Welcome to the Department of Classical Studies
Note from the chair
Here you will find information about who we are and also something about the vitality of Classical Studies at the University of Missouri. Classical Studies is one of the founding departments of the University with a long history of education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Today's curriculum and resources reflect both that deep tradition and the exciting new directions that keep the study of ancient Greece and Rome central to contemporary debates about literature, language, and culture.
Our undergraduate program offers majors in Greek and Latin and also provides a concentration in Classical Humanities for students who prefer to explore the ancient Mediterranean world through literature in translation, history, and archaeology. Our graduate program is designed to prepare students for the rigors of college and university teaching and research positions. You will find the details below but will note throughout our strong commitment to a conception of Classical Studies that is expansive in its aims and methods while also dedicated to serious engagement with evidence and problems.
The Department of Classical Studies is a warm and intellectually stimulating home for students. We believe learning is a community enterprise. We sponsor lectures, workshops, and symposia, and frequently collaborate with other departments on campus. We encourage questions and respect differences. Our faculty present papers internationally and publish widely. Yet our office doors are usually wide open to students, and three members of the department have been awarded the University's most distinguished teaching award. Certainly visit us here online, but also stop by Strickland Hall to meet us in person.
Dennis Trout, Chair
News
December 2011: Deanna Wesolowski received her PhD. She has been teaching this past fall term at the University of Richmond will be returning to teach at her Alma Mater, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the spring.
December 2011: John Foley's most recent book, Oral Tradition and the Internet: Pathways of the Mind, examines the homology between humankind's oldest and most recent communicative technologies, OT and IT. The idea of "pathways," John tells us, emerges from Homer's characterization of the oral epic poet as knowing how to manage the oimas that the Muse has taught him (Od. 8.489-91), and treats the dual-media concerns of ownership, copyright, and distributed authorship. The book comes in company with a wiki-website presenting a broader version of the book material, itself non-traditionally organized, in a more thoroughgoing interactive fashion.