Category: Featured
Helen Morales has been awarded an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University
The Faculty of Languages of Uppsala University has appointed Helen Morales as honorary doctor. As they note in their press release, Helen “writes about the ancient world and its reception in modern times for both subject experts and the broader public” and “has thus become one of the most important voices in classical studies of the decade.”
Congratulations, Helen!
UCSB Classics Welcomes New Faculty Member Julio Vega-Payne
We are delighted to announce that, effective November 1, has joined the Classics faculty as an Assistant Professor. Professor Vega-Payne graduated from UCSB with a PhD in Classics in 2022 and, for the past two years, has held a prestigious UC President’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship at UCLA. His addition to our faculty will open up new connections with Environmental Humanities and will establish (with Annie Lamar) a cluster of excellence in archaic Greek poetry. He will teach the full range of Classics courses, including new courses on literature & the environment, the reception of myth in Japanese anime and manga, and Latin for Spanish speakers.
Welcome, Professor Vega-Payne!
Assistant Professor of Digital Classics in the Classics Department
Job #JPF02629
Classics / College of Letters & Science – Humanities and Fine Arts / UC Santa Barbara
Apply now: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02629/apply
View this position online: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02629
POSITION OVERVIEW
Position title: Assistant Professor
Salary range: The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at the time of appointment. See Table 1 for the salary ranges. Off-scale salaries and other components of pay, i.e. a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. A reasonable estimate for this position is $78,700 – $102,200 at the Assistant Professor level.
Percent time: 100%
Anticipated start: July 1, 2024
APPLICATION WINDOW
Open date: November 1, 2023
Next review date: Friday, Dec 1, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Sunday, Jun 30, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Department of Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Classics & Digital Humanities to begin on July 1, 2024.
Requirements for the position include a PhD (or its international equivalent) in Classics or closely related fields (e.g. Greek/Roman concentrations in History, Comparative Literature, Art History/Archaeology, Religious Studies); a record of research combining Classics and Digital Humanities; competence in Greek and/or Latin and the ability to teach Greek and Roman literature, culture, history, or archaeology at the undergraduate level or higher.
The position carries a teaching load of 5 or 4 courses (in alternating years) over three quarters. Duties will include developing and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses, supervising and mentoring graduate degree candidates, contributing as a dissertation committee member or as dissertation advisor, and participating in the administrative activities and intellectual life of the Department and the University. The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching, and service as appropriate to the position.
The Department is home to a vibrant community of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate majors and minors. For more information about our research strengths, PhD program, and undergraduate curriculum, go to: https://www.classics.ucsb.edu/
In 2023-24, a wide array of UC Santa Barbara departments is partnering with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to launch a special faculty recruitment initiative named after Benjamin Banneker, the 18th-century African American mathematician, astronomer, anti-racist, engineer, ecologist, and peace advocate. Funded by an Advancing Faculty Diversity grant from the UC Office of the President, with the goal of diversifying faculty, research, and curriculum, the Banneker Initiative aims to recruit scholars, scientists, and engineers whose disciplinary and interdisciplinary work would take place within the community of interests exemplified by Banneker’s intellectual, ethical, and social commitments as an African American scientist. Applicants may be eligible to be fellows in the Benjamin Banneker Initiative. The community of Banneker Fellows will receive funding for cohort building and professional development activities, including enrollment in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity Faculty Success Program, proposal writing training, and seed grants.
QUALIFICATIONS
Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
• At minimum, applicants must have completed all requirements for a PhD (or international equivalent) in Classics or a closely related field (e.g. Greek/Roman concentrations in History, Comparative Literature, Art History/Archaeology, Religious Studies) at the time of application.
Additional qualifications (required at time of start)
• A PhD in Classics or a closely related field (e.g. Greek/Roman concentrations in History, Comparative Literature, Art History/Archaeology, Religious Studies) is required by the time of appointment.
Preferred qualifications
• Competence in Greek and/or Latin.
• Ability and relevant preparation to teach standard Classics courses, e.g., Greek or Latin courses, undergraduate lecture courses in Greek or Roman literature, culture, history, or archaeology; graduate and undergraduate seminars in Greek or Roman literature, culture, history, or archaeology.
• A promising, verifiable research program in Digital Humanities involving Classics.
• Experience integrating digital tools and projects into teaching.
• A demonstrated commitment to enhancing diversity and equity through research, teaching, and service.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
Document requirements
- Curriculum Vitae – (1-2 pages)
- Cover Letter – (2 pages), Including a discussion of research and teaching.
- Graduate Transcripts – MA/PhD
- Writing Sample – Not more than 20pp./7,000 words.
- Statement of Contributions to Diversity – (1 page) Statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to diversity through research, teaching, and/or service.
- Sample of Digital Project – If not already included in the writing sample. (Optional)
Reference requirements
- 3 letters of reference required
Please arrange to have 3 letters of recommendation submitted via UC Recruit.
Apply link: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02629
Help contact: rebeca_adam@ucsb.edu
CAMPUS INFORMATION
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.
JOB LOCATION
Santa Barbara, CA
Resolution
At the Classics Faculty meeting of Friday, October 28, 2022, the Department resolved to express its support for the UC Graduate Students Associations’ demand for raising graduate student employee salaries so as to reflect the cost of living in California, above all the costs of housing and childcare. Such a raise would bring the UC and UCSB in particular in line with comparison institutions and would allow us to continue to attract the best graduate students and to further the university’s mission of excellence through diversity and inclusion.
BOB MORSTEIN-MARX WINS THE PROSE AWARD!
The PROSE Awards are sometimes referred to as the Academy Awards of academic publishing.
Many congratulations to Bob on this well-deserved honor!
HARMONIA ROSALES: ENTWINED
The Department of Classics is pleased to announce Harmonia Rosales: Entwined, an exhibition that presents a new and dynamic body of work by celebrated Afro-Cuban American artist Harmonia Rosales. Rosales’ interweaving of representations from ancient Greek and Yoruba mythologies invites viewers to challenge their ideas about identity and empowerment. Women and people of color, the protagonists of her canvases, assume roles of power and beauty in exquisite imaginings of ancient myths and Renaissance paintings.
The exhibition will take place from Saturday, January 8, 2022 to Sunday, March 20, 2022 at the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Harmonia Rosales: Entwined is a collaboration between the artist, the Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies, the Department of Classics, and the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
For more information, please click here.
Image: “Oba and Her Ear.” Courtesy of the artist, © 2021 Harmonia Rosales.
Andrés Carrete’s Article Published in the Classical Receptions Journal
“Humanity and Revolution in José Fuentes Mares’ La joven Antígona se va a la guerra,” written by Andrés Carrete, one of the graduate students in the Classics department, has been published in the prestigious Classical Receptions Journal.
In this article, Andrés offers a new analysis of José Fuentes Mares’ adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone, which premiered a week after the biggest student massacre in Mexican history, the Tlatelolco Massacre of 2 October 1968. By showing how this play differs from other Latin American adaptations of Antigone, Andrés enriches our understanding of the reception of Sophocles’ play as a response to oppression.
The article can be accessed here.
Congratulations, Andrés!
PersAphone: Classics in the Time of COVID-19
In order to reflect upon and express the feelings of grief, loss, and nostalgia caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Olga Faccani – a Ph.D. candidate in Classics – and Heena Yoon – a Ph.D. candidate in Music – have created a short film inspired by the myth of Persephone and Demeter. Titled PersAphone, the film opens with a summary of this Greek myth and then focuses on the sorrow of Demeter, whose feelings are embodied by the dancer Meri Takkinen. With their reinterpretation of this ancient story, Faccani and Yoon wanted to “create a virtual space of empathy, shared emotions, and catharsis.”
More information on this project, which has been supported by the Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities initiative of the Society for Classical Studies, can be found here.
An interview with alumnus Vincent Shepherd (’17)
Vincent Shepherd graduated from UCSB in 2017 with a BA in Classics and History. He is currently a second-year law student at UC Irvine School of Law, where he serves as a staff editor for the UCI Law Review. Vincent has externed at the US Bankruptcy Court in Riverside and will be a Summer Associate at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner this summer. During a recent visit to campus, he reflected on how studying Classics has helped him succeed.
How did you decide to pursue a career in law?
I determined I wanted to go to law school during my sophomore year of undergrad. I was weighing career options at that time and I wanted to do something in which I could best apply my undergraduate majors in the professional world. Law school was the perfect option for me because it gave me the opportunity to apply many of the skills developed in undergrad towards a career with direct real-world impact.
What aspect of Classics was most helpful during the application process?
Studying Classics requires a lot of logical analysis and close reading. Latin in particular gave me some practice in detail-oriented analysis, which helped me on different portions of the LSAT.
And now that you’re in law school?
Studying Latin helped me develop the same skills used in legal analysis. When translating, you are asked analyze a passage and translate it according to the different grammatical rules. Likewise, when doing legal analysis, you have a set of rules which you are then asked to apply to a set of particular facts. Similar to how changing one letter in a sentence can yield a different translation, one minor change in a fact pattern can yield an entirely different conclusion. I think these analytical skills developed from studying Latin directly benefit me the most.
How often do you encounter Latin these days?
I might see Latin once or twice a week, depending on what classes I am taking. It helps to know what an antiquated legal doctrine translates to in order to understand what the law is, or how it got to what it is today.
What advice would you give to Classics majors who are planning to apply to law school?
Focus on your undergraduate studies and enjoy your Classics courses while you are in them. Grades are a large part of the application process. So, the more you engage in your studies, the better grades you will likely get, and the better you will likely do in the application process. The LSAT is the other major part of the application process, but you will have time to study that over summer, or when you are no longer in school if you take a gap year. Classics is a fun and interesting major. So, while you are in undergrad enjoy and engage in the material.
What advice would you give to Classics majors who are thinking about law school but aren’t quite sure?
If you are unsure whether being a lawyer is right for you, try a summer legal internship. This will give you some insights into what it’s like to be a lawyer and help you make that determination. Also, you do not need to rush into law school directly from undergrad. Many people take gap years before deciding to pursue a legal career. Take your time and think about if a legal career is right for you. However, as a Classics major, you are developing skills that will situate you for success in law school.
Vincent is available to mentor UCSB Classics majors who are interested in law school. Please e-mail Prof. Rose MacLean (maclean@classics.ucsb.edu) for more information.