The Classics Department at UCSB invites applications for a graduate opportunity fellowship to support talented scholars who come from groups historically underrepresented in Classics and who would benefit from an additional year of graduate study. The successful applicant will receive, along with regular admission to the PhD program, a seven-year funding package that includes an initial “bridge” fellowship year and six additional years of support from a combination of fellowships and TAships. During the bridge year, the Department will provide a program of study tailored to the needs and interests of the fellow, including such components as courses in Greek, Latin, or other ancient languages; directed research in the fellow’s area(s) of interest; and faculty mentorship. Prospective fellows must be citizens or permanent residents of the United State at the time of application. Applicants who wish to be considered for this fellowship should submit a regular application to our PhD program (deadline Jan. 1, 2023).
News
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!
Congratulations, Class of 2024!
The Classics Department is delighted to celebrate the majors who successfully completed their undergraduate studies this year: Eric Banuelos, Nia Correal, Lisbeth Gil, Bryanna Harrell, Monserrat Hernandez, Elijah Holton, Shannon Mayo, Amanda Orza, Eduardo Ruiz Felix, Michelle Woo.
Congratulations, graduates!
Carissa Chappell Wins the 2024 John J. Winkler Memorial Prize Competition
We are delighted to announce that Carissa Chappell’s essay “Leaving No Trace: Reading the Asexual Possibility in Leucippe and Cleitophon” has been selected as the winning essay in the 2024 John J. Winkler Memorial Prize competition.
The Prize is intended to honor the memory of John J. (“Jack”) Winkler, a classical scholar, teacher, and political activist for radical causes both within and outside the academy, who died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 46. Jack believed that the profession as a whole discourages young scholars from exploring neglected or disreputable topics, and from applying unconventional or innovative methods to their scholarship. He wished to be remembered by means of an annual Prize that would encourage such efforts. In accordance with his wishes, the John J. Winkler Memorial trust awards a prize each year to the author of the best student essay in an adventurous or marginal field of classical studies. Topics include (but are not limited to) those that Jack himself explored: the ancient novel, the sex/gender systems of antiquity, the social meanings of Greek drama, and ancient Mediterranean culture and society. Approaches include (but are not limited to) those that Jack’s own work exemplified: feminism, anthropology, narratology, semiotics, cultural studies, ethnic studies, and lesbian/gay studies.
Congratulations, Carissa!
UCSB Classics Welcomes New Faculty Member Annie Lamar
We are delighted to announce that Annie Lamar will be joining the Classics faculty as an Assistant Professor next year. Professor Lamar (PhD, Stanford) is a Classicist and Data Scientist whose research uses computational methods to analyze Homer and develops machine-learning models for low-resource languages like ancient Greek.
Professor Lamar joins a growing network of faculty in computational linguistics and humanistic data science on campus. She will teach a range of Classics courses, as well as a new course in Literary Text Mining (Spring 2025) and other new courses in Classics & Data Science. Her computational linguistics lab will offer exciting opportunities for undergraduate majors and graduate students to participate in high-level research.
J.P. Sullivan Memorial Lecture Postponed
This year’s J.P. Sullivan Memorial Lecture, which was scheduled to be delivered by Prof. Sasha-Mae Eccleston on May 17, has been postponed to the a.y. 2025-26. More details will be provided in due course.
Chris Erdman to join the Classics faculty at Wash U
Chris Erdman (PhD ’24) will join the Department of Classics at Washington University in St. Louis as an Assistant Professor this fall. Chris has spent the year in Rome at the American Academy as a Rome Prize Fellow. He is currently finishing a groundbreaking dissertation (supervised by Robert Morstein-Marx) on voting culture in the Roman Republic. His article “The ‘Ballot Questions’ of Roman Republican Legislative Assemblies” is forthcoming in Historia. Congratulations, Professor Erdman!
Richard Hunter is Visiting Professor from Feb. 26 to Mar. 1
Richard Hunter, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge, will be Visiting Professor in the Department of Classics from Monday, Feb. 26 to Friday, March 1. In addition to delivering a traditional academic lecture on the reception of Euripides’ Medea in antiquity, Prof. Hunter will take part in a conversation on recent international trends in the field of Classics, lead a seminar on Dio Chrysostom’s “Euboean Discourse,” and collaborate with faculty and graduate students on ongoing research projects.
Prof. Hunter’s visit is part of the programming of the Center for the Study of Ancient Fiction, and is co-sponsored by Argyropoulos Chair in Hellenic Studies.
Erin Lam’s Lecture on Queer Orientations in Ovid’s “Ars Amatoria” Spotlighted on HFA Website
Erin Lam’s lecture on Queer Orientations in Ovid’s “Ars Amatoria” has been spotlighted on the website of the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts. A summary of the talk together with pictures taken during the event can be found here.
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
Helen Morales to Deliver Prestigious Martin Lectures at Oberlin College
From October 30 to November 3, 2023, Helen Morales, the Argyropoulos Professor of Hellenic Studies, will deliver the 2023-2024 Charles Bebee Martin Lectures at Oberlin College. Established in honor of Charles Bebee Martin, who taught Classics and classical archaeology at Oberlin College for forty-five years, these lectures are among the most prestigious in the field of Classics worldwide.
Professor Morales’ lecture series is titled “Art, Activism, and Ancient Fiction” and includes the following presentations:
- Monday, October 30: “Re-encountering antiquity with Harmonia Rosales”
- Tuesday, October 31: “Aesop, slavery, and queer kinship”
- Thursday, November 2: “Riddles of incest”
- Friday, November 3: “Heliodorus’ blackness”
More information about the Martin Lectures can be found here.
