In the last ten years the Classics Department has grown in every regard:
faculty, student majors, alumni support, and its visibility both in the
university and beyond. The addition last fall of Thomas Carpenter, the
Charles J. Ping Professor of Humanities and professor of Classics, continues
that trend. The department now has five full-time, and nine instructors in
all, and offers a variety of courses in Greek and Latin languages, history,
and classical archaeology.
Although classical languages have been taught at Ohio University virtually since its founding, the modern renaissance of the Classics Department started when Stephen Hays, associate professor of classics, came to Athens in the early 1980s. James Andrews, chair of the department and associate professor of classics, notes that when Dr. Hays arrived, "the only subjects being offered were undergraduate language courses at the first- and second-year level, mostly to help students satisfy language and general education requirements. Dr. Hays shook things up, and, in five years, first-year Greek enrollment was up to seventy-six students." By the time Dr. Andrews came in 1988, the program was on the way to being a full-fledged classics department with a real baccalaureate program. Bill Owens, associate professor of classics, joined the department in 1990 and added further strength to the language programs.
Realizing that the program was completely text oriented, the department asked classical archaeologist Ruth Palmer, assistant professor of classics (see Forum, spring 1997, p. 8), to join in 1994. Now, four years later, the Department of Classics and the Department of History are cooperating in a search for a joint appointment in ancient history. "In terms of faculty expertise, we are becoming a very well rounded department, strong in material culture as well as language and philology," Dr. Andrews said. "But what promises more than anything to make this department complete is the appointment this year of Tom Carpenter as professor of classics. Not only do we benefit from his scholarly expertise, but equally important, we also gain his leadership and innovation in the area of pedagogy."
Dr. Carpenter arrived on the scene with an impressive background. He received a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University in 1983, a master of theological studies degree from Harvard University in 1971, and a B.A. in classics and writing seminars from Johns Hopkins University in 1966. He previously taught at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he held a joint appointment in the Center for Programs in the Humanities and the Department of Art History.
Dr. Carpenter's particular area of expertise is Greek iconography, which, he explains,
is essentially reading images rather than words on material objects, particularly on painted pottery. These images provide another kind of text for interpreting ancient worlds. During the fifth and sixth centuries B.C. the Athenians in particular used pottery as a vehicle for figure illustrations both of myth and of daily life. The pottery was used for a variety of purposes, including drinking wine and celebrations. More than 50,000 vessels with pictures have survived, and some of the pictures are very complex. For example, there are pictures of the Trojan War that differ from literary versions of the same event. So there was a visual language that in many ways was separate from textual language. In addition, there are scenes that cover virtually every aspect of daily life. We have very fragmentary written texts from the ancient world, and then we have this rich source of images, and the two need to come together to get a fuller picture of the culture.
Dr. Andrews says that the department is also fortunate to have Dr. Carpenter's wife, Lynne Lancaster, available to teach part-time. "Lynne is a rising star in classical archaeology. She has published in the finest journals here and abroad. Her addition to the department makes available to us the expertise of three highly accomplished archaeologists.
The next step for the department," Dr. Andrews said, "is to further develop and enhance the undergraduate program and to take a higher profile in the university in the context of the humanities." To pursue this new direction and take advantage of the broad areas of expertise now represented by the faculty, the department is preparing a group of general education Tier II humanities courses that will focus on five critical moments in ancient history. Two courses will focus on ancient Greek culture, another looks at the Hellenistic world, a fourth is on Imperial Rome, and the fifth focuses on the rise of Christianity in the late antique world. With the help of an 1804 Grant the entire classics faculty has met each week for several hours throughout the year to develop these courses.
As a professor in the Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities, as well as a member of the Classics Department, Dr. Carpenter has been actively involved in the creation of these new humanities courses. In addition, he is developing, with other members of the institute, weekend and summer programs on classical subjects for Ohio high school teachers. In October the institute will conduct an all-day interdisciplinary workshop focusing on the two plays on Antigone by Sophocles and Jean Anouilh.