Twenty-eight CIC faculty members from a wide variety of fields attended a seminar on Ancient Greece in the Modern College Classroom that focused on teaching the Odyssey. This seminar, the second cosponsored by the Center for Hellenic Studies and CIC, was held July 9–13 at the Center’s Washington, DC, campus and was again made possible through the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Directed by Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University, and Kenneth Scott Morrell, associate professor of classics at Rhodes College (TN), the seminar on “Homer Across the Curriculum: The Odyssey” provided faculty members with varying degrees of expertise on Homer the opportunity to extend their knowledge of ancient sources and develop strategies for incorporating them into their courses.

The seminar was designed primarily for those who have not had formal training in ancient Greek literature, and seminar participants spent the week discussing various topics related to teaching the Odyssey, including the historical and cultural contexts of the epic, and questions of social dynamics as well as the linguistic, poetic, and cross-cultural context of the poem among other topics. “It was a wonderful week for connecting and sharing with so many different colleagues from colleges across the country and from disciplines across the curriculum. This aspect of the seminar was extraordinarily valuable,” said Pamela Gurney, assistant professor of English at Walsh University (OH).

The movies Chunhyang (2000), Alien (1979), and Le Retour de Martin Guerre (1982) were shown in the evenings, and participants were invited to consider ways that the motif of the Odyssey was echoed in these films. Participants also had access to the Center’s renowned library and worked collaboratively on materials for their courses. Sally Fischer, professor of philosophy at Warren Wilson College (NC), said she already has “a new interdisciplinary course planned out, inspired by the seminar.”

The Center for Hellenic Studies is a world-class research institute affiliated with Harvard University. Since its founding in 1962 as an “educational center designed to rediscover the humanism of the Hellenic Greeks,” the Center has brought together scholars, teachers, students, and resources in a variety of contexts to support the study of Hellenic civilization. In 2006 the Center was awarded the Onassis International Prize for its ongoing commitment to the promotion of Hellenic studies throughout the world.