What might it be like to study Classics in Canada?
Have you ever wondered how Classics is taught in another country? What might it be like to study the ancient world from, say, Canada? Well, if you’ve ever wondered about studying Classics in North America, then you are in luck because we’re going to talk about that very thing!
I contacted the Classics Associate of Canada in the hope they would be able to provide me with an insight into the field of Classics from their perspective, and was grateful when they put me in touch with Dr Peter Miller, an Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Winnipeg in Canada. I was also able to speak to one of his students, Marina Milne.
There is nothing better than a first-hand account, and I am very grateful to Dr Miller and Marina for taking their time to answer my questions!
Interview with Dr Peter Miller:
What position do you currently hold at the University of Winnipeg and what are your research interests?
I’m an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Classics at the University of Winnipeg; I’m also the President of the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association (our faculty union). I began in Classics with deep interests in archaic and classical poetry; my dissertation was on epinician poetry and epigram and their shared engagement with the metaphor of the message and the persona of the herald. Probably from my interest in two genres associated with victory dedications, I became interested in ancient sport, and indeed my first book — forthcoming with Bloomsbury in 2023 — is entitled Sport: Antiquity and Its Legacy. So, I have one foot in cultural history and reception, and one foot in philology.
How important a role do you feel Classics plays in today’s society? What can it teach us?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I think Classics is very important to today’s society! I work a lot on ancient and modern sport, so I see the influence that (sometimes misunderstood) Classical models have on modern institutions like the International Olympic Academy or in University sports. Like many, I also think ancient Greece and Rome combine a satisfying familiarity with an unsettling distance that makes them “good to think with.” From the perspective of Europe or one of its settler-colonies like Canada, Greece and Rome seem close, if only because so many writers, politicians, and others in the past gave the ancient Greeks and Romans so much value. But, once one turns an eye to antiquity, we also notice how odd — indeed, how bizarre it is! I think one of the great virtues of Classics is this combination of the banal and the bizarre, the familiar and the strange.
Do many students experience Classics before coming to University in Canada?
It’s quite rare for students in Canada to have taken ancient Greek or Latin prior to University — I began both languages as an undergraduate. In Manitoba (the province I live and work in), only one public (i.e., state-run and funded) school offers Latin, and the situation isn’t so different across the country in public and private schools. There are bits of ancient history in the public school curriculum, and, at least when I was in high school, you could take “Ancient Civilizations,” which was a one-semester course that covered essentially all of ancient history. So, indeed, one challenge we face is that while students may come to University with general or popular interests in ancient history or classical mythology, they haven’t been exposed to the academic study of these subjects.
In 2021, Princeton University announced that students majoring in Classics would no longer be required to study Ancient Greek or Latin. Is this a decision you would consider for your own students?
Yes! And not only consider — we already do it! We offer a major in Classics that does not require the languages. This is a pretty popular choice with undergrads, especially if they want to match Classics with another major like English or History (especially for those who want jobs teaching in the public school system); but, it’s also a good way for students to ‘test the waters’ and see if they like Classics before deciding to try ancient Greek or Latin. We offer two different Honours degrees, both of which require ancient languages, but our Classical Civilization stream only asks for three courses (roughly 1.5 years) of ancient Greek or Latin (along with courses in archaeology, art history, and ancient history). We’ve found this approach to balance accessibility with the faculty’s strong belief that the study of ancient Greek and Latin are of critical importance to the study of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.
The older tradition of Classics has focused narrowly on Ancient Europe. Do you think Canada’s geographical distance from Europe broadens your scope of study?
Perhaps. Certainly, Canada doesn’t have the built in rationale of the study of ancient Rome in the same way as Britain — the Roman were in Britain, while in Canada we have more of an imaginative connection with Greece and Rome (not that the imaginative connection isn’t important). To my knowledge, Classics departments in Canada largely concentrate still on the study of ancient European civilizations, and to a large extent those of Greece and Rome. Canada’s university system is a quirky mixture of American and British elements, and I think in all three systems, Classics, narrowly conceived, played a foundational role. That may be changing, and the economic challenges of keeping smaller Humanities departments running may be part of this change going forward too.
What is your favourite moment in Classical history and why?
I don’t know if I have a specific favourite moment… at least not one that comes to mind. If I did, it would be something to do with tragedy, like the premier performance of Persians or Agamemenon. I saw both performed in Greece a few years ago, the former in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and the latter at Epidavros, and they were amazing. I would love to know more about the first performance — or, indeed, to have been there!
Battle of the historians: Herodotus or Xenophon?
I have a soft spot for Xenophon: while I don’t think he’s as good a historian as Herodotus, I like the style of the Hellenica, for example. I feel like we can get a better sense of him as a person and as someone who lived through incredibly consequential events.
Interview with Marina Milne:
What are you currently studying at the University of Winnipeg, and at what level?
At the University of Winnipeg, I am in my fifth year of a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree, majoring in Classics!
Is there one area you are currently focused on, or find particularly interesting?
There are a few subject areas within Classics that I am particularly passionate about, which I may decide to focus on within my undergraduate thesis next year, and into further graduate studies. These subject areas include the roles and treatment of women and minority groups in antiquity, classical mythology, and the influence of the Near East on early cultures in the Mediterranean. Furthermore, I am very interested in Bronze Age Aegean cultures such as the Minoans, Cycladics and Mycenaeans.
How have you found majoring in Classics while minoring in other subjects?
I have not officially declared any minors alongside my Classics major, but I have taken several courses across a wide range of subjects during my time in post-secondary education, such as in Indigenous studies, world religion, French, human rights, media and film, and astronomy. While I thoroughly enjoyed these subjects, I have found that the Classics courses I’ve taken have really allowed me to establish and build upon a foundation of knowledge, where I can cross-examine and create connections between various time periods, locations, and cultures in classical antiquity. As a result, I have also been able to explore and narrow down my personal interests within the field. Finally, while the Classics department at the University of Winnipeg is not overally large, the passion and support of the faculty have made a major difference for me, in terms of my own personal enjoyment, sense of community, and the quality of my studies.
What do you wish to do once you have completed your course?
Once I have completed my Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Classics, I would like to pursue graduate studies in Classics or Museum Studies. I am truly passionate about history, especially studying ancient cultures from the artifacts they have left behind, so I would like to eventually work in a museum, gallery, or educational setting.
You can invite two Classical figures to dinner; who are they and why?
If I could invite two Classical figures to dinner, I would undoubtedly choose Aspasia and Cleopatra. I am very interested in the reception of women in ‘public’ in antiquity, and I feel that both of these women were notoriously discussed/written about by men, not only at the respective times they were alive, but for centuries afterwards. I would like to focus further studies on these women, particularly in relation to gender, misogyny, and power dynamics in the ancient Mediterranean.
What has particularly challenged you in the field of Classics to date?
I feel that an element that has been the most challenging for me in the field of Classics has been analysing Classical reception in today’s world, and the often-harmful ways ancient history has been manipulated and propagated for unjust causes. In particular, from studying under Dr. Victoria Austen (Carleton College) and Dr. Melissa Funke (University of Winnipeg), examining how ancient Greece and Rome have been used to push certain agendas regarding race, gender, and politics (such as the use of ‘Spartan culture’ to support alt-right causes in hyper-masculinity and gun advocacy, or the adaptation of Classical art and architecture to convey ‘rightful’ power in colonial buildings, particularly in North America). It is difficult to see the subjects you are passionate about being adopted as a tool to legitimize oppression against other groups of people.
Did you experience the Classics before coming to University? How did you come to be a Classics major?
I did not experience an over-abundance of exposure to the Classical world in an educational setting before coming to university, other than very brief periods of study spanning ‘world history’ in high school. I was very fortunate as a teenager, however, to do a lot of European travelling with my mother, who was also a Classics major. As a result of this influence and exposure, I developed a passion for history, particularly ancient history, at a relatively early age, and I knew I wanted to focus on that subject matter in my own post-secondary education.
I hope you have all enjoyed reading Dr Miller and Marina’s answers, and that they gave a little taste of what studying Classics in Canada and, indeed, abroad would be like!
