Classics Students: Welcome to a New Academic Year!

New releases of guides and tutorials this fall include:

  • “The Classics Library Guide” which in addition to highlighting the history of the Library and some of its works of art, offers a detailed description of the circulation policies in the Classics Library and advice on how to search the Library Catalog. https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2017/08/classics-library-guide/
  • “A Virtual Tour of the Library” which offers a brief introduction to the physical layout, collections, and staff of the Classics Library. Because virtual tours are expected to be kept to a minimum length, there is much that had to be left out including additional physical locations and collections, but this virtual tour may at least offer some basic understanding of how the materials are organized as well as offer a somewhat lighthearted presentation accessible to classicists and non-classicists alike. https://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/2017/08/classics-tour/
  • “A Research Guide for Classics Majors” is a tutorial chiefly directed at undergraduate students: however, beginning grad students may also benefit from learning something about the Library Catalog and some of the digital resources in the Library. http://guides.libraries.uc.edu/classics-research

Following a survey conducted among classics grad students in the spring, the Classics Library has enacted a few additions and changes: Continue reading

Happy Winter Solstice, Greeks and Romans! From the Classics Library’s Staff.

Recommended holiday readings include Latin writings on agriculture, festivals, and the seasons:

Macrobius’ Saturnalia https://www.loebclassics.com/view/macrobius-saturnalia/2011/pb_LCL510.3.xml?rskey=zBWyFV&result=1

Columella’s Res Rustica https://www.loebclassics.com/view/columella-agriculture/1941/pb_LCL361.3.xml?rskey=2qvhvQ&result=1

And De Arboribus https://www.loebclassics.com/view/columella-trees/1955/pb_LCL408.343.xml?rskey=2qvhvQ&result=2 

Varro’s Res Rustica https://www.loebclassics.com/view/varro-agriculture/1934/pb_LCL283.161.xml?rskey=IlRdAQ&result=2

Cato’s De Agri Cultura https://www.loebclassics.com/view/cato-agriculture/1934/pb_LCL283.3.xml?rskey=A8FqDU&result=1

 

 

PS. If you have not yet picked up a classics library mini-bookmark (perfect for pocket-size books!), please come to the Reading Room and do so. While there, you can also view a display of rare books and modern editions of the agricultural writings above. Also, stay tuned for Angelica Wisenbarger’s witty description of the classics library’s “Book of the Month,” Stephanus’ 1543 imprint of Cato and Varro on Agriculture with commentary by Petrus Victorius, on Facebook later this month.

Ancient Greek Pottery from Southern Italy and Sicily on Display in the Classics Library

vases

“From Greece to Magna Graecia” narrates in pottery the colonization by Greeks of parts of Southern Italy and Sicily beginning with the Euboeans founding the colony of Pithekoussai on the island of Ischia in the 8th c. BCE and the Corinthians Syracuse on Sicily in 733 BCE.

The exhibition, on display in the Classics Library Reading Room, features Corinthian miniature vessels, Attic black and red-figure vases as trading commodities, and Campanian red-figure. There is also an accompanying book exhibition highlighting literary sources on Magna Graecia as well as Greek temples, theaters, tomb paintings, etc., from Southern Italy and Sicily from the 8th to the 3rd centuries BCE.

In addition, there is a display featuring models of Linear B tablets discovered by UC professor Carl Blegen at “the Palace of Nestor” in Pylos. UC alumnus Emmett L. Bennett, together with Alice Kober, published the first definitive list of Linear B signs that formed the basis for Michael Ventris’ identification of the script as an early form of Greek.

Rebecka Lindau, Head, John Miller Burnam Classics Library

pottery exhibit

Welcome, Rebecka Lindau, Head of the Classics Library

Classics Library Reading Room

Classics Library Reading Room

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Rebecka Lindau started March 1 as the Head of the John Miller Burnam Classical Library.

Rebecka comes to UC Libraries from the Lorenzo de Medici Institute and the Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (Marist College Branch Campus) where she has been a Lecturer in Classical Studies since the Fall of 2015.  Prior to that she worked at the American Academy in Rome Library. From 2011 to 2013 she was responsible for the digital development of that library and its web design and maintenance. From 2007 to 2011, she was the Drue Heiz Librarian, responsible for the staff, collections (including rare books and manuscripts), selection, preservation, access, circulation, technical services, research consultation, digitization, web design, guides and tutorials. From 2001 to 2007, Rebecka was a subject specialist  for Classics, Hellenic Studies, Linguistics and German at Princeton University and prior to that, from 1997 to 2001 she was subject specialist for Classics, Hellenic Studies and Philosophy at New York University. Continue reading

Dean’s Corner: UC Libraries’ Dean’s Advisory Council Explore Strategic Issues of Space

Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

Dean of University Libraries, Xuemao Wang

Over two years ago, recruitment began for my Dean’s Advisory Council, an advisory group comprised of individuals from different industries and backgrounds with a tremendous passion for higher education and lifelong learning, global experience, digital technologies and a commitment to UC and the mission of UC Libraries. This group met recently to discuss and explore the issues and goals of library space. Continue reading

Archaeological Discovery Yields Surprising Revelations about Europe’s Oldest City

Antonis Kotsonas, a University of Cincinnati assistant professor of classics, will highlight his field research with the Knossos Urban Landscape Project at the 117th annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America and Society for Classical Studies.

Click here for the full news release.

UC Team Discovers Rare Warrior Tomb

1445881308582An international team of archaeologists led by University of Cincinnati researchers recently discovered a Bronze Age warrior’s tomb in southwestern Greece filled with more than 1,400 objects: jewels, weapons and armor, as well as bronze, silver and gold vessels. The unusual find is celebrated in the New York Times.

Click here for UC Magazine’s full write up.

The Very Personal Side of a World Famous UC Archaeologist

By:  Dawn Fuller
Photos Courtesy of UC Classics
Reposted from UC Magazine

Carl Blegen with UC Archaeologist Marion Rawson in the Land Rover at Pylos, July 1961

Carl Blegen with UC Archaeologist Marion Rawson in the Land Rover at Pylos, July 1961

Researchers mine through a ‘treasure trove’ of resources in Cincinnati and Greece to reveal the character, patriotism and unconventional lifestyle of famed American archaeologist Carl William Blegen.

From the 1930s to the 1960s, the discoveries of archaeologist Carl William Blegen made headlines around the world as well as here in the Queen City, where he was on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati. But the personal side of Blegen, publicly revealed for the first time, is the stuff that could be splashed across the celebrity tabloids.
Continue reading