The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA) is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

civilization founded in 1869. It is the preeminent association in the field and publishes a journal, ''

Transactions of the American Philological Association ''Transactions of the American Philological Association'' (TAPA) is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1869 and the official publication of the American Philological Association. It covers the history, culture, and language of ancient ...

'' (TAPA). The APA is currently based at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

History

The APA was inaugurated by William D. Whitney, of

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, at

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

, in 1869 as an outgrowth of the Classical Section of the Oriental Society. Of the 151 inaugural members, just 8 were women, including

Alice Robinson Boise Wood Alice Robinson Boise Wood (May 15, 1846 – March 28, 1919) was a classicist and poet, and the first woman both to attend classes at the University of Michigan and to matriculate and graduate from the Old University of Chicago. Early life Ali ...

, the first woman to study (informally) at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and to graduate with a B.A. from the

Old University of Chicago The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the University of Chicago's first incorporation. The school, founded in 1856 by Baptist church leaders, was originally called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Ch ...

. Originally its members studied a great variety of texts and languages, but as disciplines such as

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and modern languages have created their own societies, the APA came to be concerned with classical antiquity and fields closely related to the study of antiquity, while the definition of "philology" broadened to include many approaches to understanding the ancient world.

Convention

The Society holds its annual convention in January, meeting jointly with the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. About 400 scholarly papers are delivered at the Society's meeting, which is also the site for interviewing for college and university positions and for the meetings of the many committees and affiliated groups. It is also the occasion for the presentation of Society awards for teaching at both pre-collegiate and collegiate level, for projects that bring classics to a wider public (outreach), and of the Goodwin Award of Merit, which recognizes a recently published book. At every meeting, an Outreach Division conducts two events that are open to the general public. One is a special panel that is of interest to non-specialists. Topics have included the movie ''Troy'', Classics and Contemporary Fiction and the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series ''

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

'' and Classics and Comics. The second is the staged reading of a classical or classically themed play, by the Committee on Ancient and Modern Performance. The productions have been: ''

The Invention of Love ''The Invention of Love'' is a 1997 play by Tom Stoppard portraying the life of poet A. E. Housman, focusing specifically on his personal life and love for a college classmate. The play is written from the viewpoint of Housman, dealing with his ...

'' (

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, directed by Mary-Kay Gamel, produced by Judith Hallett), ''The Heavensgate Deposition'' (based on ''

Apocolocyntosis The ''Apocolocyntosis (divi) Claudii'', literally ''The Pumpkinification of ''(''the Divine'')'' Claudius'', is a satire on the Roman emperor Claudius, which, according to Cassius Dio, was written by Seneca the Younger. A partly extant Menippean ...

'' by

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

, adapted by Douglass Parker, directed by Amy R. Cohen, produced by Thomas Jenkins), ''The Golden Age'' (by

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...

, directed by C. W. Marshall), ''Iran Man'' (based on ''Persa'' by

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

, directed by Mary-Kay Gamel), ''

Thespis Thespis (; grc-gre, Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first pe ...

'' (by

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

and A. S. Sullivan, with new music by Alan Riley Jones, directed by John Starks, produced by John Given), '' The Birds'' (by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme In Ancient Greece, a deme or ( grc, δῆμος, plural: demoi, δημοι) was a suburb or a subdivision of Athens and other city-states ...

, directed by Thomas Talboy), ''

Cyclops In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...

'' (by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

, directed by Laura Lippman and Mike Lippman), ''

Thersites In Greek mythology, Thersites (; Ancient Greek: Θερσίτης) was a soldier of the Greek army during the Trojan War. Family The ''Iliad'' does not mention his father's name, which may suggest that he should be viewed as a commoner rathe ...

'' (perhaps by Nicholas Udall, directed by C. W. Marshall), ''

Thesmophoriazusae ''Thesmophoriazusae'' ( grc-gre, Θεσμοφοριάζουσαι; ''Thesmophoriazousai'', meaning ''Women Celebrating the Festival of the Thesmophoria''), or ''Women at the Thesmophoria'' (sometimes also called ''The Poet and the Women''), is o ...

'' (by

, directed by Bella Vivante), ''The Jurymen'' (by Katherine Janson, directed by Amy R. Cohen) and ''

Alcestis Alcestis (; Ancient Greek: Ἄλκηστις, ') or Alceste, was a princess in Greek mythology, known for her love of her husband. Her life story was told by pseudo-Apollodorus in his '' Bibliotheca'', and a version of her death and return from t ...

'' (by

, translated by Mary-Kay Gamel, directed by Gamel and Mark Damen).

Activities

Through its divisions of Research, Education, Publications, Professional Matters, and Program, the Society conducts a variety of activities to support and disseminate knowledge of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. For example, it operates a Placement Service, gathers statistical information about the demographics of classicists, hears complaints of violations of professional ethics, provides advice and funding for major research projects (such as the

Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World The ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World'' is a large-format English language atlas of ancient Europe, Asia, and North Africa, edited by Richard Talbert, Richard J. A. Talbert. The time period depicted is roughly from Archaic Greece, ...

), and publishes monographs, textbooks and software. The Outreach Division produces a newsletter, ''Amphora,'' for non-specialists, and the electronic newsletter ''The Dionysiac,'' which gives information about performances of classical plays and other events related to ancient performance.

Scholars

Many notable scholars have served as executives of the APA and SCS, including

Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve (October 23, 1831January 9, 1924) was an American classical scholar. An author of numerous works, and founding editor of the ''American Journal of Philology'', he has been credited with contributions to the syntax of Gre ...

William Watson Goodwin William Watson Goodwin (May 9, 1831June 15, 1912) was an American classical scholar, for many years Eliot professor of Greek at Harvard University. Biography He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, the son of Hersey Bradford Goodwin and Lucretti ...

Herbert Weir Smyth Herbert Weir Smyth (August 8, 1857 – July 16, 1937) was an American classical scholar. His comprehensive grammar of Ancient Greek has become a standard reference on the subject in English, comparable to that of William Watson Goodwin, whom he s ...

Paul Shorey Paul Shorey Ph.D., LL.D., Litt.D. (August 3, 1857 – April 24, 1934) was an American classical scholar. Biography Shorey was born at Davenport, Iowa. After graduating from Harvard in 1878, he studied in Europe at Leipzig, Bonn, Athens, ...

Lily Ross Taylor Lily Ross Taylor (born August 12, 1886, in Auburn, Alabama - died November 18, 1969, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American academic and author, who in 1917 became the first female Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Biography Born in ...

Berthold Ullman Berthold Louis Ullman (August 18, 1882 in Chicago, Illinois – June 26, 1965 in Vatican City) was an American Classical scholar. Ullman was born in Chicago to Louis Ullman and Eleanora Fried. He was educated at the University of Chicago (A.B. 1903 ...

Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton, FBA (; 17 February 1900 – 17 September 1993) was a Canadian classical scholar and leading Latin prosopographer of the twentieth century. He is especially noted for his definitive three-volume work, ''Magistra ...

, Gerald Else, Helen F. North,

Bernard Knox Bernard MacGregor Walker Knox (November 24, 1914 – July 22, 2010Wolfgang Saxon ''The New York Times'', August 16, 2010.) was an English classicist, author, and critic who became an American citizen. He was the first director of the Center ...

, Charles Segal,

Emily Vermeule Emily Dickinson Townsend Vermeule (August 11, 1928 – February 6, 2001) was an American classical scholar and archaeologist. She was a professor of classical philology and archaeology at Harvard University. Early life and education Emily Dickins ...

, and

Shelley Haley Shelley P. Haley is the Edward North Chair of Classics and Professor of Africana Studies at Hamilton College, New York, and (in 2021) President of the Society for Classical Studies. She is an expert in applying Black feminist and critical race ...

Change of Name

In 2013 the American Philological Association elected to change its name to the Society for Classical Studies.

Notes

External links

* *
Finding aid to the Society for Classical Studies records at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{authority control Historical societies of the United States 1869 establishments in New York (state) Linguistic societies College of the Holy Cross University of Pennsylvania Academic organizations based in the United States Classical associations and societies Organizations established in 1869

History

Convention

Activities

Scholars

Change of Name

Notes

Further reading

External links