Alumni
William Duffy
Ph.D., 2011
After finishing my Ph.D this past Spring, I am about to cast off from fair Buffalo for San Antonio, Texas, where I will be a Visiting Instructor in the Department of Classics and Philosophy at the University of Texas San Antonio. My six years at UB were the best of my life, and I will always remember the professors, staff, and fellow graduate students who helped me get to where I am today. When I arrived at UB in 2005, I was an eager, but very raw, young B.A. who had minimal knowledge of Ancient History and Archaeology. The UB Classics Department's curriculum gave me the chance to create a foundation in these areas while developing my primary research interest of Ancient Greek Epic. As a result, I acquired the multifaceted expertise in the ancient world needed to call myself a true classicist. This varied background, along with the help of Carolyn Higbie and my peerless thesis committee, proved vital in the writing of my dissertation, which included elements from throughout the Greek and Roman literary tradition. While my time at Buffalo may be finished for now, the knowledge and memories I've gained will keep me tethered to 338 Fillmore (the coolest department office at UB) forever. Thanks, and go Bulls!
Scott Gallimore
Ph.D., 2011
Completing my dissertation at the University at Buffalo left me with two notable sentiments. First, a sense of accomplishment at having completed my graduate studies, and second a sense of excitement at the prospect of beginning my post-dissertation career. Two weeks after defending my dissertation, I accepted a position as assistant professor of Roman archaeology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. This school is not far from where I began my career in Classics as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto. At Laurier I will teach a range of courses in Latin and Roman history and archaeology, and continue with my research on the pottery and economic history of Roman Greece. Along with revising my dissertation for publication, I am working on a handbook of Roman amphora types attested at the site of Corinth and will be beginning a synthetic study of the landscape archaeology of Roman Crete. The daunting nature of accomplishing these research goals, while also adjusting to an increased teaching load and requirements of professional service is somewhat alleviated by my preparation at Buffalo. From day one, graduate students at the University at Buffalo teach, quickly learning how to organize their schedules to accommodate class prep, coursework, and research. I also developed strong friendships with many of the graduate students and faculty in the Department of Classics which helped to ensure that the stress never got too overwhelming. I will miss being at Buffalo, but am grateful for the preparation I received as I move into the next stage of my career.
Elizabeth Hong
B.A., 2009
I completed my BA in Classical Languages and Literature alongside a BS in Biomedical Sciences, and I am currently in my third year at the University of Michigan Medical School. Along the interview trail, the usual response to my dual degree was a wink and comment on how I would have the uncanny ability to dissect medical jargon with my background in Latin and Ancient Greek. It seems a common trend to try to make Classics "useful" in a directly applicable way, when it has stand-alone relevance on par with anatomy or evolutionary biology. The most enjoyable and memorable years of my education continue to be my time with the Classics department, and while it certainly taught me to think critically and is part of the makeup that will forward my medical education, I remember it for the teachers who taught me, the works we translated, and the peers with whom I shared the experience.
Catherine Nicastro
B.A., 2009
My six years spent at UB were the most enriching years of my life, and I owe a great deal to the Department of Classics as a major influence in development as a life-long learner and, now, educator. During my undergraduate years at UB, the ever-encouraging and supportive professors of the Classics Department facilitated opportunities I would never have dreamed of before beginning my bachelor’s degree. I learned the joy of traveling and the basics of archaeological field work through a study abroad experience in Turkey, I learned the fundamentals of artifact research and exhibition preparation through a museum internship at the Anderson Gallery, and was even given the freedom to develop my leadership skills through the Undergraduate Classics Club. Although I graduated with my BA in Classical Languages and Literatures, as well as Anthropology with a concentration in Archaeology in 2009, I never could quite cut ties with the department that offered me so many opportunities for personal and professional growth. I continued to attend UB for graduate studies in education, which led me back to Classics for additional courses in Latin literature. After completing my master’s degree and teaching certification in 2011, I am now teaching my own Latin students at Williamsville South High School, in Williamsville, NY. Still, I am enthusiastically involved in departmental activities, including weekly Grex meetings for spoken Latin and Conventiculum Buffaloniense, UB’s Department of Classics annual active Latin workshop. I look forward to continuing my relationship with the department that gave me so much for many years to come!
Justin Prinzbach
B.A., 2009
I began my classical studies at the University at Buffalo in 2005, pursuing a budding interest—the Romans. Needless to say, this interest flourished, spurred on by the outstanding professors and the fascinating classes they offered. I even began to enjoy reading Cicero—a hero to some in this department, and a windbag to others. Taking advantage of the many opportunities presented to classics students, I travelled abroad twice. Nothing beats climbing to the top of Trajan's Column or buying a one Euro pizza in Naples. Six years after my first class (Warfare in the Ancient Mediterranean World), I was reluctantly parting ways with what quickly became my home away from home. I had earned a B.A. in Classics, complemented by a M. Ed. in Latin Education. I now reside in Warrenton, Virginia, where I teach Latin at Kettle Run High School. As I face the many challenges that teaching brings, I cannot help but be thankful for the unbelievable experience and preparation I received at the University at Buffalo. Carpe Bufalum!
Gabriel Malone
B.A., 2006
After graduating from Buffalo in 2006
with a B.A. in Classics, I worked manual labor on a farm in upstate
Vermont, reading Virgil's Eclogues in the afternoon, after work. At the
end of summer, I took a position as Latin teacher at a public high
school in Washington, D.C. Although becoming a teacher was never my
intention, I enjoyed the challenges of the profession, sharing my love
of Latin, and, most importantly, the students. After three years I’ve
decided to earn my Master’s in Latin pedagogy in the hopes of becoming
the best teacher I can be. I am forever grateful to the University of
Buffalo’s Classics department for its amazing professors, for the
close-knit community it provided, and for the opportunities my degree
has given me.
Melissa Rothfus
Ph.D., 2006
Melissa is an Assistant Professor of History at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her work centers on the social and cultural history of the Greeks and Romans, ranging from the conflicts and power struggles within the early Christian community in Corinth to the use of symbols to negotiate status within Roman society. Her article, The Gens Togata: Changing Styles and Changing Identities, appeared recently in the American Journal of Philology. at work on a monograph that examines the development of specific elements of attire by sub-groups within Roman society who seek to articulate and manipulate their identities and access to power
Myles McCallum
Ph.D., 2005
Myles McCallum is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Classics at St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He specializes in Roman archaeology and history, and he teaches courses at Saint Mary’s on these subjects, as well as Classical mythology, and literature. His current research is split between Roman southern Italy and Pompeii. As the director of the Basentello Valley Research Project, he is concerned with understanding the role played by imperial properties in the cultural development of Apulia and Lucania during the early Roman period, and the nature of imperial landholdings generally in these two regions. Since 2005, Myles has organized and run an archaeological field study course in Italy at the site of San Felice, a Roman imperial estate in Puglia, with his colleague, Dr. Hans vanderLeest of Mount Allison University.
Paul Kimball
Ph.D., 2004
I teach in the Program in Cultures, Civilizations, and Ideas at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, including an honors seminar on "Madness and Civilization" last fall. I've been a contributor to the International Medieval Bibliography (Leeds, UK) for a few years now. I'll be on the APA Committee on Classical Tradition and Reception until 2013 when I will organize the cmte's panel at the annual meeting Arabic and Islamic Receptions of Classical Literature, and I'll begin a 5-year term as head of the Society for Late Antiquity at the APA. I also organized the SLA panel back in 2009 in Philly, with 3 of the 5 papers published, together with an introduction by me, in the Journal of Late Antiquity w/ an intro by me. And in June of 2008 I was a visiting researcher, La Fondation Hardt (Geneva, Switzerland), on the topic of “Le renversement rituel du rang et l'apparat du pouvoir impérial pendant l'Antiquité tardive.”
Lucas Rubin
Ph.D., 2004
After earning his Ph.D. in Classics, Lucas Rubin returned to Brooklyn, where he now lives with his wife Simona and son Itai. After a stint at the Brooklyn Museum, he joined Columbia as a Projects and Grant Manager for Archaeology in 2001. In light of the peculiarities of a life in academic administration, he now directs the Graduate Program in Sports Management,* a program in the Arts and Sciences which provides interdisciplinary training in business, law, and the social sciences for early career professionals working in sports.
Alas, though no longer in the field, he has been pursuing new avenues of research, particularly in the early business history of sports and Brooklyn's sports history (particularly horseracing). There is, however, occasional reason to dust off the old books: he is giving a paper at the 2011 New York History Conference entitled "Brooklyn's Late, Great Riding and Driving Club" which concerns a now-demolished McKim, Mead, and White building modeled on a Roman circus. He is presently at work on a book, A History of Sportsmen's Row: Sports and Society on Brooklyn's Eighth Avenue, to be published late in 2012 (History Press). His personal e-mail: lucas.rubin@gmail.com.
Allison Glazebrook
Ph.D., 2001
I joined UB for the dynamic faculty and the opportunity to do something different. Very few other places offered graduate courses on gender and on theory. Their guidance not only gave me credentials, but also shaped me as a professional. I am currently associate professor at Brock University and Chair of the Department of Classics. I recently co-edited a volume, Greek Prostitutes in the Ancient Mediterranean, 800 BCE - 200 CE, with Madeleine M. Henry. http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/4717.htm I am currently co-organzing Feminism and Classics VI: Crossing Borders, Crossing Lines for May 2012. http://www.brocku.ca/conferences/feminism-classics-vi. See further http://www.brocku.ca/humanities/departments-and-centres/classics/faculty-and-staff/allison-m-j-glazebrook
Melissa Considine-Beck
M.A., 1998
I had a very positive experience in the Classics Department at UB. It gave me the resources I needed for my current career in Education and Classics. I have been teaching Latin/Ancient Greek at Woodstock Academy in Northeastern Connecticut for the past 7 years. I am passing on what I have learned to my own students and keeping Latin and Classics alive in the 21st Century classroom. I recently (May 2011) had an article entitled "Honey on the Rim of the Larger Bowl" published in the book "Rush and Philosophy." It is part of the popular culture and philosophy series by Open Court Press.
Thomas Banchich
Ph.D., 1985
I entered the Classics Department’s Ph.D. program in 1979, after earning B.A. and M.A. degrees in History at Bowling Green. George Kustas directed my 1985 dissertation, The Historical Fragments of Eunapius of Sardis. Since 1983, I have been on the faculty at Canisius College, where I am chair of the Classics Department. My most recent publications include a series of entries in Brill’s New Jacoby and The History of Zonaras (Routledge 2009). I am currently working on a translation of and commentary on the historical fragments of Peter the Patrician.
I was attracted to the Classics Ph.D. program at Buffalo because it combined excellent training in Latin, Greek, and a range of fundamental sub-disciplines such as epigraphy with an exposure to innovative approaches to the ancient world. Of the courses I took, Bob Sherk’s on Greek biography, Greek epigraphy, and the Athenaiôn Politeia, Charles Garton’s on Aristophanes, George Kustas’s on Ammianus Marcellinus, and Leendert Westerink’s on Cicero’s De Natura Deorum had the greatest impact on me. The highlight of my teaching was a course on Athenian imperialism offered at the height of the Iran hostage crisis. Jack Peradotto, Tom Barry, Evelyn Smithson, Ron Zirin, luminaries from other departments, and a regular contingent of classics graduate students —Stephen Armstead, Dave Davies, Keith Dickson, Madeleine Kaufman, and Tom Virginia, among others—made every lunch in some way memorable.
William Rusch
M.A., 1960
I was a classics major at UB in the distant past when the Classics Department was small. At that time, I did a B.A. and an M.A. in classics. The level of education I received has allowed me to continue a lifetime of scholarship. It is something for which I will always be grateful. I am now semi-retired, but I remain on the faculty of the Divinity School at Yale University where I am still teaching.