In September 2010, Mary McClanahan, an alumna of the program (BA ’67, MA ’69), made a very generous planned gift to endow an annual series of Classics department lectures, typically three public lectures given by departmental faculty and one by the recipient of the Mary McClanahan graduate essay prize ($1500), awarded annually to the best essay submitted to the department by a current student in the department.

Previous Winners:

2023 - Rachel Dzugan
2022 - Jacob Horton
2021 - Hannah Slough
2020 - Florencia Foxley
2019 - Jacob Sawyer
2018 - Samuel Hahn
2017 - Samuel Kindick
2016 - Elizabeth Deacon
2015 - Kevin Jefferson
2014 - Sidney Christman
2013 - Ian Oliver
2012 - Reina Callier
2011 - Mitch Pentzer

 

The head of Roma on the front and the two Dioscuri riding horses on the back. Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

McClanahan Essay Prize: Rome’s Other Twins: Ovid’s Gemini in Fasti V.

Jan. 23, 2024

Rome’s Other Twins: Ovid’s Gemini in Fasti V. Rachel Dzugan The head of Roma on the front and the two Dioscuri riding horses on the back. Münzkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The legendary she-wolf suckles Romulus and Remus. Musei Capitolini. Thursday, February 1, 5:15pm Eaton Humanities #250 Free and open...

pot used in ancient beer brewing

McClanahan Lecture: Defining Beer in the Ancient World

Oct. 26, 2023

Defining Beer in the Ancient World By Travis Rupp Wednesday, November 29, 7:00pm Eaton Humanities #250 & Zoom Free and open to the public Download the poster ABSTRACT This lecture will be a deep dive into the academic debate over what constitutes beer throughout history and how it was initially...

Phocion (left), Petain (right)

McClanahan Lecture: Phocion the Good and Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France: Parallel Lives?

April 9, 2023

Phocion the Good and Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France: Parallel Lives? Professor Peter Hunt Thursday, April 20, 7:00 p.m. Hale Science Building Room 230 & Zoom ( REGISTER HERE ) Free and open to the public Download the poster ABSTRACT This lecture imagines how the Greek biographer Plutarch might write...

Hermopolis covered in mist

McClanahan Lecture: Uncovering the City of the Baboon: New excavations at Hermopolis Magna, Egypt

March 7, 2023

Uncovering the City of the Baboon: New excavations at Hermopolis Magna, Egypt Professor Yvona Trnka-Amrhein Thursday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. Hale Science Building Room 230 & Zoom ( REGISTER HERE ) Free and open to the public Download the poster ABSTRACT In January 2023, CU’s Classics Department and the Egyptian...

The Torment of Saint Anthony, attributed to Michelangelo

McClanahan Essay Prize: Athanasius Strikes Back

Dec. 19, 2022

McClanahan Essay Prize Lecture Athanasius Strikes Back: The Life of Antony as a Rebuttal of the Vita Apollonii Jacob Horton, University of Colorado Boulder Thursday, January 26, 2023 | 5:00 p.m. | Eaton Humanities 135 By the 5th century CE, Christian hagiography had become a preeminent form of literature in...

elliot lecture thumbnail

McClanahan Lecture: The Past in Fragments: Ennius’ Annals, Cato’s Origins, and the history of Rome

March 28, 2022

The Past in Fragments: Ennius’ Annals , Cato’s Origins , and the history of Rome Professor Jackie Elliott Wednesday, April 20, 7:00 p.m. Hale Science Building Room 230 Free and Open to Public Download Poster ABSTRACT The early Roman poet Ennius (239 – 169 BCE) and his contemporary, the statesman...

Roman baths at Bath at night

McClanahan Lecture: Lampreys and the Birth of Roman Imperial Jurisdiction

Feb. 6, 2022

McClanahan Lecture Series Lampreys and the Birth of Roman Imperial Jurisdiction Dr. Zach Herz, University of Colorado Boulder Thursday, February 17th, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. | Hybrid Vedius Pollio liked feeding people to lampreys. According to an urban legend that circulated in Imperial Rome, the emperor Augustus saved one of...

Mesopotamian cylinder seal

McClanahan Essay Prize: Dance of Dumuzi

Dec. 5, 2021

McClanahan Essay Prize Lecture Dance of Dumuzi: the Choreography of Mesopotamian Space and Ritual Hannah Slough, University of Colorado Boulder Thursday, January 20, 2022 | 7:00 p.m. | Virtual webinar Modified Mesopotamian cylinder seal In this study I examine the way ancient dancers in Mesopotamian region between the Tigris and...

Montage of archaeological architectural drawings

McClanahan Lecture: Death and Transfiguration

Oct. 25, 2021

Dr. Lansford shares about an unlikely witness to the tremendous cycles of collapse and recovery, death and renewal that have transformed central Rome beyond recognition down the centuries.

buffalo chip

McClanahan Graduate Essay Prize Announcement 2021

Classics Grad Students! Compete for this year's McClanahan Prize! Deadline is September 20th.

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