PhD Graduates

Eric Beckman Ph.D. Indiana University 2020

I am currently the Lecturer of Latin in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Southeastern Louisiana University. My dissertation, Do You See What I'm Saying: Painting and Paideia in Philostratus' Imagines, examines how Philostratus' use of models drawn from visual art and the materiality of the paintings works in tandem with his deep understanding of the Hellenistic literary tradition in order to construct a network of examples intended to reinforce the elite ideals and cultural memories at the heart of paideia. My other research interests include Greek literature, Greek and Roman material culture, and issues of art and antiquities provenance. My article, "Color-Coded: The Relationship between Color, Iconography, and Theory in Hellenistic and Roman Gemstones" was published in What Shall I Say of Clothes? Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Dress in Antiquity (SPAAA 3. Boston: AIA) in 2017. From September 2016 to May 2017, I served as the Graduate Intern in Antiquities at the Getty Villa.

 

Sean Tandy Ph.D. Indiana University 2019

Currently, I teach at the University of Delaware’s Associate in Arts Program, offering courses in World History, the history of Christianity, Classical Mythology, and the city of Rome. As a historian of the Late Roman Empire, my research focuses on the political role of literature in the fifth and sixth centuries CE. My IUB dissertation, “Carmina Qui Quondam: Poetry, Identity, and Ideology in Ostrogothic Italy,” was supported by an Arthur Ross Pre-doctoral Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome (2018-19). With IU’s Jeremy Schott and IU alum Martin Shedd I have also co-authored a translation and commentary on the late fifth century Ecclesiastical History of Anonymous Cyzicenus, which will be published in the series Writings from the Greco-Roman World. An article about this text, ‘Hagiographic History: Reading and Writing Holiness in the Ecclesiastical History of Anonymous Cyzicenus’ is also forthcoming in the Journal of Late Antiquity.

 

Martin Shedd Ph.D. Indiana University 2017

I recently moved to teach Classics and Religious Studies at Hamilton College after completing my term as the Murphy Visiting Fellow in Classics at Hendrix College. My research focuses on late antique historiographers and their creative use of rhetorical devices and genre conventions to establish authority with their audiences. Accidentally specializing in anonymous works, I have recently published an article in Classical Quarterly, “The Historia Augusta before Pal. lat. 899: Lost Manuscripts and Scribal Mediation,” and have also co-authored (with Jeremy Schott and Sean Tandy) a translation of the Anonymous Ecclesiastical History formerly attributed to Pseudo-Gelasius (now under review).

 

Mariah Smith Ph.D. Indiana University 2016

Starting in 2021, I am a lecturer in the Department of Classics at the University of Georgia, where I teach a variety of cultural and language courses. Previously, I held the Responsible Governance and Sustainable Citizenship Project (RGSCP) Postdoc at the University of New Hampshire (2018-2021) and was a Lecturer in Classics at the University of Southern California (2017-2018). My recent article “Composing the Puella: Pliny the Younger’s Elegiac Experimentation” (Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Spring 2020): 132-157) reexamines Pliny’s characterization of his wife, Calpurnia, as a poetic persona rather than as a historically accurate representation. In another article I read recitatio, the oral performances of written works, as a negotiation of social power between patrons and poets. My current research project is the creation of a database on Pliny’s Letters that tracks themes, geographical references, literary allusions, and reoccurring names in the letters. I will use this data to explore the intersection between characters within Pliny’s letters and their historical realities by cross referencing reoccurring names in the Letters with thematic, geographic, and onomastic markers.

 

Kenneth Draper Ph.D. Indiana University 2015

https://classics.indiana.edu/about/core-faculty/draper-kenneth.html

 

Michael Vasta

Ph.D. Indiana University 2014

 

 

 

Masters of Art in Teaching Latin

Zoe Barnett 

BA Liberal Arts, Louisiana Scholars' College, Northwestern State University of Louisiana 2017

MAT Indiana University 2020

In my capacity as a first-year Assistant Teacher at The Windward School, I co-plan and co-instruct language arts for students with language processing disabilities, and I attend weekly professional development seminars to hone my skills as a special educator.  My preparation in the IU Latin MAT program—specifically, in learning the inner workings and pedagogy of Latin and of language itself - has helped me immensely in both the hiring process and in the classroom. I also just really enjoyed how challenging the program was in general, and how aware I became of my strengths and how to best utilize them! That resulted from the classes I took, the instructors who taught them, and the mentor teacher with whom I was paired for student teaching. Additionally, my Latin teaching experience in the program trained me in the collaboration, instructional strategies (e.g. wait time, rephrasing, scaffolding), and relationship-building that my school values in its educators.

 

Maria Latham

BA Classical Philology, University of Dallas 2015

MAT Indiana University 2018

I worked briefly in the publishing industry before returning to IU to begin a career in student services. Currently I work in the office of the Individualized Major Program and assist undergraduate students as they design curricula for majors and minors not otherwise offered at IU. My background in the Department of Classical Studies allows me to work confidently within a unit of a similar interdisciplinary scope and to communicate effectively with students and faculty engaged in diverse areas of research and expertise. The pedagogical training—both practical and theoretical—I received while earning the MAT has likewise proven to be an immense strength in the development of my professional career in higher education. In addition to my work with IMP, I continue teaching elementary Latin occasionally through private tutoring or with the Classics Department at IU.

 

 

Lindsay Pappas

BA Classics Notre Dame 2010

MAT Latin Indiana University 2017

I teach Latin and English at Bedford North Lawrence High School.  I am currently the World Languages Department Chair and in the fall of 2021 I will complete a Certificate in Advanced Instructional Communication, the necessary accreditation to teach Dual Credit Public Speaking, through the University of Southern Indiana.  I was also honored to be the 2021 Teacher of the Year at BNL High School.  One of the highlights of my Latin program is the annual field trip up to the Herman B. Wells Library at IU, during which students gain real experience working with collegiate resources and doing research at an undergraduate level.  I am grateful for the language skills I developed at IU, as well as my student teaching experience, which have combined to make me the successful teacher I am today.

 

Sean Miranda 

MAT Indiana University 2014

After graduation I taught Latin for three years at Herron High School in Indianapolis. I worked with a team of Latin teachers at Herron and taught Latin II, Latin III, and AP Latin. I also sponsored the school's Classics Club and worked very closely with the Indiana Junior Classical League. Over the summer I accepted an offer from the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago. At Parker I teach all levels of Latin and have inherited an established and well-beloved program. The Department of Classical Studies prepared me for secondary teaching due to its rigor and supportive faculty. My time with the department has left me as a master of my craft and a competitive candidate. My position as an associate instructor also gave me invaluable teaching experience. Mentorship within the department also helped me select the education program that was the best fit for me.

 

 

Masters of Art (Latin or Greek)

Claire Drone-Silvers

MA Latin Indiana University 2018

MLS Indiana University 2019

 

I am currently employed as a Research Services Librarian at the Boston Public Library, after working on digital and print archives at the IUPUI Ruth Lilly Special Collections and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ALA Archives. I chose to attend Indiana University in order to pursue a degree in Classical Studies and a Master’s Degree in Library Science (MLS) concurrently. Although it was occasionally challenging to balance my schedule between the two programs, I found that many of the courses complemented each other, especially since courses in both programs encouraged use of the Lilly Library and its wealth of materials (including plenty of medieval manuscripts written in Latin).

 

Katie Caliva

MA Indiana University 2013

PhD The Ohio State University 2019

 

I am currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Greek and Roman Studies at Valparaiso University (2021-2022), following appointments as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hollins University (2020-2021) and as a Lecturer at The Ohio State University (2019-2020). In these positions, I have had the opportunity to develop and implement a range of courses, including Greek and Roman history, ancient epic, and classical mythology. My research focuses on Greek poetry and ancient religions with additional interest in epigraphy, pragmatic speech theory, and the female voice in literature. In addition to pursuing these interests in articles and conference presentations, I am currently revising my dissertation, Prayer and Pragmatic Speech Acts in Greek Poetry, for publication.

 

 

List of conferred degrees:

Eric Beckman, Ph.D. 2020: Dissertation "Do You See What I'm Saying: Painting and Paideia in Philostratus' Imagines"

Abby Pullen, MAT. 2020: Latin Teacher, STEMCivics Middle School, Trenton, New Jersey

Matthew Rodney, MAT. 2020: Humanities Teacher, Purdue Polytechnic High School Schweitzer Center, Indianapolis, Indiana

Zoe S. Barnett, MAT. 2020: Latin Teacher, The Windward School, White Plains, NY

Sean Tandy, Ph.D. 2019: Dissertation: “Carmina Qui Quondam: Poetry, Identity, and Ideology in Ostrogothic Italy,” Temporary Assistant Professor, University of Delaware, Wilmington

Martin Shedd, Ph.D. 2017: Murphy Visiting Fellow at Hendrix College

Laura Brant, Ph.D. 2016: Dissertation: “Apuleian Women and Genre”

Alan Fleming, Ph.D. 2016: Associate Faculty of World Languages and Cultures, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis

Kyle Grothoff, Ph.D. 2016: Student at the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University, Bloomington

Mariah Smith, Ph.D. 2016: Post Doc in the Department of Classics, Humanities, and Italian, at University of New Hampshire

Kenneth Draper, Ph.D. 2015: Assistant Professor, Indiana University, Bloomington

Michael Vasta, Ph.D. 2014: Assistant Project Manager, Americaneagle.com

Michael Holstead, Ph.D. 2013: Adjunct Instructor of Classical Studies, St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin

Robert Nichols, Ph.D. 2013: Visiting Assistant Professor of Classical Studies, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia

Joshua Congrove, Ph.D. 2011: Assistant Editor, Indiana University Mathematics Journal, Bloomington, Indiana

Varunadatta Edirisinghe, Ph.D. 2010: Senior Lecturer in Greek Roman Studies, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

Gabriel Grabarek, Ph.D. 2010: World Languages teacher at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School, St. Louis, Missouri

Bruce Warren, Ph.D. 2010: Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Susan A. Curry, Ph.D. 2009: Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of New Hampshire, Durham

Nicholas Gresens, Ph.D. 2009: Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York

Corinne E. Shirley, Ph.D. 2009: Senior Instructor in Classics, Missouri State University, Springfield

Arti Mehta, Ph.D. 2008: Lecturer in Classics, Howard University, Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Richey, Ph.D. 2008: Cataloging Specialist at Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee

Preston Massey, Ph.D. 2006: Assistant Professor, Indiana Wesleyan University, Marion, Indiana

James B. Wells, Ph.D. 2006: Associate Professor of Classical Studies, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana

David M. Branscome, Ph.D. 2005: Associate Teaching Professor of Classics, Florida State University, Tallahassee

Robert Chavez, Ph.D. 2005: Senior Content Solutions Architect, Massachusetts Medical Society

Julie Langford, Ph.D. 2005: Associate Professor of History, University of South Florida, Tampa

Austin M. Busch, Ph.D. 2004: Associate Professor of Ancient Literature, Department of English, SUNY Brockport

Jennifer Chavez, Ph.D. 2004: Latin teacher in the Marblehead Massachusetts Schools

Rebecca Edwards, Ph.D. 2004: Associate Professor of Classics, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio

Brett Robbins, Ph.D. 2004: Lecturer in Classics, San Diego State University

Michael Lundell, Ph.D. 2002: Senior Assistant Vice Provost - Curricular Policy and Procedures, Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Indiana University, Bloomington

Teresa Ramsby, Ph.D. 2002: Associate Professor of Classics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Noelle Zeiner-Carmichael, Ph.D. 2002: Professor of Classics, College of Charleston, South Carolina