Department of Classics Archives

Aminrazavi quoted in FLS on Jefferson Descendent Speaking at UMW

March 25, 2022 by Guest Author

Professor of Philosophy and Religion Mehdi Aminrazavi was quoted in a Free Lance-Star article entitled, “Jefferson descendent to speak at UMW” that ran in advance of Shannon LaNier’s keynote address on Tuesday to open UMW’s Race and Religion Conference, sponsored by the Khatib Program in Religion and Dialogue. A Houston-area news anchor and social media influencer, LaNier is the sixth great-grandson of the third U.S. president, descended through Sally Hemings, one of the founding father’s enslaved workers.

Mehdi Aminrazavi, director of the Khatib Program and professor of philosophy and religion at UMW, said he is excited to have LaNier speak at the event.

“I like what he had to say,” Aminrazavi said. “(There’s a) perception of our founding fathers and the reality of the (lives) they lived and I thought it would be good for our students to learn different understandings and narratives of Thomas Jefferson.”

Romero Serves on COPLAC Panel on DEI at AAC&U Annual Meeting

February 16, 2022 by Guest Author

Professor of Classics Joe Romero joined COPLAC Panel on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive Excellence at the Annual Meeting of AAC&U on January 20, 2022.

Transforming Historical Biases – Creating Safe and Brave Spaces: Joseph Romero (Professor of Classics and Chair, CPRD) joined colleagues from several COPLAC institutions in person to present a set of tools for advancing the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion at this year’s annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The panel was entitled, “Collaborative and Community-led Approach to Sustaining Racial Equity within Public Liberal Arts Institutions” and presented to higher education leaders from across the country. Plans are in the works to present it again in an entirely digital format to for the COPLAC community.

Mary Washington Classics Program Shines as No. 1 Among Student Rankings

January 25, 2021 by Guest Author

UMW senior Ruth Wilmot poses with the Primaporta Augustus statue, honoring the first emperor of the Roman Empire, during a study abroad trip to Rome prior to the pandemic. Mary Washington’s classics program just earned the top spot on a student-curated list in College Magazine.

University of Mary Washington sophomore Brooke Prevedel considered dozens of schools in her quest to study ancient Greece and Rome in college. What she learned about the classics program at UMW catapulted it to the top of her list and convinced her to move 2,000 miles across the country from Colorado.

“Now that I’m attending UMW and have gotten to meet my professors and peers, I can honestly say that I would make the same choice again and again,” Prevedel said.

Other students agree. Mary Washington has earned the top spot on a student ranking of classics programs, besting schools like University of Chicago, New York University and Yale on a recent list by College Magazine. The online publication, written by students for students, features rankings of U.S. colleges, academic advice, student health information and career tips.

In an article this month titled “I Came, I Saw, I Crushed This Major: Top 10 Best Classics Schools,” reporter Danielle Falco, a St. John’s University student, sang the praises of UMW’s classics major and the Department of Classics, Philosophy and Religious Studies (CPR). “Among the University of Mary Washington’s 60-plus major options, its classical program shines like the Golden Fleece,” Falco wrote. Read more.

Barry Publishes Article in Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies

June 29, 2020 by jlaiacon

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Jennifer Barry

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Jennifer Barry recently published a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Christian Orthodoxy. The article, “We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Alexandrian legacy within orthodox memory,” is free and available to the public.

An abstract of the article includes the following:

If we think about the past and the way Christians constructed the signs and symbols of persecution, invariably something—or, someone—is on fire. In this article, I argue that the destruction of two significant Alexandrian holy sites, the Great Alexandrian Church and the Serapeum, tells us a great deal about how fifth-century ecclesiastical historians crafted episcopal legitimacy by using familiar tropes that signaled to their readers that a Christian persecution was underway. I conclude that how a bishop played with fire made all the difference in the story of Christian orthodoxy.

Barry Invited to Give Book Talk at Temple University

November 19, 2019 by jlaiacon

Jennifer Barry, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, was invited to give a book talk at Temple University on November 14, 2019. Barry presented to the audience material from her recent publication with the University of California Press, Bishops in Flight: Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity. Barry’s monograph was published in April, 2019 and is published in both print form and is also available via open access through the Luminos Series.

Barry Invited to Workshop at Northwestern University

October 22, 2019 by jlaiacon

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Jennifer Barry

Jennifer Barry, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, was invited to participate in a workshop at the Northwestern University on October 18-19, 2019. The Pro Publica: A Public Classics Workshop met to discuss and develop public facing pieces that seek to make scholarly topics accessible to a wider audience. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Classics department at Northwestern and the Society of Classical Studies.

Barry workshopped a piece on the overlap of gender violence and political propaganda titled, “Lying Women.” This piece ties into Barry’s current recent research on gender violence and late antiquity.