Salem College is pleased to announce that Andrew Thomas is one of a select group of faculty members nationwide chosen by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) and the Center for Hellenic Studies to participate in an Ancient Greece in the Modern Classroom seminar, “The Histories of Herodotus.”

 “One of my favorite courses that I have created and taught at Salem College is The Greco-Roman World.” Thomas said. “I am very thankful for this opportunity to attend this seminar taught by distinguished faculty, and I know this experience will greatly enhance my ability to help students at Salem develop a deeper appreciation and passion for the classical world.”

CIC and the Center for Hellenic Studies recently selected 18 faculty members to participate in the seminar, which will take place July 25–31, 2016, at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies campus in Washington, DC. Gregory Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University, and Kenneth Scott Morrell, associate professor of Greek and Roman studies at Rhodes College, will lead the seminar. The program is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

“Strengthening the teaching of the classics at colleges and universities is of critical importance. This seminar series addresses the challenge of keeping alive in undergraduate education classical texts that a generation ago were read and understood by every college graduate,” said CIC President Richard Ekman. “We believe that Dr. Thomas will contribute to the seminar in meaningful ways and learn much that will energize teaching when he returns home.” 

“Dr. Thomas is an outstanding teacher who excites students through his passion for history, and I am thrilled he will have this opportunity to further develop and invigorate his teaching of the classical world.” said Susan Calovini, Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs and Dean of the College.

Designed for non-specialists, the seminar will focus on the Histories of Herodotus, the so-called father of history. The discussions will explore his description of the interactions between Greek-speaking peoples and other societies as a way to articulate a more precise understanding of what it meant to be a Hellene at a time of intensified cross-cultural interaction in the Mediterranean. The seminar will equip participants to use the Histories in a broad range of courses and to enrich the general education programs of their institutions.

For more than ten years, CIC has collaborated with the Center for Hellenic Studies to provide seminars on teaching the classics for small and mid-sized independent colleges that have a limited number of faculty members or courses in the classics. The seminar is ideal for faculty members who have been trained in other disciplines and who seek opportunities to explore major classical texts and learn new ways to teach these texts to undergraduates.

For information, visit the CIC website at www.cic.edu/AncientGreece.  

Participants in 2016 CIC-Center for Hellenic Studies Seminar 

Debra Beilke, Professor and Chair, English and Modern Languages, Concordia University, St. Paul (MN)

Matthew Bloom, Assistant Professor of History, Concordia University Texas

Mera Flaumenhaft, Tutor in English, St. John’s College (MD)

Teresa Gilliams, Associate Professor of English, Albright College (PA)

Jonathan Good, Associate Professor of History, Reinhardt University (GA)

Bethany Hicok, Professor of English, Westminster College (PA)

Charles Hotle, Professor of History, Culver-Stockton College (MO)

Matthew Klemm, Associate Professor of History, Ithaca College (NY)

Jonathan Loopstra, Associate Professor of History, Capital University (OH)

Jodie Mader, Associate Professor of History, International Studies, and Political Science, Thomas More College (KY)

John Mazis, Professor of History, Hamline University (MN)

Christine McCann, Professor of History and Political Science, Norwich University (VT)

Stephen Mead, Professor of English, Saint Martin’s University (WA)

Georgene Montgomery, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of English, Clark Atlanta University (GA)

Andrew Thomas, Associate Professor of History, Salem College (NC)

Arthur Vanden Houten, Associate Professor of Political Science, Flagler College (FL)

Patrick Wadden, Assistant Professor of History, Belmont Abbey College (NC)

Lisa Wilkinson, Associate Professor of Religion/Philosophy, Nebraska Wesleyan University