TCNJ Classical Studies Club

 
Habito in pennsylvania, ubi leges silent et oculi dei aversi sunt.
 
 
Hey there, Classical enthusiasts! Here's what we talked about today:

Apparently, Troy still reads our emails. I don't just mean that he receives mass messages; I mean he logs into the club account and reads sent messages. We'll have to keep that in mind and stop talking about him behind his back.

October 2nd will be a classy day indeed: We will begin with a showing of a Rome-related episode of the classy British sci-fi show Dr. Who, probably around 3 PM, at the Parthenon (11 Main Boulevard). We'll walk (or drive) over together. Then, we will head over to Philly for a FREE performance of Homer's The Iliad at 7 PM (leaving around 5:30). Please let me know if you're interested so that I can start to get a head-count. You don't have to attend meetings to come hang out in Philly with us! You don't even have to be in this club in any capacity, i.e., you may invite your friends. If only a few people want to go, we'll likely drive, but if a lot are interested, we'll look into public transportation. For more information on the show itself, check out the website or the facebook event. Also, you may feel free to attend one event but not the other.

Presentations: A certain librariolus overbooked herself, so I presented instead on Ancient Rome. Topics of discussion included why Dr. David Reimer thinks that "the Romans are to the Greeks as a potato is to Einstein's brain", the significance of the phallus, homo-eroticism (also known as bromance), and sweet graffiti from Pompeii. You know you're upset if you missed it. 

Please email us back if you have something classy you'd like to present on next week. It doesn't really have to be about antiquity, though that'd be cool. 
In response to last night's email, 5 points to Hufflepuff for correctly identifying the musical as [title of show].

I think that's it. Please do email back about the movie, Philly, and presenting next week. 

Love,
Caesara Laura
 
Meeting tomorrow 09/21/2010
 
Greetings, classiest of classies! 

Don't forget to check out the Classical Studies Club meeting tomorrow at 1 PM in the Student Center at the green couches right above the Rat. Y'all better be there so we can discuss dates for upcoming events. Also, we'll be seeing the first of what will hopefully be a regular series of presentations by your fellow Classics enthusiasts: Alli will be showing pictures from her trip to Masada Feel free to bring lunch and eat with us. We won't be there long, but you don't want to miss it. 

Love,
Caesara Laura

PS. A shout-out to Matt for being cool about our collective obsession over him (I swear, it's not just me who's obsessed...). Also, a shout-out to our recently deified Caesars of old Nicole and Troy for being Classy despite having to live in Matt's shadow. Also also, a shout-out to Comden and Green. 5 points to the House of whomever can name the musical (be honorable and don't cheat).

PPS. Be sure to check out our website, made by our wonderful Architecta  Araneae Siobhan: http://tcnjclassics.weebly.com/index.html

Also, be sure to check out the website for HER awesome club, The Order of the Nose-Biting Teacups: http://www.tcnj.edu/%7Eonbt/

PPS. Check out the picture I attached. I thought it was funny, because it's both Classy AND inappropriate. 
Picture
 
 
Once upon a time, there was a club with the most awesome people in the known universe...

Oh wait, that's all of us. Graduated members included (especially such awesome past Caesars as Nicole Freeto and Matt Pihokker. And Troy Torres, who will be ecstatic to be mentioned.)

So now let's get down to business. (No defeating the Huns this time. Sorry, we're classy but we're not Mulan.)

First order of business: Trip to UPenn and its Archaeology Museum

- Will result in visits with both Nicole and Matt. Double greatness. Seriously folks.

- Right now, most likely a Saturday. Waiting on Matt's availability, since we most likely will be getting a tour from him and all his Neil-Patrick-Harris-lookalike-ness.

- Possibly would be taking public transit to get there.

Next: Recruiting in classrooms

- We want to get more people into Eta Sigma Phi, the National Classical Studies Honor Society.

--Requirements are only taking at least one semester of Greek or Latin here and getting at least a B. Benefits include something for your resume, hanging out with classy people even more, and the ability to get a snazzy graduation cord.

- Anyone in any type of Greek, Latin, Classics based course that would like to talk to their professor to recruit, contact the club account to see about what times/dates professors have said they'd prefer.

-- We have people to talk in Gruen's Mon/Thurs Greek Mythology, Sisko's Tues/Fri and Mon/Thurs courses, DiLuzio's Tues/Fri course and we're still waiting on other professors.

Tria (see what I did with those Greek numbers there?): Movie nights!

- We have a location, henceforth to be known as "The Parthenon"

-- First movie night will be 10/2/10 most likely.

--- Suggestions so far include Centaurion or a consecutive showing of a few Classics-themed Doctor Who episodes. (Time Lords are amazing.)

*Insert plug*

- Order of the Nose Biting Teacups is TCNJ's cool new Harry Potter club, of which the Dumbledore doppleganger is our very own Architectus Araneae Siobhan Sabino.

*End plug*

Symposium - For the newbies, this is our once-a-semester get together that is a philosophical discussion of some topic. Refreshments provided. It's fun times, people.

- As of now, 10/23/10.

- Need topic ideas: We've done such as "What is justice?" and "What is beauty?"

Olympics: Spring 2011 Semester

- Trying to get Hellenic Society to cosponsor if they want.

Lastly:

- The idea was brought up to have mini-presentations at meetings if people had interesting classics-based stuff they wanted to show. Feel free to bring up things you may want to talk about at meetings.

And so I say unto you in the words of my uncle... "Allez cuisine!" (Whoops, this isn't Iron Chef. And I'm not the Chairman.)

Anyway, good luck for the semester everyone. Hope this message finds you classy.

Your Librariolus
 
 
Chairete/ salvete, omnes, (See what I did there? I pretended to know Greek in addition to Latin. Maybe if you stick around, you can pick up some Greek and Latin phrases, too.), and a special greeting to the newest members of our email list (and hopefully therefore our organization). The first meeting of the Classical Studies Club will take place Wednesday (that's tomorrow) at 1 PM in the Student Center by the windy green couches above the Rat. We'll likely just talk about all the cool and classy things we have planned for this semester and talk about how beautiful Matt Pihokker is; shouldn't be more than half an hour, I'd imagine. Also, there will be free cookies (you'll find that bribing with food is a regular occurrence with this organization). Please come, and bring your friends! And if you can't come, then just keep reading the emails to stay updated about the aforementioned classy things we have planned for this semester and how beautiful Matt Pihokker is.

Pax, amor, vinumque,

Caesara Laura
 
 

Salvete, omnes! I hope that you all had a wonderful summer, but more importantly, I hope that you all had a classy summer and that your are continuing to keep it classy now that classes have started.


We've got a lot of great things planned for this year, including but not limited to our ever popular movie nights, museum trips, Assassins, and symposia, as well as a trip (or maybe even tripS) to UPenn to see our glorious Caesars of old, Nicole Freeto, beautiful goddess of owls and books and dresses with pockets, and Matt Pihokker (you may know him better as Adonis, the one that DIDN'T die in Aphrodite's arms). We're also hoping to hold Olympic games in the spring and hopefully even give back to the community (besides in the way that we already do simply via our classy existence) with some charitable events. 


Our first "event" is the Student Activities Fair, which is this Wednesday, the 8th, from 12-3. Please stop by to say hi and TELL YOUR FRIENDS to come sign up for our mailing list. Our first official meeting will be the following week, the 15th, same time and place as always. I know that since you all went to meetings all the time last year, you probably don't need reminding of what that means, but just in case, I'll remind you that it's 1 PM in the Student Center above the Rat... 


Seriously, guys. You should come to meetings this semester. They never last more than like half an hour (and are usually much shorter, actually) and are always classy.


I guess that's it. Feel free to email with any questions, comments, concerns, compliments (I like those). :)


Pax amorque,
Caesara Laura
 
 
In the spring semester of my junior year, I had to do a presentation for Professor Haynes's Age of Nero course on "theatricality": the idea of a performer watching his audience watch him. Who observes whom? In theatricality, both performer and audience engage in the active and passive roles. It was maybe my favorite thing in that class, because Lucan could go suck it.

Why do I bring up this? When entrusted with a position of leadership and authority, you are bound to experience theatricality. People observe how you act, and you observe how they react. So it has been with the Classics Club. Being aware of that has conditioned me to strive for my utmost, the very best in me, to push my limits, all to one end: to amuse you with my emails.

Alright, so it's more than that. Nicole and I put a lot of time, money, and effort (stress, in a word) into the club this year, carefully taking into account what you guys wanted to see and do this year. After us, all of the founding members of the club will be gone and it'll be "Classics Club: The Next Generation." Still, the both of us feel we're leaving the club in good hands and it thrives in our absence. For me at least, it's been quite fun being your jester: no, I've not got everyone praising me for being kallos like Matt, but at least my shameless joking has made you laugh (surprise: I never meant any of it). Alas, like the transition from David Tennant to Matt Smith, it's time for a new set of stars to take center stage, so let me wish you all good luck and then take my last bow.

Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.

~Troy Christian Torres
 
 
Salvete!

So this is probably the last classics club email I will ever send, but unfortunately I have no time to make it witty or sentimental. As many of you know, I have been diligently working on a thesis for over a year now and tomorrow, Friday, April 30th at 12pm in Bliss 229 I will be presenting said thesis. Come support me! Bess Myers, a fellow classicist will also be presenting, as well as fellow English majors Adam Engel and Jason Toncic. There will be free sandwiches!

Thesis Topics:

Adam Engel- "Poetic Pilgrimages to the Creative Word: Experiencing Reality Through the Poetry of T. S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens."

Nicole Freeto- "Gender Performativity and Euripidean Drama: The Manipulation of Gender Roles in the Alcestis, the Hippolytus, and the Bacchae."

Bess Myers- "The Iliads of Chapman and Pope: The Trials of Translation in the Invocation of the Muse, Achilles’ Reaction to Patroclus’ Death, and Achilles’ Pursuit of Hector."

One more time: Friday, April 30th (Tomorrow) 12pm-1:30pm Bliss 229.

Free Sandwiches,
Nicole
 
 
Oh, that's right, kiddies. Seriously, amabo vos, but this semester's coming to a close and there's no looking back. Tomorrow at one above the Rat, I will preside over this year's final Classics Club meeting. I know, it breaks my heart too, in no small part because it'll be my last meeting as a member and officer thereof. I'm sure you'll all drop whatever it is you're doing just to come kiss my feet one last time. With any luck, we'll also remember to swear Laura Amatulli in as the incoming president of Eta Sigma Phi, too.


That said, our last major event of the semester is this Saturday, May 1, at 5 p.m. We're swinging by the Colosseum one last time to enjoy our Movie Night Part Deux double feature: Agora and Monty Python's The Life of Brian. The former I've yet to see, the latter I can recite from memory. If you need a ride thither, ask through email or at the meeting. After that, we're going to talk about how much better those movies were than either Clash of the Titans (and probably laugh at how Nicole nearly jumped out of her chair at the trailer for the new Nightmare on Elm Street) and then pillage the house in true Roman fashion. And that's what the Romans have done for us.


Also, by way of informing you about classy things happening around our meeting time tomorrow, some people you know will be celebrating student achievement or some such phony thing:
  • Matt Pihokker will be doing a presentation on the Greek perception of what is kallos in sculpt--actually, this was just to make sure I got your attention.
  • Karin Christiaens will be discussing her paper on art history in IMM Room 230 sometime between 2 and 5.
  • Siobhan Sabino will have a poster up detailing design and implementation of security enhancements in CAFE between 1 and 2 in Room 202 of the Stud, at the 39th table.
  • Your very own Troius Augustus will give a very refined lecture on the influences of the Roman Republic on the American Constitution at 4 in Soc Sci Room 128. It'll totally make up for you not getting me a birthday present. Just saying.


So come out and support your fellow classicists. Nerds are imposing when formed into phalanxes with support from Macedonian Companion Cavalry and Cretan Archers.


~Troius Optimus Maximus~


P.S. I don't really mind you didn't get me anything for my birthday. I heed the old maxim, "Beware of geeks bearing gifts."
 
 
So I'm writing this in a rush. I've got 15 pages of thesis left to cover in the next week and I'm running out the door to Philly as we speak. Fast times at The College of New Jersey, right? Seriously, three papers over the past weekend was some harsh malarkey. Nonetheless, I will be at the meetingtomorrow; won't you?

Number One: in my great generosity, I wish to bestow honors on everyone who came to our symposium on Saturday. After we got to talking about what justice is, we could not readily come to a consensus on where we might start examining it. However, in the end we agreed by the will of the majority that justice is David Tennant, mmyes. Also occurring at the symposium were exploding fireballs, the victory of monkeys, minds being blown like bagpipes on March 17, and the very embarrassing fact that none of us can read signs on Nicole's door.

Number Two: we are establishing camp at Nicole's house on Saturday again for our Clash of the Titans fest. We'll be going thither around three, so if you need a ride, let me know. There will be much campy acting followed by much more campy acting. Stephen Colbert says that despite the new version being in 3D, the characters are portrayed as 1D. What more of a ringing endorsement do you need?

Number Three: there is no number 3.

Right, I've gotta split like the legs of Aphrodite. Catch you classy kids tomorrow at 1 above the Rat.

Troios Basileus

P.S. Matt with a British accent was the coolest thing I thought of at the symposium. You know you want some of that.
 

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