Classics and World Religions

Just in time for the opening of the Games, the Biblical Archaeology Society (publishers of Biblical Archaeology Review) has published and made available for FREE downloading a small book entitled The Olympic Games: How They All Began. The contents include:

• Introduction, by Sarah Yeomans
• The Sporting Life: Five Books on Ancient Athletics, by Jenifer Neils
• Ancient Combat Sports, by Michael B. Poliakoff
• When the Games Began: Sport, Religion and Politics Converged in Ancient Olympia, by David Gilman Romano
• Walking to Olympia: Who Went, How They Got There and Where They Stayed, by Tony Perrottet
• The Other Games: When Greeks Flocked to Nemea, by Stephen G. Miller
• Traveling the Silk Road, by Sudip Bose

To download the book, you can register at olympics.bib-arch.org/. You will then get an email with the link for getting the PDF file. Let the Games begin!

[Please note the change of the deadline date below from the previously announced June 1 to June 15.]

Call for papers for presentation at the eighty-eighth anniversary meeting of the Southern Section of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, November 13–15, 2008, at the Doubletree Biltmore Hotel, at the invitation of the University of North Carolina-Asheville.

At the meeting of the Southern Section of CAMWS, Eta Sigma Phi will sponsor a panel of scholarly papers presented by undergraduate members of Eta Sigma Phi. Members who will be undergraduates in the fall (or who graduated in the spring of 2008) are invited to submit papers for consideration, and five or six papers will be selected for presentation.

Papers will be judged anonymously based upon their accuracy, originality, and suitability for presentation at a professional meeting. The students whose papers are selected for reading will receive $100 each to help cover expenses of attending the meeting. They will also be given a one-year membership in CAMWS. Before submitting a paper, each student should ensure that he or she will be able to obtain the additional funds—either personally or through the institution, department, or chapter—to attend the meeting.

Requirements:

1. Papers should deal with some aspect of classical civilization or language and demonstrate scholarly research. (Papers written for classes are acceptable.)
2. Papers should be typed, double-spaced, and no longer than 15 minutes in length, or 20 minutes if audio-visuals are part of the presentation. If a presenter plans to use Powerpoint, the full script intended for the presentation must accompany the submission. Electronic submissions are encouraged.
3. The names of the authors should not be on the papers.
4. Each submission should contain a cover sheet with the author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, chapter, and institution. Those who will not be at their institutions in June should also include summer information.

Deadline for receipt of papers: June 15, 2008
Send submissions to:
Prof. Anne H. Groton, Chair of Program Committee, Department of Classics, St. Olaf College,
1520 St. Olaf Ave., Northfield, MN 55057-1098 • E-mail: groton@stolaf.edu

Find out what different religions have to offer to the feeling of hopelessness and depression. Engage our panelists, drawn from a variety of traditions, in critical dialogue as we attempt to confront rising depression, anxiety, dependence on psychological drugs, and an honest questioning of the promises made by religion.

Thursday, May 22 at 7 PM, Baker Center’s Multicultural Center (Room 203).

More information: www.ohiou.edu/dialogues/

Find out what different religions have to say about reproductive rights. Engage our panelists, drawn from a variety of traditions, in critical dialogue as we attempt to discern where spirituality, reproductive health and sexuality intersect.

The particulars: Thursday, May 15 at 7 PM, Baker Center’s Multicultural Center, Room 203.

More information: www.ohiou.edu/dialogues/

Members of the university community and general public are invited to attend two upcoming discussions that are part of the University’s Difficult Dialogues program.

Religion and the Environment
Find out what different religions have to say about he environment and contemporary concerns like lobal warming or sustainability. Engage our panelists, drawn from traditions as diverse as Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, in critical dialogue as we seek to explore our relationship with the Earth.

Thursday, April 24 @ 7 PM, Baker Center’s Multicultural Center , Room 203/5.


Religion, Consumerism and Capitalism
Find out what different religions have to say about consumerism and capitalism. Engage our panelists, drawn from traditions as diverse as Judaism, Hinduism and Islam, in critical dialogue as we ask what, if any, ethical limitations should be placed on consumerism.

Thursday, May 1 @ 7 PM, Baker Center’s Multicultural Center , Room 203/5.

For more information, contact Patrick Heery ph311203@ohio.edu.

Ann Brown, Director of the Office of Nationally Competitive Awards, reports that Patrick Heery has been selected as a Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellow. He was chosen for a named fellowship, the Alfred M. Wolfe Fellowship, awarded to a top ranking nominee majoring in Agriculture, Classical Latin/Ancient Greek, or English. He will receive $5,000.

Patrick is a senior double majoring in Classics (HTC) and English (Arts and Sciences). He has a particular interest in the Late Antiquity period and will write his HTC honors thesis about Origen (”Origen on Love: the Synthesis of Christianity and Platonism”). Patrick has been an exceptional student at Ohio University, but he has also been an extraordinary citizen. He has been an active member and leader in numerous organizations including Student Senate, Amnesty International and Unify. He serves as an Elder at the First Presbyterian Church and as the Assistant and Community Discussion Coordinator for the “Difficult Dialogues” program. He is particularly interested in working to cultivate understanding between and among different groups of people.

In the fall, Patrick will begin his Master’s of Divinity at the Princeton Theological Seminary, where he has received full financial support for the three-year program.

Jim Andrews passes along the information that Martin West will be delivering a paper “Odysseus Rerouted” at Ohio State on Thursday, May 8 at 5 pm in Page Hall, Room 10. Here is a list of Dr. West’s books in Alden Library’s collection.

With the coming of Spring, a new version of the departmental website begins to bloom! We’re using WordPress blog software to run this new site. The central panel of this front page will be the place for news, announcements, any kind of information about the department, its members, and their activities. Links to information about the department, the faculty, the programs of study, etc. can be found in the left sidebar. Additional links and other useful information are in the right sidebar.

We hope this site will be easy to use and informative, and we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please direct them to Tim Smith (smitht@ohio.edu).