Tabulae 2023

It has been two years since we last published an edition of Tabulae and a lot has happened since I last attempted to chronicle our department’s annual activities and events. At the time, we were still in the dark days of the pandemic and the University was closed to in-person classes. Although the subsequent fall semester 2021 continued to be a challenge for us, we were almost back to normal in Murphey Hall by the following spring 2022, even being able to hold a graduation ceremony in person. So, I am happy to report that things are finally going smoothly for the department, though the past two years have brought a number of changes that deserve comment here.

My path to Classics has been twofold. Initially I came to Classics by way of my love of languages and literature: I read Fitzgerald’s Odyssey my senior year of high school and imagined myself reading it in the original. I was admitted to UMass Amherst as a Political Science major with an interest in political theory; a chance conversation during summer orientation drew my attention to the fact that Intensive Introductory Ancient Greek was being offered that Fall, and I enthusiastically enrolled. This one course became my gateway to the entire discipline.