The Classics Department at UNC-Chapel Hill is sad to announce that Philip A. Stadter died last week at the age of 84 in North Carolina. In over forty years of teaching at UNC, and in almost twenty years of a very active retirement, Philip wrote influential books and articles about Plutarch, Arrian, Thucydides and other authors, and his friendships and mentoring and collaborations extended around the world. There is an obituary online, with information about a service Tuesday 2/16 at 2:30 Eastern time that will have an online component, at https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsobserver/obituary.aspx?n=philip-stadter&pid=197767979.

A longer statement from the Department about his life and work is forthcoming.

The Interplay of Spectacle in the Roman Arena

Call for Papers: An Undergraduate Research Conference hosted by the Texas Tech Classics Program

The Conference will be held virtually on April 17^th, 2021.

Featuring respondents Dr. David Larmour (Paul Whitfield Horn Professor of Classics at TTU) and Ms. Cait Mongrain (Doctoral candidate at Princeton, TTU MA ‘15, BA ‘12)

New Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives at the Harvard University Department of the Classics

The Department of the Classics at Harvard announces the following opportunities and initiatives designed to advance our community’s goals of diversity and inclusion. Prospective applicants and colleagues with questions about these programs are welcome to contact the Department Administrator Teresa Wu (ttwu@fas.harvard.edu).

1. Summer School Scholarships for Intensive Ancient Greek or Latin at the Harvard Summer School

Plautus in the late 19th c Heartland: a Symposium and Performance

In May 1884, nine female students at Washington University in St. Louis staged a performance of Plautus’ Rudens (“The Rope”) in Latin, also publishing their own English translation to coincide with the event. The Washington University Ladies’ Literary Society was one of the first groups in America to perform an ancient comedy in Latin, and their work made a splash at the university and in St. Louis.

What were the aims of the Ladies’ Literary Society in putting on the Rudens, how did the show look and sound, and in what social and academic context did these young women train for and execute their ambitious plan? At a virtual symposium hosted by the Washington University Classics and Performing Arts departments, and open to the public, four scholars will explore this historic event in lectures situating it in literary, academic, cultural, and St. Louis history. Following the lectures and discussion, a group of St. Louis classicists will give a virtual performance of the Rudens using the Society’s translation.

The February 6th symposium will begin at 9:00am Central Time with four lectures by Timothy Moore of Washington University in St. Louis, Julia Beine of Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Judith Hallett of the University of Maryland, and Amanda Clark of the Missouri History Museum. The performance, directed by PhD student Henry Schott, will begin at 2:00pm Central Time.