Leadership Initiative Grants

Krystal Kubichek, Pennsauken High School, Supporting students at the NJCL at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, July 2018.

Mathias Hanses, Penn State University, An Experimental, Two-day Workshop: Vitruvius’ Homo bene figuratus inter disciplinas: Methodological Variations on a Single Passage (Vitruvius, De Architectura III.1), Sept. 7-8, 2018.

Judith P. Hallett, University of Maryland, College Park, and Sarah B. Ferrario, The Catholic University of America, The Washington Ancient Mediterranean Seminar: An Inter-Institutional Forum for Scholarly Mentoring and Exchange, 2019-2020.

David Withun, Faulkner University, “The Symposium on Liberal Education and African American History: A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Anna Julia Cooper,” February, 2019.

John Buschman, Seton Hall University, support for digital tools, “Antiquities for Study, the Curriculum and the Community: The D’Argenio Collection of Coins and Artifacts at Seton Hall University Libraries.”

Emmanuel Aprilakis, Rutgers University, “Food and Drink in the Ancient World Conference,” May, 31st to June 1^st, 2019.

Luke Madson and Molly Mata, Rutgers University, Classics Graduate Student Speaker Series, 2019-2020.

Prof. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis
Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies and Middle Eastern Studies
Acting Executive Officer, MA in Liberal Studies
The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

Have you ever noticed how many temples, arches, columns, and even Pantheon-like buildings there are in New York City? Columbus stands atop a column; Grand Central Station’s main concourse evokes the imperial baths of ancient Rome; and New York’s Custom house, known today as Federal Hall, looks a Doric temple and the New York Stock Exchange looks like a Corinthian temple. The buildings are all part of what has been termed the Neo-Antique, a purposefully mixing of ancient architectural forms and motifs to create new and original buildings. Many of you might know of these buildings as Neo-Classical or Neo-Egypt, but thinking of them as Neo-Antique encourages one to think of how these buildings are interconnected and similar (as well as different). This website is run by Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis<https://emacaulaylewis.com/>, an assistant professor at The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, who trained as a classical archaeologist. She was most surprised (if not downright confused) to see a modified version of the Arch of Constantine stuck to the Central Park West facade of the American Museum of Natural History and as such is now rather obsessed with tracking down ancient architecture in New York City. Rather than keeping this interest to herself (and in her scholarly publications), she also decided that creating a website that scholars, researchers, students, and teachers could use might be of help and interest to archaeologists, classicists, historians, language teachers in the New York Area who are looking for interesting and innovative ways to engage their students.
Visit the Professor Macaulay-Lewis’ work at: https://ancientarchny.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

Judy P. Hallett, Professor, Department of Classics, University of Maryland, College Park
Sarah B. Ferrario, Associate Professor, Department of Greek and Latin, The Catholic University of America

WAMS has hosted six seminars to date, each including a speaker (a tenure-track junior faculty member from a DC-area institution) paired with a respondent (a senior faculty member from another institution or, more often, another region). Participants thus far have included:

1. October 15, 2015, at The Catholic University of America

•  Katherine Wasdin, speaker (The George Washington University)
• Alison Keith, respondent (University of Toronto)

2. May 4, 2016, at the University of Maryland, College Park

• Francisco Barrenechea, speaker (University of Maryland, College Park)
• David Konstan, respondent (New York University)

3. November 10, 2016, at The Catholic University of America

• Caroline Stark, speaker (Howard University)
• Christopher Celenza, respondent (The Johns Hopkins University)

4. May 5, 2017, at Howard University

• Jorge Bravo, speaker (University of Maryland, College Park)
• Christopher Faraone, respondent (University of Chicago)

5. October 7, 2017, at the Annual Meeting of CAAS in New York City

• Marden Nichols, speaker (Georgetown University)
• Timothy Moore, respondent (Washington University, St. Louis)

6. May 25, 2018, at The Catholic University of America

• Brien Garnand, speaker (Howard University)
• Peter Van Dommelen, respondent (Brown University)

7. September 27, 2018, at Georgetown University

• Kelcy Sagstetter, speaker (United States Naval Academy)
• Donald Lateiner, respondent (Ohio Wesleyan University)

All of the WAMS seminars have been well-attended, ranging from about 12 to 30 participants, with an average of approximately 15 attendees. Seminar audiences have come from a wide range of DC institutions, and have included both faculty and graduate students. The responses delivered by the senior scholars and the ensuing general discussions have been thought-provoking, lively, fruitful, and inevitably supportive of the junior colleagues whose work is featured at the gatherings. A number of productive new mentoring relationships have emerged from the sessions, with the respondents entering into active correspondence with the speakers. The receptions have brought colleagues together who otherwise would not see one another on a regular basis, and have, we believe, enhanced the sense of community and mutual support amongst the members of the DC classics community. Equally importantly, our junior colleagues have been given the opportunity to present their work in long form, at a level of detail that a conference could never provide, and have thereby made further progress towards tenure.

In terms of CAAS’ own mission (“to promote better teaching, encourage research, and foster public support of the Classics”), the research impact of WAMS represents one of its clearest contributions, but by no means its only one. WAMS’ identity as a “forum for scholarly mentoring and exchange” means that its attendees discuss a wide range of subjects touching on every aspect of the profession before, during, and after the seminar. Mutual support (and occasional commiseration!) remains the order of the day, as attendees learn ‘how things are done’ at neighboring institutions, and come away with new ideas on topics ranging from teaching to administration. It is one of the great gifts of WAMS that most sessions need to be called to order, as attendees are engaged in conversation with one another before the seminar even begins.

We are very proud of the collective effort that has brought WAMS to life, both inside and outside the DC area, and most grateful to CAAS for the Leadership Initiative Grant that has made all of this possible.

Martha W. Pearlman – NJJCL State Chair.

On May 12, 2018 The New Jersey Junior Classical League funded John Van Vliet from the Legio XIII to give two 45 minute presentations on the Roman military. Roman military equipment, its usages, and battle tactics were among the topics and students were given time to ask questions and sample different types of weapons and military equipment. Seeing and touching replicas of Roman equipment and items from daily life make the classical world come alive for the students. They can feel the weight of the military equipment and get a better sense of what the life of a Roman soldier was like. With the funding from the LIG, the NJJCL was able to have these reenactors as a part of the NJJCL State Convention; every year students report that the reenactors and their equipment is one of the highlights of the convention.

David Withun, Classics and Literature Teacher, Savannah Classical Academy

On the evening of Friday, February 16th, 2018 Savannah Classical Academy will host a symposium on contemporary and historical thought by African Americans in engagement with the Classics and with liberal education. Three invited speakers will discuss some aspect of this topic, including historical influences of the Classics in African American thought and literature, landmarks in the history of African American education, Classical studies by African Americans, liberal arts curricula and Classics in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other similar topics. Selected students will deliver brief presentations before the main speakers, including Latin recitations and readings of original essays related to the topic of the symposium. On the morning of Saturday, February 17th, 2018 the SCA Symposium speakers will individually host concurrent sessions. These sessions, of 45-60 minutes, will be a continuation of the previous evening’s presentations and discussions. Both evening and morning events will be free and open to the public. The guest speakers are Dr. Michele Valerie Ronnick, Professor of Classics at Wayne State University; Dr. Patrice Rankine, Professor of Classics and Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Richmond; and Dr. Otis Johnson, Scholar in Residence at Savannah State University and former Mayor of Savannah.

Caroline Stark, Assistant Professor of Classics, College of Arts and Sciences, Howard University

This academic year and in celebration of Howard’s Sesquicentennial in 2017, the Blackburn Gallery of Art at Howard University and Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, DC, are hosting a series of lectures and events in conjunction with the display on both campuses of Michele Valerie Ronnick’s exhibit, “15 Black Classicists,” with the support of a Leadership Initiative Grant from the Classical Association of the Atlantic States.  Of the fifteen portraits, James Monroe Gregory, Wiley Lane, George Morton Lightfoot, and Lewis Baxter Moore were faculty and administrators at Howard.  The series includes guest lectures, workshops, readings, and a symposium that celebrates the important role of African Americans to the field of Classics.

Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis, Assistant Professor and Acting Executive Officer, MA in Liberal Studies, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York

This grant will fund an interactive project, entitled “Antiquity in Gotham,” that investigates the reception of Greco-Roman and Egyptian architecture in New York City. Specifically, it will enable the creation of a series of ten podcasts about the reception of ancient architecture in New York City. These podcasts will be released in conjunction with the publication of Classical New York: Greece and Rome in New York City’s Art and Architecture, 1830–1940 (eds. E. Macaulay-Lewis and M. McGowan, under contract with Fordham University Press, expected in 2018). The grant will also allow the construction of an interactive map, using Carto, to complement the podcasts.

This public-facing project advances the goals of CAAS. The podcast and map could be used in the classroom to enhance K-12 teaching of Classics. It also encourages students and faculty to pursue reception studies, a booming area of research in Classical Studies. This podcast and map supports a greater public understanding of the rich contribution of the classical world to New York City by highlighting the importance of neoclassical architecture in the city’s architectural heritage.

Bill Clausen, Head of Classics Department

Washington Latin Public Charter School

The advances in understanding how second language acquisition works and the particular challenges of teaching Latin to students today have produced much conversation about the goals and methods of Latin pedagogy. While still committed to the good of explicit grammatical instruction, Washington Latin PCS believes that teachers must always be thinking about how and why we teach what we teach. To this end, and in the hopes of bringing together Latin teachers from across the DC area, WLPCS will host Justin Bailey, a linguist and leader in the field of Latin instruction, for a presentation and workshop focused on teaching Latin well, using spoken Latin and both intensive and extensive reading methods.

A performance by Rhodessa Jones and members of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women

Nancy Sorkin Rabinowitz, Professor of Comparative Literature, Hamilton College

The grant will fund a special public CAAS performance by Rhodessa Jones and performers from The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. The Medea Project uses narratives of mythic figures (e.g., Medea, Pandora, Persephone) as the starting-point for collaborative, public performances by women who are or who have been incarcerated, women living with HIV and artists. Thus their performances highlight the contemporary relevance of both the study of the classical world and the reuse of the “classics.” A following discussion session, hosted by a classicist in partnership with Rhodessa Jones, will seek to extend conversation beyond the performance itself to conceptual and pragmatic questions about appropriation of the classical world outside of the academy.  This event will encourage dialogue between Jones, her performers and attendees of the CAAS meeting, as well as people from the larger community whom we will try to attract.

This event will interest those who are invested in the performance history of tragedy, the role of classics in social justice initiatives, and innovative or creative approaches to pedagogy. It will also attract those who are attentive to how classics can be used as a tool of empowerment by those who have historically been, and in some cases continue to be, denied accessed to education, namely women, people of color and incarcerated populations. Thus it will build on relationships already fostered by CAAS’ commitment to school education.

Santino DeAngelo, MFA Playwright, Columbia University

Narcissus: An Ancient Roman Pantomime is an original theatrical production reconstructing the lost art form of Ancient Roman Pantomime, made for television in partnership with WSKG/PBS and Tri-Cities Opera Company. Featuring Broadway star Ryan Breslin (Disney’s Newsies, Book of Mormon) as the Pantomime Artist, the production retells the well-known myth of Narcissus as he descends into self-obsession.  As the pantomime artist dances the tale, performing all roles in hand-crafted leather masks custom-made for the production by professional mask-maker Wendy Drolma, behind him performs the esteemed chorus members and soloists of Tri-Cities Opera (a company that once housed Placido Domingo) all under the baton of world-renown conductor and pianist, John Covelli (New York City Opera, Boston Pops).

Heading up this collaboration is composer/producer Santino DeAngelo, who has taken his “gift for engaging melodies” (New York Times) and turned his attention once again to the Classical World, following two previous CAAS-supported performances: Pygmalion, A Lyrical Ballet (2010) and The Ghoul Next Door, a new musical setting of Plautus’ Mostellaria with John Starks (2012). Teaming up once again with Professor John H Starks, jr (Chair of Classical and Near Eastern Studies, Binghamton University), the production team’s primary task is to explore and better understand the different ways ancient pantomime may have been executed and attempt to recreate the effect this popular form may have had on ancient audiences. In the absence of existing music and librettos, all of which appear to be lost to time, DeAngelo has composed an original libretto and musical score. The piece has been structured on Aristotelian principals of drama and features leitmotifs and arias, an homage to opera’s connection with, and in many ways continuation of, the pantomime tradition.

The 35-minute piece will be taped in front of a live studio audience on January 16th and televised on PBS affiliate WSKG in Upstate New York/Northern Pennsylvania in early February (a station with an approximate viewership of 350,000 – 500,000 households). The performance will be presented with an accompanying 25-minute documentary, showing a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of our production as well as teaching audiences about ancient pantomime performance. The creators believe this to be the first comprehensive reconstruction of Ancient Roman Pantomime for television and this initial broadcast is the first step in the process for national syndication on PBS. The CAAS LIG grant is contributing to the taping of “Narcissus”.

Marrying cutting-edge scholarship with superior creativity, Narcissus: An Ancient Roman Pantomime is an exciting exploration of how passionate cross-disciplinary collaborations can foster public support for the Classics and keep the past alive in the heart of our modern culture.

Dr. Jason Pedicone, President, The Paideia Institute for Humanistic Study

This grant will help to support the Paideia Institute’s Living Latin in New York City (LLiNYC) conference, an international Classics conference held in New York City every February since 2012. LLiNYC brings together expert Latin and Greek speakers from across the country and all over the world and consists of presentations in Latin and Greek, as well as in English, on various aspects of active language pedagogy, and workshops that enable participants to practice spoken Latin and Greek in small groups with world experts.

Historically, an antagonism has existed between camps of “traditional philologists” on the one hand and a Latin and Greek speaking “fringe” on the other. This opposition has its roots in a false dichotomy that goes back centuries to the founding of our discipline during the Enlightenment.  LLiNYC provides a laboratory in which professors and teachers can explore how to most profitably apply the active approach to teaching “dead languages” in the classroom.

In 2015, with 133 registered attendees, LLiNYC is estimated to have been the largest active Latin gathering in the world. In 2016, with the help of CAAS funding, the Paideia Institute will bring more speakers, accommodate more participants, and record all talks and make them available online.  The conference will be held on February 13-14, 2016 at the Skaden Conference Center at Fordham University’s Law School, located in Lincoln Center in central Manhattan.

Dr. Lee T. Pearcy, Research Associate in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College

Classicizing Philadelphia, a digital humanities project inspired by the Classicizing Chicago project at Northwestern University, seeks to document and continue Philadelphia’s long, deep dialogue with Greece and Rome. The project has these goals:

• To be a focal point for research on classical receptions in Philadelphia
• To be a gateway to documents of classical reception in Philadelphia collections
• To inform the citizens of Philadelphia about and engage them in our city’s long conversation with Greece and Rome

In 2014–2015, with the aid of a generous Leadership Initiative Grant from CAAS, Classicizing Philadelphia developed a prototype smartphone tour of classicizing sites in central Philadelphia and increased its database of digital objects and associated data.  A second LIG for 2015–2016 is allowing the project to refine the prototype tour, develop additional tour modules, expand the interactive map that forms the basis of the tours, and add additional items to its data set.  The mobile tour phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2016.  A third and final grant, for 2016-2017, will let Classicizing Philadelphia consolidate the gains made during 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 and identify the next Project Director.  Activity will focus on developing an independent web hosting environment, reconfiguring the current three digital aspects (resources, mobile tours, and blog) to make them accessible through classicizingphiladelphia.org, and improving the “look and feel” of all three as well as the root site.

Classicizing Philadelphia is directed by Dr. Lee T. Pearcy, Research Associate in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College.  For further information, see http://www.classicizingphiladelphia.org.

Judith P. Hallett, Professor of Classics at University of Maryland, College Park and Sarah B. Ferrario, Associate Professor of Greek and Latin at The Catholic University of America

This grant will support the re-launch, in a newly conceived format, of a Washington, DC-area seminar for professional scholars and advanced students of the ancient Mediterranean world. Meeting twice per academic year, the Washington Ancient Mediterranean Seminar (WAMS) will bring together members of local classics departments and practitioners from related fields to discuss precirculated presentations (many of which will be given by emerging researchers) and detailed responses offered by scholars hailing from outside the immediate region. By fostering supportive discussion among professionals who do not ordinarily encounter one another in their daily work, WAMS will aspire to serve simultaneously as an incubator for new research, a mentoring opportunity for junior scholars, and an impetus to encourage intellectual and administrative collaboration across area institutions.

Barbara K. Gold, Edward North Professor of Classics, Hamilton College; Michael Arnush, Associate Professor of Classics, Skidmore College; Jane Chaplin, James I. Armstrong Professor of Classics, Middlebury College

This grant will help the three organizers bring together colleagues from 27 different liberal arts colleges across the country, many of whom have met annually at the Society for Classical Studies meetings, to articulate for one another what works at our home institutions and to generate fresh thinking about how we can continue to broaden and strengthen our contribution to the education of increasingly diverse student audiences. We will assemble in Saratoga Springs in Summer 2016 for three days with the aim of producing a handbook of data, best practices, and ideas for the future. We believe that the range and mix of participants will enrich and demonstrate the collaboration among colleagues from institutions across the United States. The support of CAAS for this project will help us achieve these goals and will provide the opportunity for CAAS to supply national leadership among regional Classics associations. We believe that our goals mesh well with the mission of CAAS to promote better teaching and foster public support of the Classics.  We will also run a panel at a future CAAS meeting on our discussions at the workshop, the ideas that arose, and the changes that were implemented as a result of our workshop.

Dr. Lee T. Pearcy, Research Associate in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College

Classicizing Philadelphia, a digital humanities project inspired by the Classicizing Chicago project at Northwestern University, seeks to document and continue Philadelphia’s long, deep dialogue with Greece and Rome. The project has these goals:

• To be a focal point for research on classical receptions in Philadelphia
• To be a gateway to documents of classical reception in Philadelphia collections
• To inform the citizens of Philadelphia about and engage them in our city’s long conversation with Greece and Rome

In 2014–2015, with the aid of a generous Leadership Initiative Grant from CAAS, Classicizing Philadelphia is developing a prototype smartphone tour of classicizing sites in central Philadelphia and increasing its database of digital objects and associated data.  A second LIG for 2015–2016 is allowing the project to refine the prototype tour, develop additional tour modules, expand the interactive map that forms the basis of the tours, and add additional items to its data set.  The mobile tour phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Classicizing Philadelphia is directed by Dr. Lee T. Pearcy, Research Associate in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies at Bryn Mawr College.  For further information, see http://www.classicizingphiladelphia.org.

Ronnie Ancona, Professor of Classics, Hunter College

The purpose of this project is to have a CAAS leader be a partner with pre-collegiate level Latin teachers and programs in the CAAS region in order to (1) strengthen the base that sparks and keeps early classics interest alive; (2) lend support to Latin programs at the pre-collegiate level; (3) increase awareness of CAAS’s existence and its value to Latin teachers. The project will entail five visits a year for three years to various Latin teachers/programs in each of the eleven regional areas of CAAS (Delaware, The District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, with NJ, NY, and PA being sub-divided). Ronnie Ancona will serve as an itinerant CAAS officer / college Latin teacher, interested in Latin at all levels, traveling to learn about Latin in our region’s schools and offering collegial professional support. Each visit will involve at least one (typically more) of the following: attending class, a conference with the teacher about the Latin program and about CAAS, a meeting with the Latin or Foreign Language Department, a short presentation to a class. Each teacher visited will be designated a “CAAS Leadership Initiative Grant Partner.” Ronnie Ancona will organize a panel about the project for the CAAS Annual Meeting near the end of the grant period.  This panel, which will include some of the teachers with whom Ronnie partnered, will serve both to inform the CAAS membership and to assess the success of the project. Click here to see pictures from the schools Ronnie has visited.