Sally Anne MacEwen, Professor and Chair of Classics at Agnes Scott College, died on March 15, 2012 after a long and astonishingly cheerful and determined fight against cancer. Born in Abington, PA in 1948, Sally earned her B.A. From Mount Holyoke College and her Ph.D. From the University of Pennsylvania. After a two years at the University of Utah, Sally spent thirty years teaching at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, where she inspired generations of women with a love of Classics and especially of Greek tragedy and its resonance in our modern world. Her unwavering commitment to her Quaker beliefs and to the importance of equality and diversity helped to make Agnes Scott more just and supportive of its entire community.

Sally’s publications ranged from Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis to Thelma and Louise, and her teaching was similarly wide-ranging. A signature course was based on her book Superheroes and Greek Tragedy: Comparing Cultural Icons, and at the time of her death she was teaching a new course entitled “Racism (or not) in Antiquity”; these two courses epitomize Sally’s scholarship, teaching, and profound understanding of the relevance of Classics in the modern world. In addition to her service at Agnes Scott, Sally was a long-time member of the Women’s Classical Caucus and served as its newsletter editor form 2004-2010.

From the National Humanities Alliance:

April 24, 2012 – On April 10, the National Endowment for the Humanities launched a new website. After a complete overhaul, the new neh.gov provides a more user-friendly platform for people seeking grants and for the public interested in humanities research, scholarship, and public programs.  A new “EXPLORE” section allows users to access information about more than 200 documentaries, radio programs, and apps produced by broadcasters and others with NEH grants. A prominent new rotator will showcase news of NEH and books, seminars, and other projects growing out of Endowment funding.  Each NEH division and program will have its own series of pages to feature projects, news about grants and opportunities to meet program officers in the field. 

Other features include:

From Informationsdienst Wissenschaft:

Universität Leipzig erhält hochkarätige Humboldt-Professur
Susann Huster

Die Universität Leipzig hat eine mit fünf Millionen Euro ausgestattete Professur der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung erhalten, um den renommierten Altphilologen und Informatiker Prof. Dr. Gregory Ralph Crane von der Tufts University in Medford/Boston, USA, zu berufen.

Crane gilt als führender Pionier der eHumanities, der Entwicklung von Computerprogrammen für die Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften. Er kombiniert in einem innovativen Ansatz Altphilologie und Informatik. So wendet er Methoden der Informatik zur Systematisierung der kulturellen Entwicklung des Menschen an. Seine Reputation als Pionier der Digital Humanities, der digitalen Geisteswissenschaften, verdankt er der Entwicklung der Perseus Digital Library, einer umfangreichen und frei zugänglichen Online-Bibliothek für antike Quellen. Als einer der innovativsten Forscher in seinem Gebiet ist er wie kein Zweiter in den Geisteswissenschaften und der Angewandten Informatik bewandert.

From the San Francisco State University News:

Alexandra Pappas has been selected by the Department of Classics to be the first endowed Raoul Bertrand Chair in Classics. Currently a fellow at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., Pappas will join SF State this fall as an assistant professor.

Pappas will teach courses in Greek and Latin language, Greek art and archaeology and courses on Greek and Roman culture.

"Dr. Pappas is a dynamic teacher who is sure to attract new students to study ancient Greece, Rome and the broader Mediterranean," said classics Chair David Leitao. "Her exciting interdisciplinary research will help keep the classics department at the cutting edge of humanities in the 21st century."