Cornell Undergraduate Conference Report

I was lucky enough to be involved in the inaugural (but hopefully to be annual) Cornell Undergraduate Classics Conference on the 10th April. Notes are made and photos are uploaded, so the time has come to make a report.

First, I have to point out that I had no idea what to expect on any level. I've been to a few conferences and seminar workshops, but only in the capacity of a very quiet undergrad, sitting at the back. My sum experience of presentation-giving was a ten minute spiel on reality and satire in the Satyricon which was only to my classmates.. and it was supposed to be five minutes long. So I was nervous. I'd probably have fallen over if I wasn't holding on to the lectern.

The conference kicked off on Friday the 9th, with a welcome reception in the (very impressive-looking) Classics department at Cornell, where we made awkward greetings and asked each other what our papers were about. That makes it sound quite painful, but of course it's always wonderful to meet other people who love classics. It's self-affirming and makes us feel almost normal. Conversation turned to what we were doing at university, and I was uncomfortably aware of the fact that I'm not really connected to any university at the minute. That sounds strange, because I'm actually enrolled at two - but no one at either university knows who I am. I was in Bristol the other day, and I realised that despite being in my third year, only two members of the faculty would recognise me by sight. This isn't really a criticism; it just fed into what was praying on my mind - that I hadn't discussed my paper with anyone. It wasn't on purpose; it's more that I don't know anyone that I thought would help me. I tried to get my tutor to have a look at it (belatedly), but he was too busy. So in the end, no one from Bristol read my paper or knew what I was talking about and no one from Siena even knew I was going... which - well, it's not great.

The next morning we gathered in the auditorium, where they'd arranged a buffet breakfast. I was delighted to find that cake is apparently an acceptable breakfast food in the US. One of the other students, Nick Geller, had also studied in Italy for a while, and he often found his Latin much better than his Italian. An interesting conversation followed about speaking Latin (thankfully not in Latin.. it was still too early), before we were instructed to take our seats and the conference began.

After a brief introduction by Stevie Hull, the keynote speaker - Prof. Cynthia Damon of Penn. University - presented a very interesting paper on the tensions between poet and historiographer in Seneca's Apocolocyntosis. And then - the student papers began:

First, the Greek Literature panel:

“Medea’s Word as Deterministic” (Adriana Vazquez, Stanford University

“Plato’s Doubly Mimetic Socrates” (Stephen Margheim, Baylor University)

“Cain in Exile: Homeric Echoes in Hebrew Literature” (Christopher Mercurio, Rutgers University)

Then 'Authorial & Narrative Voices in Classical Literature':
“Narrator and Narrative Persona in Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis” (Raquel Begleiter, Harvard University)

“The Return, Romans and Rome: the Perspective of Rutilius Namantianus” (Felipe Fernandez del Castillo, The University of Chicago)

“Authorial Intrusion and Self Representation in Anna Komnena’s Alexiad” (Robin Meyer, University College, Oxford University)

Next, Roman Literature:
“Competing Poetics in Persius’ First Satire” (Benjamin Jerue, The University of Michigan)
“Parallel Structure, Parallel Lives, Parallel Empires” (Margaret Clark, Middlebury College)
“A Carmen in a Canto: the Presence of Catullus 64 in the Opening of Ezra Pound’s Cantos” (Sebastian Momtazi, Durham University)
“Plautus’ Pseudolus and the Fourth Wall” (Nicholas Geller, The University of Chicago)

Finally, 'Art, Archaeology & Material Culture':

“Textile Variety in the Iconography of the Arkteia” (Michelle Barron, Amherst College)

“Shades of Blood: a Semantic Approach to Latin Colour Terminology” (Madeleine Fforde, The University of Bristol)

[Ready to speak.. (l-r) Raquel, Margaret and myself]

Since I was last, I had a lot of time to grow apprehensive. However, despite my nerves (and the powerpoint refusing to show my Munsell diagram), the reception to my paper was much better than I thought it would be - I pictured a venerable academic standing up and saying 'No. Just, no.' - but the questions I received were really encouraging. Perhaps I looked nervous enough to inspire compassion - I was grateful I'd written out more or less what I was going to say (though I tried to speak to the audience and look up as much as I could), because words completely failed me at the beginning. It got better as I went on, and by the end, I think (hope) I was able to answer questions in a vaguely coherent fashion, but who knows? Incidentally, my paper didn't actually have anything to do with art, archaeology or material culture, but it fit that category as well as any other.

About the talks themselves - well, it was striking what a large range was covered. I can't imagine any other conference where the requisite theme is 'anything to do with classics'. As with any event, some speakers were more confident than others, and some papers were easier to follow than others, but I really enjoyed listening to all of them, and getting such a whirlwind tour of antiquity. I was introduced to things I'd never heard of (Rutilius Namantianus, the Alexiad) and brought back to familiar works with new ideas.

All in all, it was a great experience - but surreal beyond belief. I still have no idea how I ended up on the other side of the world.. for classics. (It got even stranger when the 'after party' ended up in a frat house and they introduced me and my fellow Brits to beer pong. I'm sure that isn't a conference staple.)

USA report to follow!