Classical Studies
Classical Studies / Northwest Undergraduate Conference on the Ancient World

Northwest Undergraduate Conference on the Ancient World

Saturday, April 30, 2022

The Department of Classical Studies at Willamette University is pleased to announce the return of our one-day undergraduate conference.  We envision this conference as an opportunity for advanced undergraduates to present their research, such as a BA thesis or outstanding seminar paper, in a 15-minute talk to a regional audience of undergraduates and faculty. Papers are welcome in any area of ancient studies, including language and literature, religion, history, philosophy, and material culture.

Although the covid-19 pandemic appears to be receding, we have decided that it is still prudent and, in many ways, simpler to do the conference as a VIRTUAL event. Zoom links will be sent to conference participants as the date approaches.

ABSTRACTS ARE DUE BY APRIL 1, 2022. 

Interested students should send an abstract of their paper electronically to the conference organizer, Professor Robert Chenault (rchenaul@willamette.edu). The abstract should provide the following information: name, email address, name and email of the supporting faculty member, title of the talk, and 300-word description of the talk. Conference acceptances will be emailed within a few days after the deadline.

Further information will be posted on the website of the Willamette University Department of Classical Studies, or you may contact the conference organizer, Professor Robert Chenault.

 

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  • Saturday, April 30, 2022

    All sessions will take place on Zoom (links to be provided)

    Opening Remarks and Welcome

    9:45 a.m.
    Chair: Rob Chenault, Willamette University

    PANEL 1: Cultural Exchange in the Ancient Near East

    Chair: Mary Bachvarova, Willamette University
    9:50 a.m.
    Lauren Burchinal, Willamette University

    "The Sumerian Literary Context of the Biblical Book of Lamentations"
    10:10 a.m.
    Christiana Ewald, Willamette University

    "Hellenistic Heroes and the Jesus of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas"
    10:30 a.m.
    Emma Canchola, Willamette University

    "A Study of Ancient Egyptian Frog Lamps from the Fred W. Neumann Collection"
    10:50-11:00 a.m.
    BREAK

    PANEL 2: Greek Art

    Chair:  Kris Seaman, University of Oregon
    11:00 a.m.
    Morning Glory Ritchie, University of Oregon

    "Vessel of Destruction: Classical Sirens and Hybrid Femininity in Ancient Greece"
    11:20 a.m.
    Orion Whitcher, Lewis and Clark College

    “Representations of Memory in Greek Funerary Art"
    11:40 a.m.
    Delaney Buchanan, Willamette University

    “The Language of Lines: A Catalogue and Exploration of Decorative Techniques on Cypriote Objects in the Neumann Collection of the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, from the Early Cypriote to Cypro-Archaic Periods"
    12:00-1:00 p.m.
    LUNCH BREAK

    PANEL 3: Defining the Roman and the Human

    Chair: Ortwin Knorr, Willamette University
    1:00 p.m.
    Jessie Radcliffe, Willamette University
    “Propriety and Prejudice: The Flexible Nature and Usage of Wine in Horace's Odes"
    1:20 p.m.
    Niamh Green, University of Oregon

    “Tug of (Punic) War: Saguntum and Carthage as the Sides of Roman Morality"
    1:40 p.m.
    Alex Morel, Willamette University
    “Lover as Helen Saga: Odes 1.13-17"
    2:00-2:10 p.m.
    BREAK
    2:10 p.m.
    Reeve Boyer, Whitman College

    "Glory's Death and Heroism's Facade in Lucan and Homer"
    2:30 p.m.
    Freya Schlaefer, Reed College

    "The Limit of Heaven: Creating Space for Immortal Mortals in Pindar"
    2:50 p.m.
    Conference Ends

  • The Tenth Northwest Undergraduate Conference on the Ancient World

    Location: Ford Hall

    Saturday, April 25, 2015

    8:30 A.M.
    CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENS, Ford Hall 102

    Continental breakfast served in Ford Hall 102
    9:30 A.M.
    INTRODUCTION, Ford Hall 102
    9:30 - 10:50 A.M.
    SESSION ONE - Politics, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Brian Turner (Portland State University)

    9:30 - Katherine Gibbs (Gonzaga University) - "Empire State of Mind: A Look into Cicero's Contradictions Regarding Roman Imperialism"

    9:50 - Abigail Russell (Western Washington University) - "Liberty's Chains"

    10:10 - Kristen Patterson (Willamette University) - "Agricola the Schoiar General"

    10:30 - Bailey Boatsman (Reed College) - "Manipulating Augury: Exploring Augustus' Legitimization of Power Through Art"
    10:50 - 11:05 A.M.
    BREAK
    11:05 A.M. - 12:05 P.M.
    SESSION TWO - Religion and Philosophy, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Mary Schmitt (George Fox University)

    11:05 - Mallory McGowen (Boise State University) - "Galen's Failure and the Gods' Victory: A Look at the Resurgence of Religious Fervor in the Wake of the Antonine Plague"

    11:25 - Conor Foley (George Fox University) - "Anti-Theodicy in Jeremiah 17:5-8: The Polemicized Weltanschauung of Deuteronomic Ideology"

    11:45 - Haley Tilt (Reed College) - "Lucretian Levity: The Role of Wordplay in the Philosophy of De Rerum Natura"
    12:05 P.M. - 1:05 P.M.
    LUNCH
    1:05 - 2:25 P.M.
    SESSION THREE - Ethnicity and Culture, Ford Hall 122

    Chair: David Oosterhuis (Gonzaga University)

    1:05 - Alexander Witherspoon (Evergreen State College) - "Hanno: An Inquiry and Commentary"

    1:25 - Ian Blair (Lewis and Clark College) - "Eating Ethnicity: An Examination of the Politics of Ethnicity through Food Culture in Herodotus' Histories"

    1:45 - Courtney Bither (George Fox University) - "Policing of Women's Body and Dress in Greco-Roman Society in the 1st Century CE"

    2:05 - Ethan Schiller: "᾿Ουτοπιάζε: Heroic Identities in Homeric Utopianism"
    2:25 - 2:40 P.M.
    BREAK
    2:40 – 3:40 P.M.
    SESSION FOUR - Archaeology, Ford Hall 122

    Chair: Thomas Keeline (Western Washington University)

    2:40 - Jasmine Akiyama-Kim (University of Oregon) - "Arethusa: Four Perspectives on the Syracusan Fountains"

    3:00 - Grace Birdwell - (Lewis and Clark College) - Bare Bones: An Analysis of Human Burials at the Villa con Cryptoportici

    3:20 - Kaitlin O’Neill (Willamette University) - "Connecting the Cup-and-ring Motif in Passage Tomb Art and Rock Art to the Landscape of Neolithic Ireland"
    4:00-5:00
    Optional Guided Tour Through the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Hallie Ford Museum of Art

    Guided Tour led by Ortwin Knorr (Willamette University)

  • The Seventh Northwest Undergraduate Conference on the Ancient World

    Location: Ford Hall

    Saturday April 21, 2012

    9:00 A.M.
    CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OPENS, Ford Hall 102

    Continental breakfast served in lobby of Ford Hall
    9:45 A.M.
    INTRODUCTION, Ford Hall 102
    9:50 - 10:50 A.M.
    SESSION ONE - Philosophy and Free Will, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Robert Chenault (Willamette University)

    9:50 - Eric L. Archambault (University of Oregon) - "The Epicurean Theory of Language"

    10:10 - Jacob Kovacs-Goodman (Stanford University) - "Competing Conceptions of Free Will in Epic Poetry"

    10:30 - Erin Kahn (Willamette University) - "'The Gods Know I Had No Choice': The Role of Fate in Sophocles' Theban Plays"
    10:50 - 11:05 A.M.
    BREAK
    11:05 A.M. - 12:05 P.M.
    SESSION TWO - Women in Rome, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Ortwin Knorr (Willamette University)

    11:05 - Rolf Hartmann (Western Washington University) - "Nero's Amazonian Comedy"

    11:25 - Emily Hannenberg (Willamette University) - "Like Mother, Like Daughter: How Agrippina the Elder and her Namesake Re-Defined the Role of the Roman Mother in Tacitus' Annals"

    11:45 - Elliot Piros (University of Puget Sound) - "Women, Writing, and Commemoration in Propertius Book IV"
    12:05 P.M. - 12:55 P.M.
    LUNCH
    12:55 - 1:35 P.M.
    SESSION THREE - Crossing Cultures and Centuries, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Diane Johnson (Western Washington University)

    12:55 - Sean A. Guynes (Western Washington University) - "Oral Formulaic Theory: Understanding Homeric Epic by Analogy to Modern Albanian Lahutarët"

    1:15 - Hunter Ellis (Lewis and Clark College) - "The Strategoi of Pre- and Post-Roman Egypt"
    1:35 - 1:55 P.M.
    BREAK
    2:15 – 3:00 P.M.
    SESSION FOUR - Cultural Interaction, Ford Hall 102

    Chair: Mary R. Bachvarova (Willamette University)

    2:15 - Chris Parmenter (University of Oregon) - "A Post-Colonial Lucian? Some Problems of Cultural Interaction in the True Histories"

    2:35 - Ethan Poole (Willamette University) - "Barbarians without Romans: The Development and Change of Ethnographic Methods in Tacitus' Germania"