Faculty Profile
Marc Mastrangelo
Professor of Classical Studies (1997)
Contact Information
East College Room 103
717.245.1387
http://
Bio
Prof. Mastrangelo's publications have focused on Early Christian Latin poetry, Greek tragedy, and Greco-Roman intellectual history. He is a co-editor of The Unknown Socrates (Bolchazy-Carducci, 2002) and the author of two books: The Roman Self in Late Antiquity (Johns Hopkins, 2008) and Prudentius' Psychomachia: Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Routledge, 2022). Other publications include: "Towards a Poetics of Late Latin Reuse," in Tradition and Innovation in the Latin Poetry of Late Antiquity (WinterVerlag, 2016); "The Early Christian Response to Platonist Poetics: Boethius, Prudentius, and the Poeta Theologus," in The Poetics of Late Latin Literature (Oxford, 2017); "Nostalgia, Memory, and Emotion In Augustine's Confessions," in Memory and Emotions in Antiquity (de Gruyter, Forthcoming). Prof. Mastrangelo teaches courses at all levels of Classical language and civilization. He is co-founder of Dickinson Classics Online, which publishes resources for Chinese students and scholars of the ancient Greek and Latin classics, and the Humanities Collective at Dickinson. He was Visiting Professor in Anglophone Studies at the Université Jean Jaurès, Toulouse in 2014-15 and is an Honorary Fellow at the Guangqi Center for International Scholars at Shanghai Normal University.
Education
- B.A., Amherst College, 1985
- M.A., Wadham College, Oxford University, 1988
- M.A., Brown University, 1995
- Ph.D., 1996
2022-2023 Academic Year
Fall 2022
FYSM 100 First-Year Seminar
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces students to Dickinson as a "community of inquiry" by developing habits of mind essential to liberal learning. Through the study of a compelling issue or broad topic chosen by their faculty member, students will:
- Critically analyze information and ideas
- Examine issues from multiple perspectives
- Discuss, debate and defend ideas, including one's own views, with clarity and reason
- Develop discernment, facility and ethical responsibility in using information, and
- Create clear academic writing
The small group seminar format of this course promotes discussion and interaction among students and their professor. In addition, the professor serves as students' initial academic advisor. This course does not duplicate in content any other course in the curriculum and may not be used to fulfill any other graduation requirement.
CLST 200 Ancient Philosophy
Cross-listed with PHIL 201-01. This course undertakes topics, issues, and texts in Classical Civilization which are not otherwise offered in the Classical Studies Curriculum. The areas may include literary, historical, or philosophical topics from Bronze Age Greece to Christian Rome. Will meet either Div 1a or 1b – Humanities, or DIV II-Social Sciences depending upon topic.
PHIL 201 Ancient Philosophy
Cross-listed with CLST 200-01. This course is an introduction to central questions, claims and arguments in ancient philosophy, centering on the work of Plato and Aristotle. Potential questions include: What is the value of reason and knowledge? What is knowledge? Is it always better to be just than unjust? What constitutes a good human life? What kind of thing is a human being?Prerequisite: one prior course in philosophy or permission of the instructor.
CLST 390 Senior Research Colloquium
This capstone course for the classical studies major includes an individually designed research project on an open question in Classical Studies based on a set of primary sources or data, and a reflective essay that applies one or more classical texts to a contemporary issue or problem of the student’s choosing. A syllabus of common readings is developed based on student interests as determined prior to the course. Class meetings include discussion of common readings, presentation of draft research and ideas for the reflective essay, field trips to museums and visiting lectures, and discussion of the value of the classical studies major to prospective employers and others. Results of the research and reflection will be published on Dickinson Scholar and publicized via the department blog.Prerequisite: Three LATN or GREK courses above 102 and CLST 251 or 253.
CLST 500 Sophocles: Oedipus Tyrannus
CLST 500 Translation of Vergil's Aeneid
Spring 2023
CLST 200 Philosophy and Literature
Cross-listed with PHIL 270-01 and RUSS 270-01.
The characters of Sophocles and Dostoevsky lie, steal, scheme, and murder. What is it about these authors’ depictions of their characters’ lying, cheating, and murdering ways that makes their writing not just literary but philosophical? And what is it about philosophical works like Nietzsche’s that makes them literary? More generally, does literature shape its audience’s ethical education, emotional health, and ability to discern truth from falsity? Where do the overlapping realms of literature and philosophy begin and end? This course investigates the intersections of philosophy and literature across various cultural contexts, historical periods, and schools of thought, with an emphasis on ancient Greek and Russian literature; authors include Fyodor Dostoevsky, Sophocles, Euripides, Ralph Ellison, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, and contemporary philosophers (Murdoch, Rorty, Scanlan, etc.). We will look at how arguments transform and are transposed from one style of writing to another, thereby raising the contentious question of whether philosophy can achieve things that literature cannot, and vice versa. We will also ask ourselves fundamental questions about the role of literature in the 21st century: why should we care about fictional stories, how and why are we moved by great writing, and what role (if any) does literature play in moral imagination?
LATN 202 Introduction to Roman Poetry
Selected readings from Catullus and Ovid, with focus on poetic technique, and discussion of supplementary readings in English.
Prerequisite: 201 or the equivalent. This course fulfills the language graduation requirement.
PHIL 270 Philosophy and Literature
Cross-listed with CLST 200-01 and RUSS 270-01.
The characters of Sophocles and Dostoevsky lie, steal, scheme, and murder. What is it about these authors’ depictions of their characters’ lying, cheating, and murdering ways that makes their writing not just literary but philosophical? And what is it about philosophical works like Nietzsche’s that makes them literary? More generally, does literature shape its audience’s ethical education, emotional health, and ability to discern truth from falsity? Where do the overlapping realms of literature and philosophy begin and end? This course investigates the intersections of philosophy and literature across various cultural contexts, historical periods, and schools of thought, with an emphasis on ancient Greek and Russian literature; authors include Fyodor Dostoevsky, Sophocles, Euripides, Ralph Ellison, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, and contemporary philosophers (Murdoch, Rorty, Scanlan, etc.). We will look at how arguments transform and are transposed from one style of writing to another, thereby raising the contentious question of whether philosophy can achieve things that literature cannot, and vice versa. We will also ask ourselves fundamental questions about the role of literature in the 21st century: why should we care about fictional stories, how and why are we moved by great writing, and what role (if any) does literature play in moral imagination?
RUSS 270 Philosophy and Literature
Cross-listed with CLST 200-01 and PHIL 270-01.
The characters of Sophocles and Dostoevsky lie, steal, scheme, and murder. What is it about these authors’ depictions of their characters’ lying, cheating, and murdering ways that makes their writing not just literary but philosophical? And what is it about philosophical works like Nietzsche’s that makes them literary? More generally, does literature shape its audience’s ethical education, emotional health, and ability to discern truth from falsity? Where do the overlapping realms of literature and philosophy begin and end? This course investigates the intersections of philosophy and literature across various cultural contexts, historical periods, and schools of thought, with an emphasis on ancient Greek and Russian literature; authors include Fyodor Dostoevsky, Sophocles, Euripides, Ralph Ellison, Friedrich Nietzsche, Plato, Aristotle, Leo Tolstoy, and contemporary philosophers (Murdoch, Rorty, Scanlan, etc.). We will look at how arguments transform and are transposed from one style of writing to another, thereby raising the contentious question of whether philosophy can achieve things that literature cannot, and vice versa. We will also ask ourselves fundamental questions about the role of literature in the 21st century: why should we care about fictional stories, how and why are we moved by great writing, and what role (if any) does literature play in moral imagination?
CLST 390 Senior Research Colloquium
This capstone course for the classical studies major includes an individually designed research project on an open question in Classical Studies based on a set of primary sources or data, and a reflective essay that applies one or more classical texts to a contemporary issue or problem of the student’s choosing. A syllabus of common readings is developed based on student interests as determined prior to the course. Class meetings include discussion of common readings, presentation of draft research and ideas for the reflective essay, field trips to museums and visiting lectures, and discussion of the value of the classical studies major to prospective employers and others. Results of the research and reflection will be published on Dickinson Scholar and publicized via the department blog.Prerequisite: Three LATN or GREK courses above 102 and CLST 251 or 253.
