Earlier this September, the Classics Department welcomed back Gustie classics majors, old and new, at the annual Departmental Classics Reception.  Much barbecue, tzatziki, and merriment were had by all!

Missing Matt? Go visit his blog:

http://pancierasinsicily.blogspot.com/

Sean Easton’s interests range widely; he has presented and published on Greek and Roman authors, from the most prominent (such as Ovid and Virgil) to the more esoteric (such as Lucan and Dio Chrysostom); among his interests is Greco-Roman magic, so we may soon be learning about arcana more intriguing even than Harry Potter’s expelliarmus and furnunculus spells.

Yurie Hong is currently working with a wide variety of Greek medical, poetic and historiographical texts, looking at images of pregnancy and childbirth and at ways in which these are often appropriated by male authors. Her interests in gender studies and ancient medicine will expand the range of departmental specialities. Like her husband Sean, Yurie has most recently been teaching at Arizona State University.

For many, Mary McHugh needs no introduction, having already established a devout thiasos of Gustavus groupies when she taught here in 2004-05. Her interests range from Roman history and art history to gender studies and Greek philosophy. She has studied at the American Academy in Rome and presented and published on topics from Julio-Claudian women to Roman cuisine and Latin pedagogy. Her J-term course (A Taste of Roman Food) is still frequently cited in conversation. Mary (shown here midstream) will be joining us from Hamilton College.

Among the other illuminati presenting at the conference were Katie Bukowski (’04, now a graduate student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Stewart Flory (classics emeritus), Sean Easton, Yurie Hong Easton and Mary McHugh, our three new tenure-track professors who will be joining us in the fall.