rogueclassicism

~ Noggin Fodder

Slow day, so I'm idly surfing for a while ... just came across an Apostolic Constitution of John XXIII On Promoting the Study of Latin ... an excerpt:

Of its very nature Latin is most suitable for promoting every form of culture among peoples. It gives rise to no jealousies. It does not favour any one nation, but presents itself with equal impartiality to all, and is equally acceptable to all. Nor must we overlook the characteristic nobility of Latin's formal structure. Its 'concise, varied, and harmonious style, full of majesty and dignity', makes for singular clarity and impressiveness of expression.

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:55:30 AM::
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~ Beneath the Ruins

Not sure how I came across this blog, but Beneath the Ruins is the brainchild of yet another Classics major and is a nice little collection of quotes and comments which should be of interest to readers of rc ...

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:30:00 AM::
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~ Drama King Antiochus

MH over at Classics in Contemporary Culture has an excellent followup/complementary piece to our mention yesterday of a production of Ben Jonson's Sejanus. It's all about another play called Believe What You Will by a certain Philip Massinger ... dating from 1631, it focuses on Antiochus III and Carthage and has some interesting modern parallels. Definitely worth a look.

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:20:14 AM::
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~ Pliny on BBC 3

So last week I was trying to find something which, as several folks pointed out, wasn't on until this week. On BBC Radio 3 today, they'll be reading 20 minutes' worth of Pliny's Natural History -- in Latin! As I write this it's a bit early for the program (Between the Ears @ 22.40), but they have put up a page with the extracts they'll be reading (along with a translation). If you miss the broadcast, it will be available for a week via the Listen Again feature, most easily accessed at the Between the Ears home page.

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:12:19 AM::
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~ Michael Halleran

From the Hurricane:

The University of Miami announced Monday that the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will be Michael R. Halleran, currently the divisional dean of Arts and Humanities and a professor of classics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

"In addition to the social sciences and sciences, Dr. Halleran understands the complex needs of the rest of our institution," UM Provost and Executive Vice President Luis Glaser said.

Halleran received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1981. A specialist in Greek literature and Greek intellectual history, he has been teaching the classics at the University of Washington since 1983. In 1997, Halleran was appointed to the position of divisional dean of Arts and Humanities, oversaw the re-creation of the Simpson Center for the Humanities, created a new Center for Digital Arts and launched a revision of foundation courses at the college.

"Out of such an exceptionally strong pool of candidates, he emerged as both a superb scholar and someone who gets glowing reviews as an administrator," UM Librarian William Walker, who chaired the search committee, said.

Selected by a committee made up of both faculty members and College of Arts and Sciences students, Halleran said that he was attracted to UM because it is setting an example for other universities in the future.

"When I think about what universities will look like in 10 to 12 years I think a lot of them will look like UM because of its cultural diversity of students," Halleran said. "I think it's a wonderful university in one of America's greatest cities."

Halleran will be replacing Dean James Wyche, who announced his resignation from the position in May.

His main focus upon arriving in Miami will be to learn more about the University and how he can contribute to the College of Arts and Sciences.

"I don't come in with a ten-point plan," he said. "What I need to do is a lot of listening-to chairs, faculty, students and staff. Every campus has its own culture, so I need to learn more. That's one of the things I find exciting. I think I'll learn a lot." [more]

Considering the relative size of Classics departments in general, is it my imagination or do Classicists form a disproportionately large number of the 'deans' at various universities?

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 5:04:49 AM::
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~ AWOTV: On TV Today

... nothing of interest

::Saturday, March 26, 2005 4:51:45 AM::
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