're flagging on a
language-intensive afternoon, maybe, if she's got a second, she can pass on
some energy to you.
Welcome, Mary!
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Clack Fund Report
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Good News!
| An ad hoc Clack Committee chaired by past President David
Murphy has brought us to the point at which we can inaugurate the Jerry Clack
lecture series in 2010. Over
$4,500 was raised in fiscal 2009, and we are now 80% of the way to the original
goal of raising $10,000 in capital to safeguard the future of the lecture. Given continuing financial
uncertainties, it would, of course, make sense to exceed that $10,000 original
target, if we can. In particular,
the C.A.A.S. Board was able to meet the terms of a very generous challenge
grant from Prof. Mervin Dilts of N.Y.U., who challenged the Board to raise
$2,500 from among its own members.
A special Presidential thanks to Prof. Dilts for not just his generosity
but also his initiative and leadership.
CAAS giving categories for the Clack Fund are named
after the Muses who so inspire our language traditions, namely: Aglaia Level $100-499, Euphrosyne level
$500-999, and Thalia level $1000 and higher. The following persons have donated to the 2009-2010 drive for the Clack
Fund by May 13 of this year. We
thank all those who contributed to this year's drive and in previous years.
Aglaia Level $100-499
Rev. Robert Antczak
David Kelly
Henry Bender Maria Marsilio
Frederick Booth
Janet Martin
David Califf Barbara McManus
Nathan Costa David Murphy
Carrie Cowherd Barbara Pavlock
Phyllis Culham Ann Raia
Lillian Doherty Timothy Renner
Shelley Haley Edward Sacks
Judith Hallett Matthew Santirocco
Thomas Hayes Richard Smethurst
Gerald Heverly Karin Suzadail
John Jacobs John Williams
Thalia Level $1000 and higher
Mervin Dilts Rudolph Masciantonio
I urge all of you to
participate fully in all the aspects of this much-deserved celebration by contributing to the Clack Fund which
will preserve Jerry's legacy and ours in his. You can do this by visiting the Philosophy Documentation Center link on the
CAAS webpage (which will open in a new
window) or by writing a check to: Professor Donald H. Mills, 203 Radcliffe Road,
Dewitt, NY 13214, noting "Clack Fund" in the memo line.
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OBITUARY
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In Memoriam Martin Ostwald
(1922-2010)
Martin Ostwald, who died last month at the age of 88, is remembered by
three friends and colleagues.
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From Rebecca Chopp, President of Swarthmore College
Friends,
I write with the sad news that Martin Ostwald, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Classics, died this weekend of heart failure. He was 88. The Swarthmore community has lost a towering intellect, and a renowned teacher and scholar of the ancient Greek world.
Martin, who was born in Dortmund, Germany, in 1922, was the consummate gentleman with a refined, old world sensibility that never failed to charm. He will be greatly missed.
Martin's plans to enter the rabbinate changed drastically after Nov. 10, 1938 - Kristallnacht. Along with his father and younger brother, he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp near Berlin.
Through his mother's efforts to secure them passage on a Kindertransport, he and his brother were released and sent first to Holland, then England. But they never saw their parents again-his father died at the Terezin concentration camp and his mother at Auschwitz.
Throughout his peripatetic existence as a refugee during World War II, Martin managed to continue his education. At another refugee camp in Canada, where fellow internees started a camp school, he resumed his education and also taught Greek and Latin. While working towards his high school certificate, Martin made camouflage netting and knitted socks for the army.
With the backing of a Jewish fraternity, the University of Toronto accepted Martin and about 20 others from the camp. To assuage trustees worried about "enemy aliens" studying on campus while the country was at war, the group trained, in uniform, in the school's Canadian Officer Training Corps. He ultimately received a B.A. in Classics from the University of Toronto in 1946, an A.M. from the University of Chicago in 1948, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1952.
Martin then taught at Wesleyan University for one year and at Columbia for seven before Centennial Professor Emerita of Classics Helen North recruited him to Swarthmore. "His influence on his students and colleagues was still unfolding," said Helen. "Martin's impact on the department, on the college and the classical world is beyond description. He was wise and kind and infinitely helpful to us all." On campus for more than 30 years, he taught honors seminars that combined Germanic philological rigor with a relaxed, conversational style. For 20 of those years, he also maintained a joint appointment with the University of Pennsylvania. Even after his retirement in 1992, Martin continued to be a dapper presence on campus, walking most days from his home on Walnut Lane to his study carrel in McCabe to continue his writing and research.
Martin was a prolific scholar with wide-ranging interests and an accessible style. Among his many publications, some of the most notable include a translation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, a handbook on the meters of Greek and Roman poetry, and several books on ancient Greek constitutional history: Nomos and the Beginnings of the Athenian Democracy; Autonomia: Its Genesis and Early History; and his magnum opus, From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law, for which he received the Goodwin Award of Merit from the American Philological Association in 1990, an organization he served as president in 1987.
Additional honors include his election as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991, and as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1993. He was an editor of the Cambridge Ancient History from 1976-92 and a selection of his articles and essays was reprinted in 2009 by the University of Pennsylvania Press as Language and History in Ancient Culture. On Martin's retirement, Ralph Rosen '77 and Joseph Farrell, professors of classical studies at Penn, solicited and co-edited more than 40 critical essays from their mentor's former students and colleagues for a Festschrift in his honor. Martin also received honorary doctorates from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and from the University of Dortmund.
Martin discussed the experience of receiving the latter, and returning to his hometown, in a 2002 article in The Bulletin. He concluded: "My personal experiences show me how human beings are capable not only of degrading and dehumanizing themselves and their fellow men, but also that people have the potential to achieve greatness by creating monuments in art, literature, philosophy, and social justice that constitute the values of civilized life. In my case, the Greeks have shown the way, and it is their heritage that I have tried to pass on to my students."
Martin is survived by his wife, Lore, and their sons, David and Mordecai (Mark).
Respectfully,
Rebecca Chopp
From Rosaria Munson
In our department Martin remained a beneficent force to the very end: he was always interested in our department events and in the progress of our students. Only last semester he kindly agreed to come to speak to my Democratic Athens class about Cleisthenes' reforms: the students were in wonder at his calm eloquence and profound learning. Martin had many friends around the world, especially in England, Israel and Italy, and I know that you will all miss him as much as we do.
Rosaria Munson
Professor and Chair of Classics
Swarthmore College
From Jim O'Donnell
I'm a little stunned to see that I'd known Martin for half the time he'd had his Ph.D., stunned because by the time we met and became colleagues he was so fully formed, so complete and consistent, so assured, that the idea that he had half a career left would have seemed implausible to my too-young eyes. It was indeed a privilege to know him. One footnote to the story in Rebecca Chopp's account: arrested on Kristallnacht, evacuated by Kindertransport, then moving from UK to Canada and US and career, even he was surprised in something like 1990 when his old secondary school in Dortmund was holding a fiftieth reunion and he found that on their rolls he was listed as "missing: presumed dead in the camps." He said it made him feel as if he were his own ghost. For me, he is the last of the Jewish refugee scholars from the European catastrophe that I will have known, and in retrospect it is sobering to see the way my generation took for granted these older, different, learned, and in many ways exemplary people who were present in our comfortable bourgeois American lives only because of the calamitous ruin they had experienced but rarely spoke of. They made a difference to American scholarship in many fields, in ways that we too easily ignored. American academic life is better for their having been part of us, and different without them.
Jim O'Donnell
Provost, Georgetown University
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| Especially For Pre-Collegiate Teachers
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An Invitation from the Women's Classical Caucus
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 Formally, the Women's Classical Caucus advances feminist and gender-informed scholarship and promotes equality and diversity in professional matters. Informally, the WCC is a great source of collegiality and friendship, and it is this intangible service which can be the most powerful benefit of all.
If you think that the WCC is not for you because you do not attend the annual meetings of the APA, please think again. The WCC is there year round, sponsoring events at regional meetings, providing outreach through its newsletter Cloelia, and providing human contacts for help and information. We want teachers from all levels to become a part of the discussion, for our strength comes from our members. We need you to join for conversation, scholarly exploration, and mutual support. Students and teachers, men and women, K-12 teachers and university faculty -- all are welcome.
Please consider joining today! Contact Keely Lake, K-12 Liaison, for more information (klake@wayland.org), or visit our website at http://www.wccaucus.org.
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| NLTRW: National Latin Teacher Recruitment Week
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| Back in 2008, Prof. Ronnie Ancona received a grant from both CAAS and www.promotelatin.org to host a very successful event titled, Bibamus, Edamus, Colloquamur! The event celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Hunter's Latin MA program and the largest number of students that had ever enrolled. They welcomed Bill Mayer as the new director of the program and applauded teachers and student in Methods classes. The success of the event stands as a worthy model for other Latin teacher-training programs looking to build further support.
Hunter College still feels the impact of this type of sponsored event today, particularly as we aim to build our secondary-school and teacher-training programs in Latin. Prof. Ancona sends her thanks to CAAS, as well as NLTRW, for their generosity.
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David Califf, Editor Chris Ann Matteo, Managing Editor
Classical Association of the Atlantic States
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