Conventiculum Dickinsoniense 2023

CONVENTICULUM DICKINSONIENSE

July 16-21, 2023

The Conventiculum Dickinsoniense is an immersion seminar designed for those who want to acquire some ability at ex-tempore expression in Latin. A wide range of people can benefit from the seminar: professors in universities, teachers in secondary schools, graduate students, undergraduates, and other lovers of Latin, provided that anyone who considers applying has a solid understanding of the grammatical essentials of the Latin language. A minimum requirement for participation is knowledge of Latin grammar and the ability to read a Latin text of average complexity – even if this reading ability depends on frequent use of a dictionary.  But no previous experience in speaking Latin is necessary. Sessions will be aimed at helping participants to increase their ability to use Latin effectively in spoken discourse and to understand others speaking in Latin. After the first evening reception (in which any language may be spoken), Latin will be the language used throughout the seminar. Participants will be involved in intensive activity each day from morning until early evening (with breaks for lunch and mid-afternoon pauses). They will experience Latin conversations on topics ranging from themes in literature and art all the way to the routines and activities of daily life, and will enjoy the benefits of reading and discussing texts in the target language. Activities will involve both written and spoken discourse, both of which engage the active faculties of expression, and each of which is complementary to the other. The seminar will not merely illustrate how active Latin can be a useful tool for teachers, it will show how developing an active facility in Latin can directly and personally benefit any cultivator of Latin who wishes to acquire a more instinctive command of the language and a more intimate relationship with Latin writings.

Moderators:

Prof. Milena Minkova, University of Kentucky

Prof. Terence Tunberg, University of Kentucky

We can accept a maximum number of 35 participants. Deadline for applications is June 1, 2023. The participation fee for each participant will $400. The fee includes lodging in a single room in campus housing (and please note that lodging will be in a student residence near the site of the sessions), two meals (breakfast and lunch) per day, as well as the opening dinner, and a cookout at the Dickinson farm. Included in this price is also the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as internet access. The $400 fee does not include the cost of dinners (except for the opening dinner), and does not include the cost of travel to and from the seminar. Dinners can easily be had at restaurants within walking distance from campus.  Please keep in mind that the participation fee of $400, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable.  This is an administrative necessity.

Registered participants should plan to arrive in Carlisle, PA on July 16, in time to attend the first event of the seminar. This first event is an opening dinner and welcoming reception for all participants, which will begin at about 6:00 p.m., in which all languages are acceptable. The actual workshop sessions (in which Latin will the exclusive language) will begin early the next morning on July 17.

For more information and application instructions write to: Professor Terence Tunberg:

terence.tunberg@gmail.com

 

Sino-Indo-Hellenica 2022 Program

Passing on from Dr. Sven Günter (via WeChat) the full schedule for this virtual conference, May 24-25, 2022,  on comparative history of China, India, and Greece. I don’t see any easily accessible website. Looks like an amazing lineup!

Please see below the program for our conference Sino-Indo-Hellenica 2022 (Sino-Indo-Hellenica 2022 – Södertörns högskola):

Sino-Indo-Hellenica 2022: Program  

NB! The schedule is in UK time (London & UK time).      

24th of May    

9.30-9.45: Otto Linderborg & Charlotta Weigelt: Opening words    

10.00-10.45 Andrea Balbo & Chiara Tommasi: SERICA: Searching for a “New Silk Road”  

11.00-11.45 Jordan Christopher: Establishing the Arteries of Empire: A Comparison of the Development of Roadbuilding Traditions in Ancient Rome and Early China  

13.00-13.45 Sven Günther: Patterns or Topoi? Modes of Socio-Economic Behavior of the Seres as Perceived by Greek and Latin Sources in Augustan Times  

14.00-14.45 Zhaoyu Wang: Sri Lanka and the Maritime Silk Road from the Second Century BC to the Ninth Century AD  

15.00.15.45 Rongzhen Xue: The Concept of Error in Ancient Greek and Chinese Literature: A Comparative Study on Involuntary and Voluntary Error  

16.00-16.45: Sergio Basso: Chinese Whispers on Byzantium  

25th of May  

10.00-10.45 Otto Linderborg: The Origins of Kingship in Ancient Greek and Indian Literary Traditions  

11.00-11.45 Lorenzo Lanti: Between Roman and Ancient Indian Legal Thinking: Elements of Comparative Law on Substantive and Procedural Situations  

13.00-13.45 Patrick Huang: Musica Universalis Across Eurasia: A Comparison between Ancient Graeco-Roman and Early Chinese Tradition  

14.00-14.45 Antonios Pontoropoulos & Eleftherios Ntotsikas: Discourses of Peace: The Case of Classical Greek Political Rhetoric and Chinese Political Thought During the Warring States Period  

15.00-15.45 Marco Andreacchio: Platonism Across Borders: From the Global Point of View to the Inner Life of Things  

16.00-16.45 Priscilla Gontijo Leite: Comparing Rhetoric in Antiquity: What the Greek and Indian Case in Perspective Can Teach Us  

We would like to express our gratitude to the foundation Olle Engkvist Byggmästare for the financial support that has enabled the organization of this conference.

Contact: otto.linderborg@miun.se  

 

Dickinson Ancient Greek Workshop 2021: Against Neaira

Want to improve your reading fluency in Ancient Greek and learn more about ancient Greek culture? Please join us for the Dickinson Ancient Greek Workshop.

What: Dickinson Ancient Greek Workshop

When: August 9-13, 2021

Where: Zoom link to be provided to registered participants

Text: Ps-Demosthenes, Against Neaira

Fragment of a terracotta lebes gamikos

Fragment of a terracotta lebes gamikos, ca. 440 BC. Metropolitan Museum, New York.

Delivered sometime in the late 340s BCE, Against Neaira traces Neaira’s life from her youth as a sex worker and argues that her children with an Athenian citizen man are illegitimate. The speech is highly revealing of Athenian society, citizenship, religion, women, and law. Its Greek is straightforward and enjoyable to read, making it an ideal text to improve reading fluency. The text we will use (edited by Deborah Kamen) has notes and complete running vocabulary lists, so if you have mastered the DCC core Ancient Greek vocabulary of 500 words a dictionary should not be necessary.

Meetings: to accommodate participants from multiple time zones, the workshop will meet daily from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m, Eastern Daylight Time US (UTC -4:00), with the rest of the day reserved for study.

Intended audience: Readers at all levels of experience are welcome, but knowledge of the basics of Ancient Greek grammar and familiarity with core vocabulary are expected. Letters of completion for purposes of professional development for teachers will be available, for 56 hours (including preparation time).

Moderator: Prof. Scott Farrington, Dickinson College. Scott is an ancient historian who earned his PhD at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His publications have focused primarily on the Histories of Polybius and the nature and development of literary prose in antiquity. His most recent article (Classical Philology, 2021) reinterprets the ancient proverb “Nothing to do with Dionysus.” He has offered classes in the Greek and Latin languages, the history of the ancient world and its reception, and Athenian law.

Registration and fees: to register, please email Mrs. Terri Blumenthal, Classical Studies Academic Department Coordinator (blumentt@dickinson.edu). A fee of $200 is due by July 23, 2021 in the form of a check made out to Dickinson College, mailed to Terri Blumenthal, Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, Carlisle PA 17013. 

 For more information please contact Scott Farrington (farrings@dickinson.edu)

 

2021 Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop: Ovid’s Little Aeneid (Metamorphoses 13.623–14.582)

Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop: Ovid’s Little Aeneid (Metamorphoses 13.623–14.582)

July 12-16, 2021

woman at beach at sunset

Meghan Newell Reedy

The Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop will be held online this year. While this situation is far from ideal, we hope it will allow those who could not normally travel to Carlisle to participate. We are delighted to have Meghan Newell Reedy with us as guest instructor. Meghan grew up in South Africa and the Pacific Northwest, and has lived in Boston, Texas, England, and, currently Maine. A graduate of Whitman College, she holds an M.A. from the University of Durham and a D.Phil. from Oxford University. She is a former Dickinson faculty member and is currently Program Coordinator with the Maine Humanities Council. Her scholarly work focuses on Propertius. Among other things she thinks a lot about how textiles and clothing get made and worn and usually has a knitting / sewing / weaving project on the go. Longtime attendees will remember Meghan from Dickinson summer workshops on Tacitus’ Germania (2011), Propertius (2012) and Ovid’s Fasti (2013).

Meetings

  • Online meetings will take place daily 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Eastern time US, with a break in the middle. Group translation will be carried on in two sections, one for the more confident (affectionately known as “the sharks”), one for the less confident (even more affectionately known as “the dolphins”) led on alternating days by Meghan Reedy and Chris Francese (Dickinson College).

Reading Schedule (Approximate)

Monday, July 12: Metamorphoses 13.623–808

Tuesday, July 13: Metamorphoses 13.809–968, 14.1–24

Wednesday, July 14: Metamorphoses 14.25–222

Thursday, July 15: Metamorphoses 14.223–444

Friday, July 16: Metamorphoses 14.445–582

Required Books

Neil Hopkinson, Ovid, Metamorphoses Book XIII (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). 

K. Sara Myers, Ovid, Metamorphoses Book XIV (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010). 

Registration Fee

$200, due by check on or before July 1, 2021. Make checks payable to Dickinson College and mail them to

Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College

c/o Terri Blumenthal

Carlisle, PA 17013

2020 Ovid Heroides Online Workshop Announcement

Dickinson Latin Workshop: Ovid’s Heroides

July 16–20, 2020

The Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop will move online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. While this situation is far from ideal, we hope it will allow those who could not normally travel to Carlisle to participate. We are privileged to have Prof. Chun Liu of Peking University with us this year as guest instructor. Prof. Liu earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English literature from Peking University, and received a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of California Riverside in 2010. She has written widely on Ovid and Greek epic and tragedy and is currently completing the first ever complete translation of Ovid’s Heroides into Chinese.

photo of Chun Liu outside at some kind of lake

Meetings

  • Online meetings will take place daily 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Eastern time US, with a break in the middle. Group translation will be carried on in two sections, one for the more confident (affectionately known as “the sharks”), one for the less confident (even more affectionately known as “the dolphins”) led on alternating days by Prof. Liu and Prof. Chris Francese (Dickinson College).
  • Optional daily discussion sections will happen 2:00–3:00 p.m. Eastern time, led by Chris Francese.

Resources provided

  • Latin text
  • Running vocabulary lists of all words not in the DCC Core Latin Vocabulary
  • Commentaries with notes on the Latin text
  • English translations
  • Certificate of completion for professional development hours

Reading Schedule

Thursday, July 16: Heroides 1 (Penelope Ulixi, 116 lines) and 2 (Phyllis Demophoonti, 148 lines)

Friday, July 17: Heroides 3 (Briseis Achilli, 154 lines) and 4 (Phaedra Hippolyto, 1–100)

Saturday, July 18: Heroides 4 (Phaedra Hippolyto, 101–176) and 7 (Dido Aeneae 196 lines)

Sunday, July 19: Heroides 10 (Ariadne Theseo, 150 lines) and 12 (Medea Iasoni 1–100)

Monday, July 20 Heroides 12 (Medea Iasoni 101-212)

Registration and Fee

To register, please email Mrs. Terri Blumenthal, blumentt@dickinson.edu. The fee of $200 is due by check on or before July 1, 2020. Make checks payable to Dickinson College and mail them to Department of Classical Studies, Dickinson College, c/o Terri Blumenthal, Carlisle, PA 17013

We hope you can join us!

Announcement for the Reading Group on Epictetus’ Encheiridion

The next session of the online reading group for Epictetus will be Friday, May 8th, 10:30 a.m. CST. We are starting at Ch. 5 The text is available at:

 http://dcc.dickinson.edu/epictetus-encheiridion/intro/preface

Join us at:

https://lsu.zoom.us/j/620688551?pwd=TTI0Z21ZdUtPNUtZSTU0STBmRWh2dz09

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The next session of the online reading group for Epictetus will be Friday, May 1st, 10:30 a.m. CST. We are starting at Ch. 2.2 The text is available at:
 
 
Join us at:

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In these times when everything seems to be out of our control, we could all do with a good dose of Stoicism.  Join me and a small reading group at LSU as we read through Epictetus’ Encheiridion and we learn answers to important questions such as: “What is and what is not in our control?” “How do we deal with what is not in our control?” and much more.  The fun begins Friday, April 24th, at 10:30 a.m. CST. 

head shot of Albert Watanabe

Albert Watanabe

The text with vocabulary and notes may be found at: http://dcc.dickinson.edu/epictetus-encheiridion/intro/preface  For this first Friday, we will be looking at chapters 1-4.  If you need a refresher on background about Epictetus, click on the links in the left margin of the page.  Thereafter, we will meet on Fridays until we finish the work.  You can join us by clicking on the Zoom link:

https://lsu.zoom.us/j/620688551?pwd=TTI0Z21ZdUtPNUtZSTU0STBmRWh2dz09

If you have any questions, you can email me at awatan@lsu.edu.

Albert Watanabe

Dickinson Summer Latin Workshop 2019: Martial, Epigrams

Dickinson Latin Workshop: Martial, Epigrams

July 12–18, 2019

The Dickinson Workshops are mainly intended for teachers of Latin, to refresh the mind through study of an extended text, and to share experiences and ideas. Sometimes those who are not currently engaged in teaching have participated as well, including students, retired teachers, and those working towards teacher certification.

Panini's Ancient Rome Italian Art, Metropolitan Museum. Source: Flickr user Mike Steele

Panini’s Ancient Rome
Italian Art, Metropolitan Museum. Source: Flickr user Mike Steele

The text for 2019 will be selections from Martial’s Epigrams. M. Valerius Martialis was born around AD 40 in Bilbilis, Spain. He came to Rome in his twenties and gained fame as a writer of epigrams, which are short poems on various topics with some kind of punch-line, ironic observation, or mocking insult at the end.  His collections of epigrams took shape gradually in the years 86 to around 102, and contain a varied mix of observations on daily life, the battle of the sexes, and the always fraught relationship between the rich and the not rich, between patrons and clients. In tone Martial’s epigrams range widely, from gentle humor to hair-raising obscenity, from rapturous praise to cruel mockery. He can also wax philosophical, or sentimentally commemorate the death of a six-year-old slave. 

Moderators:

Bret Mulligan, Associate Professor of Classics, Haverford College

Christopher Francese, Asbury J. Clarke Professor of Classical Studies, Dickinson College

The participation fee for each participant will $400. The fee covers lodging, breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Dickinson cafeteria, the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as wireless and wired internet access while on campus. The fee does not cover the costs of books or travel, or of dinners, which are typically eaten in the various restaurants in Carlisle. Please keep in mind that the participation fee, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable. This is an administrative necessity.

Lodging: accommodations will be in a student residence hall near the site of the sessions. The building features suite-style configurations of two double rooms sharing a private bathroom, or one double and one single room sharing a private bathroom.

The first event will be an introductory dinner at 6:00 p.m., July 12. The final session ends at 5:00 p.m. on July 18, with dinner to follow. Sessions will meet from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, with the mornings left free for preparation.

Application deadline: May 1, 2019.

Fee deadline: June 1, 2019.

TO APPLY: please contact Mrs. Terri Blumenthal, blumentt@dickinson.edu by the application deadline. The fee is due in a check made out to Dickinson College, by the fee deadline.

For more information please contact Prof. Chris Francese (francese@dickinson.edu)

Conventiculum Dickinsoniense 2018

CONVENTICULUM DICKINSONIENSE

July 5-11, 2018

The Conventiculum Dickinsoniense is an immersion seminar designed for those who want to acquire some ability at ex-tempore expression in Latin. A wide range of people can benefit from the seminar: professors in universities, teachers in secondary schools, graduate students, undergraduates, and other lovers of Latin, provided that anyone who considers applying has a solid understanding of the grammatical essentials of the Latin language. A minimum requirement for participation is knowledge of Latin grammar and the ability to read a Latin text of average complexity – even if this reading ability depends on frequent use of a dictionary.  But no previous experience in speaking Latin is necessary. Sessions will be aimed at helping participants to increase their ability to use Latin effectively in spoken discourse and to understand others speaking in Latin. After the first evening reception (in which any language may be spoken), Latin will be the language used throughout the seminar.

head shot of Terence Tunberg

Terence Tunberg

Participants will be involved in intensive activity each day from morning until early evening (with breaks for lunch and mid-afternoon pauses). They will experience Latin conversations on topics ranging from themes in literature and art all the way to the routines and activities of daily life, and will enjoy the benefits of reading and discussing texts in the target language. Activities will involve both written and spoken discourse, both of which engage the active faculties of expression, and each of which is complementary to the other. The seminar will not merely illustrate how active Latin can be a useful tool for teachers, it will show how developing an active facility in Latin can directly and personally benefit any cultivator of Latin who wishes to acquire a more instinctive command of the language and a more intimate relationship with Latin writings.

Head shot of Milena Minkova

Milena Minkova

Moderators:

Prof. Milena Minkova, University of Kentucky

Prof. Terence Tunberg, University of Kentucky

We can accept a maximum number of 40 participants. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2018. The participation fee for each participant will $400. The fee includes lodging in a single room in campus housing (and please note that lodging will be in a student residence near the site of the sessions), two meals (breakfast and lunch) per day, as well as the opening dinner, and a cookout at the Dickinson farm. Included in this price is also the facilities fee, which allows access to the gym, fitness center, and the library, as well as internet access. The $400 fee does not include the cost of dinners (except for the opening dinner and the cookout at the Dickinson farm), and does not include the cost of travel to and from the seminar. Dinners can easily be had at restaurants within walking distance from campus.  Please keep in mind that the participation fee of $400, once it has been received by the seminar’s organizers, is not refundable. This is an administrative necessity.

camp fire at the farm, Conventiculum farm dinner

camp fire at the Dickinson farm, Conventiculum Dickinsoniense

Registered participants should plan to arrive in Carlisle, PA on July 5, in time to attend the first event of the seminar. This first event is an opening dinner and welcoming reception for all participants, which will begin at about 6:00 p.m., in which all languages are acceptable. The actual workshop sessions (in which Latin will the exclusive language) will begin early the next morning on July 6.

For more information and application instructions write to: Professor Terence Tunberg:

terence.tunberg@gmail.com

Workshop: Commenting on Latin Poetic Texts

I am both pleased and daunted to be leading a workshop on writing commentaries on Latin poetic texts, a full-day affair to be held on June 30, 2016 at the Guanqi Center at Shanghai Normal University. Here is an abstract:

Ut tibi sit legisse voluptas: Commenting on Latin Poetic Texts

This workshop will consider the art of commenting on Latin poetic texts, first as it has been done in recent years for English-speaking audiences, and then, in open discussion, considering how it might be done in the future for Chinese-speaking audiences. While scholars sometimes think of commenting on a text as an objective process of collecting the facts necessary for full understanding, in practice, the question of audience is paramount. Commentators mediate a text for an imaged reader, and must have a sympathetic awareness of what that reader needs, desires, and can process or understand. In addition to supplying felt needs, however, the commentator can actively lead and model humanistic practices: the precise appreciation of poetic language, close reading, cultural literacy, and skill in translation. The workshop will analyze some good examples of this kind commentary in English on Ovid, then invite a forward-looking brain-storming session on how best to enhance the experience of reading Ovid for Chinese readers of Latin literature. Topics will include the art of the interpretive paraphrase, gloss, and summary; some reliable resources for finding information about geography, mythology, grammar, Roman customs, and rhetorical and literary devices; and techniques of commenting on style and tone.

(The Latin tag in the title comes from the epigram to Ovid’s Amores.) The workshop is part of the festivities for the second annual Shanghai Normal University Guangqi International Center for Scholars Classics Lecture and Seminar Series, organized by the wonderful team of Jinyu Liu 刘津瑜 and Heng Chen 陈恒

GuangqiClassicsSeriesII_2016

Prof. Liu is the Principal Investigator of “Translating the Complete Corpus of Ovid’s Poetry into Chinese with Commentaries,” a multi-year project sponsored by a Chinese National Social Science Foundation Major Grant (2015-2020). She is collaborating with more than a dozen scholars from four countries A full conference with a very impressive roster of speakers will be held in Shanghai in May 31-June 2, 2017.

I am not directly involved with this project, but it served as a useful handle to think about a commentary-writing workshop in Shanghai, helping achieve a more concrete focus for what is a rather terrifying topic. My own activity as an editor on DCC has given me lots of particular ideas and preferences, but the last thing I would want to do is foist those on a Chinese audience. The really exciting thing here is the opportunity to reinvent the genre in a different context, taking the best aspects from the traditions of European commentary and liberating new energies. My goal is to show a few examples of what I think are particularly good recent instances in English, and let the discussion go where it will. Looking forward to a stimulating discussion!

–Chris Francese