The Carl S. Knopf Award For Best Student Paper on the Ancient World

Rowan Barton '22

(Archaeology, Classical Studies & Environmental Studies Majors)
Manly Women and Womanly Men: An Analysis of Gender Sterotypes and Inversions in Terences Hecyra

 

Louis Polcin ' 21

(History/Classical Studies)
At the Crossroad of Cultures: Josephus’s Portrayals of Three Hasmonean Kings within Genre Contexts and Cultural Literary Models

Kai Griffith '21

(Art History & Classical Studies Major)
Art Literature and Theories Relating to Caravaggio’s Ecce Homo

Louis Polcin '21

(History & Classical Studies Major)
Across The Timeline: Understanding the Place of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad Within the Epic Tradition

Louis' paper discusses the different ways in which the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh and Homer's Iliad portrays their heroes' search for fame and immortality. Gilgamesh journeys to the end of the world to ask the only human ever granted immortality, Uta-napishti, how he could achieve eternal life himself. He ultimately fails at both the tasks set by Uta-napishti, yet he gains immortality in unexpected ways, through the scribally transmitted text of his own story. The Iliad, in turn, as an epic that was originally transmitted orally, conceives Achilles as a bard who manipulates his own story by deciding to face and defeat Hector even though that means his own death. In this way, he manages to establish his own hero cult and to become the object of narratives spread orally by other bards.

Rachel Dell '19

(Biology & Classical Studies Major)
Biology is a Science. An Analysis of Lucian's True History as Science Fiction

Rachel Dell's thesis "Biology is a Science. An Analysis of Lucian's True History as Science Fiction" contains a genuinely interesting and original argument; it demonstrates an ability to read and comment on the original ancient Greek text, and it shows an ability to incorporate, synthesize, and critique existing scholarly literature in multiple fields (Biology, Classics, and modern literary criticism). It is impressive that she actually contacted contemporary writers of science fiction in order to elicit definitions of the genre by its current practitioners -- this struck the committee as innovative and unusually enterprising. Rachel's paper argues, on the one hand, that Lucian, rather than filling his story with imaginary advanced technology, inverts the practice of modern science fiction writers by replacing contemporary technology, especially metal technology, with natural resources. On the other hand, the paper shows that the many encounters of Lucian's narrator with alien races and his detailed, scientific description of their xenobiology, which modern scholars have largely overlooked, exactly match what we would expect in modern science fiction. Accordingly, Lucian deserves to be called one of the inventors of science fiction, despite several recent attempts to deny him this status. Rachel's paper is well-argued and eloquently written and, we believe, more than deserves the Knopf award.

None of the submitted papers qualified for the award.

Rachael Lew '16

(Archaeology Major)
Lost Heritage of Humanity, The Problem of Unprovenanced Artifacts: An Analysis of Pre-Columbian Mexican Spindle Whorls from the Hallie Ford Museum of Art

Lindsey Moriyama '16

(English and Classical Studies Major)

Seneca's Subtle Sarcasm

(analysis of two poems in Seneca's Apocolocynthosis)

Spencer Andrews '16

(Comparative Literature and Classical Studies Major)

Barbarians Can Be Romans Too

Erin Kahn '15

(English Major)

The Gods Know I Had No Choice: The Role of Fate in Sophocles’ Theban Plays

Patrick Leary '11

(Archaeology Major )

The Orange-Brown Patinas on the Parthenon of Athens: Implications for Human-Made Origins

Alicia Maggard '10

(Classical Studies and History Major)

Running on Imperial Time: Augustus and the "Fasti Praenestini"

Alicia's paper illustrates how Augustus left his mark not only on the three Physical dimensions of Rome, but also on Roman time.

Alicia Maggard '10

(Classical Studies and History Major)

The Supposed Separation of Collegium and State: Trajan and the Rise of Mercantile Associations

Willamette University

Center for Ancient Studies and Archaeology

Address
Gatke Hall
900 State Street
Salem Oregon 97301 U.S.A.
Phone
503-370-6920

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