Professor of Classics
Classical & Modern Languages / Academic
- Office:
- Caruth Administration 310
- Mailbox:
- 61653
- Email:
- Phone:
- 903.813.2241
Education
B.A., M.A., University of Arizona
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Endowed Professorship:
The Chase Professorship of Classical Languages
Faculty Bio:
Taking Latin in high school revealed a complex world and a way of understanding the world that have fascinated me for over three decades. In my classes and research I examine elements of Greco-Roman culture from the perspectives of language (Greek and Latin), history, material culture, theory, and reception. My primary areas of interest are Roman oratory and the negotiation of social values, gendered speech and action in Roman/Hellenic culture, Latin pedagogy, and receptions of the ancient world in science fiction. I teach a wide variety of classes about the ancient world, in Latin and in English, as well as medieval Latin and paleography, and the modern reception of antiquity in film and science fiction. I also teach a course in Rome during the January term. I enjoy working with high school and middle school Latin teachers and their students, have been associated with the Advanced Placement Latin program for many years (including as Chief Reader), and am a passionate supporter of the Junior Classical League. I have had the good fortune to be honored by the Society for Classical Studies (formerly American Philological Association) with a national collegiate teaching award, by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South with a distinguished professional service award (Ovatio), and by Austin College with its Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award.
Recent Courses:
- Beginning – Intermediate Latin
- Advanced Latin Grammar and Composition
- Roman Rhetoric
- Roman History and Biography – “Ethnicity and Exemplum”
- Roman Comedy
- Latin Lyric and Elegiac Poetry
- Women in Antiquity
- Why Go “Back to the Future?” – Classics and Science Fiction
- The Ancient World in Film
- Roman History and Civilization
- Rome: The Eternal City (taught in Rome)
- Medieval Latin
- Latin Manuscripts and Paleography
Links
- Virtual Catalog of Roman Coins
- Internet Workbook for the Oxford Latin Course
- Society for Classical Studies
- American Classical League
- Classical Association of the Middle West and South
- Personal Webpage
Recent Publications
“Suggestions for Further Reading and Viewing,” in Classical Traditions in Science Fiction, edited by Brett M. Rogers and Benjamin Eldon Stevens (Oxford University Press, 2015): 327-338.
“Report on the 2014 Advanced Placement Latin Examination,” The Classical Outlook 90.3 (Spring 2015): 73-84.
“Disabled Hero, Sick Society: Sophocles’ Philoctetes and Robert Silverberg’s The Man in the Maze,” in Disability in Science Fiction: Representations of Technology as Cure, edited by Kathryn Allan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013): 143-151.
“Report on the 2013 Advanced Placement Latin Examination,” The Classical Outlook 90.1 (Fall 2013): 9-23.
“An Overview of the 2012 Advanced Placement Latin: Vergil Examination,” The Classical Outlook 89.4 (Summer 2012): 97-100.
“Caesar’s Qualities as a Roman General in the First Invasion of Britain,” in Using Context to Enhance the Teaching of Caesar’s De Bello Gallico, edited by Jill Crooker (College Board, 2012): 17-47.
“Vocabulary Testing in Latin,” in Strategies for Teaching and Assessing Vocabulary Acquisition in Latin. (College Board, 2008): 3-10.