Each year, Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honors society in the United States, sponsors visiting lecturers all over the nation. Through this series, PBK aims to participate in "national dialogue about the important issues of our time."
Classics Professor Cynthia White, Ph.D., applied to have James O'Donnell, a renowned classicist and provost of Georgetown University, come to Tucson. She worked closely with Jeffrey Thibert and Judith Jenkins, of the UA Honors College and the Phi Beta Kappa UA chapter respectively, to plan Dr. O'Donnell's visit. Dean Maccorquodale of the Honors College, who is a member of the campus Phi Beta Kappa organization, was also instrumental in planning this event.
The lecture, "Death of the Gods: What We Can Learn from Paganism," will take place on Wednesday, February 15 at 5 p.m. in the Kiva Room on the 2nd floor of the Memorial Union, and it is free and open to the public.
This lecture is just one of many events the Department of Classics presents or co-presents that engage the public. The department also presents AIA lectures, which occur once a month. The Archeological Institute of America is in its 116th year of its Lecture Program. Lectures feature top scholars from North American and abroad, are free to the public, and cover topics from how ancient Egyptians reshaped their landscape to new discoveries about Stonehenge.
The Department of Classics boasts a nationally ranked M.A. Program to train students for Ph.D. work and for high school and community college teaching, rich study abroad opportunities in Orvieto, a medieval hill town in Italy popularly known as the the "gem" of Umbria, and multiple outreach programs in local elementary, middle, and high schools. Latin Day, coming up on February 24, is an annual program that engages students from high schools in Phoenix and Tucson in a day on the University of Arizona campus attending classes and lectures. On April 20, members of the UA Classics community will spend a day at St. Augustine High School working on a kiln project designed to acquaint students with ancient technology.
Department of Classics outreach continues beyond the academic year. Classics Camp for middle and high school students takes place each summer and provides a week of wonderful lectures and activities, including chariot races and a Roman banquet. Last summer, students taking part in “The Ancient World of Gladiators, Gods, Greeks, & Romans,” learned how masks were used to dramatically illustrate different characters from Greek mythology by building their own masks. And this was just one of the many hands-on activities facilitated by the camp, which is part of Arizona Youth University (AYU).
"The ancient Mediterranean, especially Greece and Rome, have influenced our institutions, aesthetics, and perspectives in so many ways that anyone attending our events, especially Dr. O'Donnell's lecture, will be reminded of the reception of antiquity all around us," Dr. White says.
Many Department of Classics courses deal with ancient religions and mythology, such as Classics 305 "Greek and Roman Religion" and Classics 306 "Emergence of Christianity in the Greco-Roman World." In his lecture, Dr. O'Donnell will discuss paganism, which is a pervading influence at the core of these ancient religions. And the larger topics he will address in "Death of the Gods: What We Can Learn from Paganism," Dr. White reminds us, "are profoundly important in all reaches of our community [...] for example, the central place of religion and the humanities in any society."
Dr. James O’Donnell is a classicist who specializes in the history and culture of the Roman world, from 100 BCE to 600 CE, but he has written and spoken widely as well on the cultural consequences of information technologies, both ancient and modern. His many book publications include a magisterial three volume edition, Augustine, Confessions: Text and Commentary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), and he is now completing a volume entitled Pagans. If details present in his biography are a clue, Dr. O'Donnell brings a sense of humor to his research that is entirely current: "Professor O’Donnell travels widely and pursues multifarious interests in those travels, including fine dark chocolates, Parisian macaroons, American cupcakes, and the photogenicity of Beanie Babies in exotic locations."
Please visit the Department of Classics website for news of Classics graduate and undergraduate programs, events, lectures, courses, and travel opportunities.
Key Details
"Death of the Gods: What We Can Learn from Paganism": An Evening with Dr. James J. O'Donnell
Wednesday, February 15 at 5 p.m.
Student Union Memorial Center: Kiva Rm, Level 2
Free and Open to the Public
For More Information:
contact Jeff Thibert at thibert@email.arizona.edu or 520-626-5289
Are the gods really dead? Does their passing amount to a great leap forward for humankind? Join the discussion about this ancient story and what it has to tell us about ourselelves and the world we live in.
This event is presented by the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program with support from the Department of Classics and the UA Honors College.
Links
University of Arizona Department of Classics