Prof. Smita Rahman Selected to Participate in Unique Ancient Greece Seminar

April 23, 2013

Smita A. Rahman, assistant professor of political science at DePauw University, is one of a select group of faculty members nationwide chosen by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the Center for Hellenic Studies to participate in an Ancient Greece in the Modern Classroom seminar on the Iliad.

From a pool of 52 faculty members nominated, CIC and the Center for Hellenic Studies selected 20 faculty members to participate in “The Iliad,” a five-day seminar that will take place July 23–27, 2013, at the Center for Hellenic Studies campus in Washington, D.C.  Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University, and Kenneth Scott Morrell, associate professor of Greek and Roman studies at Rhodes College, will lead the seminar.

Designed for non-specialists, the seminar will address the challenge of keeping alive in undergraduate education classical texts such as the Iliad, Odyssey, Homeric Hymns, poetry of Hesiod, and Histories of Herodotus that a generation ago were read and understood by every college graduate.

This seminar will offer an opportunity to examine the many dimensions of the Iliad in its various historical contexts and explore how the poem (to be read in translation) can be studied in courses that address a variety of literatures and disciplines. Participants will discuss diverse topics ranging from the exchange of luxury goods to the adjudication of disputes arising from athletic contests. Along with providing information and background for understanding Homeric poetry in its ancient contexts, the seminar will devote a substantial portion of each day to reading and analyzing the poem itself.

“Strengthening the teaching of the classics at colleges and universities is of critical importance,” says CIC President Richard Ekman. “The number of institutions that nominated faculty members to participate in the seminar is most impressive, and we believe that Dr. Rahman will play a strong role in the seminar.”

Learn more at the the CIC's website.

Professor Rahman, who received her Ph.D in political science from Johns Hopkins University, is currently working on a book project, "The Politics of Temporality", that examines the role of time and memory in our understanding of contemporary politics. Read more here.

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