Dr Erin Walcek Averett is the Assistant Director for the Athienou Archaeological Project on Cyprus. She recently gave a public lecture for the Omaha-Lincoln chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America titled: “Playing the Part: Masking Rituals in the Eastern Mediterranean,” and will present her current research on Cypriot figurines (‘Hath not the potter power over clay’ Constructing Identity at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean”) in November at the American Schools of Oriental Research’s annual meeting in Boston. Dr. Averett’s article, “Drumming for the Divine: a Female Tympanon Player in the Museum of Art and Archaeology,” was published this fall in the journal Muse, Vol. 36-38, pp. 15-28. Her review of Sabine Fourrier’s La Coroplastie chypriote archaïque. Identités culturelles et politiques à l’époque des royaumes (Lyon: Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 2007) will appear in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research next year. Another article, “The Terracotta Figurines and Votive Masks,” has been accepted for publication in the monograph Crossroads and Boundaries: the Archaeology of Past and Present in the Malloura Valley, Cyprus, edited by M. Toumazou, P. Kardulias, and D.B. Counts.
Dr Daniel Barber (Ph.D. University of Virginia) and Dr Mark Thatcher (Ph.D. Brown University) are Resident Assistant Professors of Classical and Near Eastern Studies for 2011-12. Barber's interests include Augustan Poetry, Republican prose, Hellenistic Philosophy, Plato, the reception of Classical literature. Thatcher's interests include the history and historiography of Archaic Greece and the Roman Republic, ethnicity and identity, multiculturalism and cross-cultural connections, and ancient Sicily.
Professor Bucher is Professor in Charge of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome for 2011-12. Plan your European travels accordingly! He has just stepped down as the director of the Classical Summer School of the American Academy in Rome (2008-2010), and early in 2011 traveled to Harvard to celebrate the life and career of Ernst Badian, and to Brown to celebrate the career of his Doktorvater Kurt A. Raaflaub. He was awarded the 2011 Creighton College of Arts and Sciences' Dean's Award for Professional Excellence in Tenure-Track Teaching. He also taught at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome in the 2006-2007 academic year. He has organized (with Meghan Freeman) the symposium 'The Good, the bad, and the altered: toward a method of identifying recut and typologically irregular Roman imperial portraits', held on 21 April 2009 at Creighton University. He also organized the piano recital at Creighton by internationally famous pianist John Kamitsuka, playing the Omaha premier of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, on 19 March 2009. He has recently published Brill's New Jacoby author Aulus Postumius Albinus, and BNJ author C. Acilius is in press. He also published an article 'Appian of Alexandria' in the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Ancient History (in press). His chapter "Towards a Literary Interpretation of Appian's Civil Wars, Book I" appeared in the 2007 Blackwell Companion to Greek and Roman Historiography. He spent 4 weeks at the American Academy in Rome in fall 2008 working especially on his book on Greek Verse Inscriptions in Rome and also on the Latin verse epitaph of Allia Potestas. His chief scholarly project is a commentary on Caesar's Civil Wars, books 2 and 3, which is slated to be published by Cambridge University Press.
Dr Christina Clark is Associate Professor at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome for 2011-12. She had two articles appear in 2009. The first, on gendered nonverbal behavior in Greek ritual, arising out of her talk in the Kripke Center’s symposium on Women, Gender, and Religion, was published in the Journal of Religion and Society, Supplement Series 5. The second, a study of tears in the Roman poet Lucretius’ De rerum natura, appeared in the volume Tears in the Graeco–Roman World, published this August by de Gruyter. Recently, she began research on a study of nonverbal behavior in Roman ritual. In Rome for two months over the summer, she worked her way through bibliography on Roman religion in general and ritual gestures and clothing in particular. In addition, through the kindness of Greg Bucher who allowed her to tag along with the Classical Summer School of the American Academy in Rome for several days of their program, she was able to visit sites and museum collections normally off–limits, including the republican temples of Portunus, Hercules, and Juno Sospita, and various collections within the Vatican Museums. She was especially excited to see the grave relief of Laberia, a priestess, which includes both an inscription and an image (see below).
She has written several recent book reviews for the Journal of Roman Studies, the International Journal of the Classical Tradition, and Mnemosyne.
Dr Martha Habash was on sabbatical in Jordan in Spring 2012. Her article "Priapic Punishments in Petronius' Satyrica 16-26" was published in the Fall 2006 issue of the journal Syllecta Classica, and her article "Petronius' Satyrica 24.7: Quartilla's asellus" was published in Ancient Narrative 5 (2005). She delivered papers at the 2005 and 2006 CAMWS conferences. She serves on the University's Faculty and Academic Council. She received a Freshman advising award in February 2007.
Dr Jeff Hause has been appointed Director of the Honors Program for AY 2011–2012.
Professor Ron Simkins continues to develop the Virtual World Project, including traveling annually to Israel and Jordan to photograph archaeological sites. The project is located at http://www.virtualworldproject.org. He continues to research and write on gender, the environment, and the political economy of ancient Israel.
Professor William Stephens'
book Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum, 2012) is out. A review of his book, Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom
(Continuum 2007), appears in
Notre Dame Philosophical
Review 2009-05-14. Four of Stephens'
papers appear in Sex,
Love, and Friendship: Studies of the Society for the
Philosophy of Sex and Love
1993–2003 (
(If we have missed something about you or someone you know, tell us and we'll put it up. We're dependent upon your input! Furthermore, if you access the student directory from the CANES home page you can contact current and former majors. Tell us if we haven't got your email address or if we've accidentally left your name out. Many current majors and alums have entries in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. Note also that the list is alphabetized by the name under which the student was known during Creighton years.)
CANES alumna Katie Antholz (LAT '04) served as the Sergeant-at-Arms of our Eta Sigma Phi chapter in 2003-2004. She went, with a hefty scholarship, to Wichita State University for her MFA in English. A recent sighting of Katie confirms that she is happy and prospering in her graduate career; she has been teaching English composition and now understands what it's like for World Lit professors! In addition, she was hired in a prestigious teaching program through Duke University this (2006) summer.
CANES alumnus Brian Barrett (LAT CBA '05) is now President of our Eta Sigma Phi chapter. See his entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. Brian was a co-author of the article "When the Passion has Cooled", in the Journal of Religion and Society while at Creighton. Brian is well on his way to his doctoral degree in Theology at Notre Dame.
CANES alumna Rachel Bash (CNE '02) (see photo below) is working toward her PhD in English at the University of Oregon at Eugene. She has been teaching English at Creighton for two years, however, and is at work on an English textbook.
CANES alumnus Evan Carlson (GRK '08) has completed his MA thesis in the Anthropology program at Columbia University, and is bound for UCLA's Anthropology Department to pursue the PhD in Archaeology starting in 2010. Congratulations to Evan!
CANES alumnus Michael Dawson (LAT CBA '04) was 2003-2004 secretary of our Eta Sigma Phi chapter. See his entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. He has now finished his second year at Creighton Medical School. Brian was a co-author of the article "When the Passion has Cooled", in the Journal of Religion and Society while at Creighton. Michael is now DR. Dawson, a pediatrician, and makes regular stops in the department at Creighton.
CANES alumna Jenny Fotsch (LAT '03) has finished her teaching MA and is departing Central High for the greener pastures of Milwaukee. She will be teaching Latin I, II, and III at Brookfield East HS and Wisconsin Hills MS, 3305 Lilly Road, Brookfield WI 53005. See her entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. In the summer of 2008 Jenny won a Fulbright Award to study in the Classical Summer School of the American Academy in Rome, and in May 2010 she will wed Chad Austino, one of her fellow Summer School students. Chad is working on his PhD at Duke University.
CANES alumna Meghan Freeman (Classical Languages CBA '09) is just finishing her year of postbaccalaureate study at the University of Pennsylvania, and will be beginning study toward the PhD in the Department of Classics at Yale University in fall 2010. She has just had her co-authored paper "The Joslyn Museum Portrait of Augustus and the Good, Bad, Altered Symposium at Creighton University" accepted for publication. She was admitted to the ASCSA Summer Sessions for 2010 (but had to decline) and is at work on another Roman portrait in the Joslyn Art Museum with Professor Bucher.
CANES alumna Shay D. (Graves) Burke (CNE '04) has an entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter and is currently a reporter. She was married in 2006 to Tim Burke.
CANES alumnus Thinh T. Ho (LAT '03) successfully pursued the Latin MA at the University of Iowa. He was president of a Vietnamese organization in Iowa City, has applied to Creighton's school of Pharmacy, and served as a dealer in a casino to help make ends meet last year.
CANES alumna Amanda Kimura (LAT CBA '04) headed up our chapter of Eta Sigma Phi as President in 2003-2004, and has in that capacity just presided over a successful initiation of 15 new members. See her entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. She is working on her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin for which she won a 5-year scholarship. She attended the American Academy in Rome's Classical Summer School in summer 2004: see her report here and has excavated at the Synagogue in Ostia under Prof. Steven White.
CANES alumna Sarah (Lewis) Gockley (CNE '06) sent this useful and interesting summation of her experience in the department:
Having walked through the doors at Creighton and the Classics department, I immediately began my studies in Classical languages. Being a Freshman, and having no other language training, except Spanish in High School, I knew that learning a new language was going to be both challenging and exciting. I was really "pumped" to learn Latin--especially when I would be able to spout out fun idioms at parties. Learning Latin was great, but I soon discovered my absolute passion for the Greeks and their language. Greek was, at least to me, easier to learn. That was of course, after I had familiarized myself with a little bit of Latin, which is a close grammatical companion. But like learning any new language, it can be difficult to master -- every instructor was very willing to provide methods to help the grammar and vocabulary "stick" as best as possible. (Thank you everyone!!) I would recommend to students to familiarize themselves with at least one Classical language. Not only because it is fun, but it can help in other courses too. For example, in Ancient Philosophy, Greek words were occasionally written on the board and the instructor would ask for them to be translated; and I was able to provide the right English translation. I am very grateful for my instructors for having taught me the Classical languages -- I feel that I not only enhanced my English vocabulary but I also took in a bit of culture as well -- now I can say "Gnothi seauton" and know exactly where it comes from and what it means. And "Knowing Thyself" is important, especially knowing not to be above the gods.
Sarah sent this update on 7 April 2010, and many congratulations to her!:
I'll be graduating with my Master's of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis on Secondary Education in May 2010 from Tarleton State University, which is a part of the Texas A&M system. I'm been looking for history instructor positions across the country and abroad. I still plan on receiving my doctorate in either history or Classics.
CANES Major Adam Karnik (Classical Languages '10) held a Goldwater Scholarship and a Presidential Mentoring Scholarship, and is currently selecting a graduate school at which to pursue the PhD in Mathematics.
CANES Major Brian Martens (Classical Languages CBA '10) was selected as a Rhodes Scholar finalist in 2010, and was admitted, among other schools, to the Goerge Washington University Law School. He has chosen, however, to pursue the MPhil in Classical Archaeology at Oxford University before attending Law School, with a view to working in some branch of the law respecting antiquities and art. Brian held a Presidential Mentoring Scholarship and a Bisenius Summer Research Scholarship before graduating, and will be working in the extremely prestigious dig (under the auspices of the ASCSA) at the Athenian Agora for the third summer in 2010.
CANES alumnus Brandon Massin (LAT '03) is currently studying Medicine at Creighton and interning at UNMC. See his entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter.
CANES alumna Anastasia (McCaffrey) Wheeler (GRK '03) has an entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. Anastasia has a son, Hugh Richard, born 10 April 2004, at 7lb, 2oz. See a photo here.
CANES alumna Julie Mund (CNE '05) served as liaison between the Classics Club and Eta Sigma Phi in 2003-2004, and is now chapter Vice President. She was Creighton's deligate to the Eta Sigma Phi convention in New Orleans in spring 2004. See her entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter. Julie has taken an impressive position as a medical research assistant in the 2005-2006 year.
CANES alumnus Taylor Page (LAT '08) is working toward his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Northwestern University.
CANES alumna Jasmine Parhar (CNE '03) is currently studying medicine in India. She writes that she is well and settling in; a sighting in the fall of 2004 proved her to be happy and healthy. See her entry in the Fall 2003 CANES Newsletter.
CANES alumna Cathy Reid (LAT '06) has completed her Master's Degree in Theological Studies at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Her thesis is titled Brave Before All: Heroism and Motherhood in The Dream of the Rood and the Gospel of John. Congratulations Cathy!
CANES alumna Rebecca(Stephens) Falcasantos (GRK CBA '02) gave birth to Kiara Alexis on Oct. 6, 2004. Kiara measured 20 inches and weighed 7.00 pounds. Rebecca and the beautiful Kiara were seen in the department on a visit during the spring 2004 semester. Congratulations to Rebecca and husband Brian!
Update! (2005): "I graduated from Notre Dame this past May with my Master of Arts in Early Christian Studies. Right now, my family and I are living near Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, where my husband is stationed. Next semester, I'm scheduled to start at Austin Peay State University in nearby Clarksville, TN as an adjunct in the Department of Languages and Literatures."
Now (2010) Rebecca is pursuing the PhD in Religious Studies at Brown University, and recently accompanied Prof. Bucher on a trip to the Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum.
CANES alumna Rachel Waggoner (CNE Co-Major '04) served as treasurer of our chapter of Eta Sigma Phi in 2003-2004. She graduated (2006) with the MA in Theology at Creighton.
