Robert Wagoner was an undergraduate and graduate student in Classics at the University of Kentucky. He earned a BA in Classics and Philosophy in 2002, and an MA in Classics and a Graduate Certificate in Latin Studies in 2004. As a graduate student at UK, Robert pursued both Greek and Latin studies.
The fellowship is a one-time scholarship awarded to graduating seniors who are continuing their post-baccalaureate education at UK. Paralleling the growth of the classics program, awards such as these contribute to the continued success in attracting some of the best students from around the world, and especially in keeping the ones who already call the classics program home.
Latin is not dead, at least not at the University of Kentucky. "Latin is spoken as a living language here" says Jonathan Meyer, a graduate student in the Latin Studies program. Jonathan was recently nominated in the Masters Category for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award for Teaching Assistants. In this podcast, Guy Spriggs interviews Jonathan about his nomination as well as the unique aspects of the Latin Studies program.
Classics Masters' program has seen immense growth, attracting renowned scholars.
Speaker: Sascha Seiler, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Lecture title: Closing the Transatlantic Gap: American Popular Music and German Culture since the 1960’s
Date, time, place: Monday, March 5, 4:00 pm, Student Center 249
Abstract of the talk:
Today, American popular culture can be found everywhere in Germany, but this was not always the case. Especially German literature, and with it every other form of cultural articulation commonly regarded as ‘high art’, had its problems in accepting these new forms of music, film or writing that came from the USA. In fact, until the end of the 1960s there was such a strict division between what was considered highbrow and lowbrow that it took a major cultural scandal to open German culture up to the aesthetic possibilities that lay in American popular culture. For German intellectuals it was a long and hard way to realize that popular culture in general must be seen as an important aesthetic phenomenon that not only has a big influence on everyday life but also is a basic factor when we consider transatlantic cultural relations between Germany and the USA.
The talk analyzes the great influence that American popular culture had on German literature until the present day, starting with the problematic beginnings in the 1960s and ending with the ironic ‘Popliteratur’-movement that began to surface in the late 1990s.
Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby is the Chair of the Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Literatures & Cultures, and Karen Petrone is the Chair of the Department of History. They proposed the next stop on the Passport to the World.
The University of Kentucky has one of the most distinguished Classics programs in the world, and the UK Institute for Latin Studies (Graduate Certificate Curriculum) is now celebrating its tenth year.
Latin may not be the standard language in everyday conversation anymore, but its use spans well after the fall of the Roman empire. In fact, a visiting scholar will be visiting UK on March 5th to talk about Latin's lasting literary legacy.
MCLLC professor Jacqueline Couti hosts two-day symposium highlighting Caribbean culture.
