Humanities grads do indeed succeed!

  As we’ve been telling our students for all these years, get a good education majoring in a field you have some passion for, and that will prepare you for a successful life. Here's the latest from Inside Higher Education.     … [Read more...]

UMW/CPR to host Conference “Wild Places, Natural Spaces”

14th Annual Conference The International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place University of Mary Washington April 27-29, 2018 Conference Theme: Wild Places, Natural Spaces Call for papers We live in a world increasingly populated and altered by human beings. Along with the physical transformations have come fundamental changes in how we conceptualize our relationship with the world around us. Where once wild places represented darkness, danger, and temptation, they now conjure images of personal challenge (“conquering” the Appalachian trail or Mount Rainier), individual spiritual renewal, or hope against the degradation of rampant consumerism, inequality, or political rot. Nature—and its supposed pure form, wilderness—is both seen as the opposite of all things human and yet our true home. These changing and often inconsistent metaphors and models guide us in every area of our lives—the social, economic, aesthetic, philosophic, religious, and … [Read more...]

Fourth Annual Virginia Undergraduate Symposium

The Classics program will be hosting the Fourth Annual Virginia Undergraduate Research Symposium in Classics on Friday November 10th, 1-5 p.m., in the Hurley Convergence Center's Digital Auditorium. Free and open to the public. The program is below, and if you'd like more information, you can follow this link. Virginia Undergraduate Symposium in Classics IV University of Mary Washington, Hurley Convergence Center Digital Auditorium Friday, November 10, 2017      1-5 PM   Symposium Program   1-1:45 - Keynote: Dr. John Camp, Randolph-Macon College Recent Excavations at the Athenian Agora 1:45-2:00 - Questions and Answers 2:00-2:20 - Marshall LeMert (University of Mary Washington) The Tomb of Alexander the Great 2:20-2:40 - Rebekah Hale (Randolph-Macon College) Ancient Greek and Modern East African Tortoise Shell Lyres: An Ethnological Comparison 2:40-3:00 - Tess Monks (University of Richmond) Redundant Dido: Repetition and Alliteration in Virgil and … [Read more...]

Zen Garden construction begins

Last month, initial work on the the Leidecker Center for Asian Studies' Zen Garden began with the installation of three large boulders, weighing 10.5 tons combined, which will anchor the contemplative space. First proposed in 2015, the garden was approved as part of the renovation of the amphitheater behind Trinkle Hall. Assistant Professor of Religion Dan Hirshberg explained the significance of these multi-ton rocks, noting that "arranging these stones, and all the more so on such a massive scale, is a uniquely challenging aesthetic process, and something of a mystical one as well. According to the Zen tradition, when done authentically, their precise arrangement is said to invoke a vision of perfection in this imperfect world, a glimpse of nirvana in samsara (cyclic existence), enlightenment despite the persistence of ignorance. Like a visual koan, a garden is meant to unlock the inconceivable paradox of apparent existence and its ultimate emptiness." Coinciding with the launch … [Read more...]

CPR mourns the passing of Professor Robert F. Boughner

The Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion is saddened to announce the passing of Robert F. Boughner on August 30, at the age of 71.   Bob did his undergraduate studies in Classics at Duke, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins. His favorite author to teach was Catullus.  He taught for several years at University of Maryland and worked as a Humanities administrator at the NEH before joining the Mary Washington faculty in 1983.  He was a highly popular and engaging lecturer, and taught a wide range of courses in Classical Civilization, Latin, and Greek.   Bob served as chair of the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion from 1990 to 1996, when he left to become Dean of the American College in Athens. He returned to the United States as Dean of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, from which he recently retired, moving to Takoma Park, MD.  We learned of his death from a friend and former student who relayed to us that it was … [Read more...]