Jonathan Shen
Jonathan Shen standing beside the alter, after his talk on Kato Zarko, Crete, Greece
Thanks to funding throughÌýthe Department of Classics,Ìýthe University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ,Ìýand the NA EngineeringÌýAssoc. Inc. Award, I wasÌýfortunate enough to travelÌýto Greece in the summer ofÌý2012 to participate in theÌýSummer Session program atÌýthe American School ofÌýClassical Studies at Athens.Ìý±õ³ÙÌýwas a supremely richÌýexperience.
I went to Greece to build my C.V., t´ÇÌýmake connections, to improve myÌýunderstanding of Classics.ÌýWhat IÌýreceived was s´ÇÌýmuch more. Rather unexpectedly, I made friendships and memoriesÌýwhich would last a lifetime. OurÌýshared experien³¦±ð²õÌýwere forged in Greece. The American School SummerÌýSession brought us hither ²¹²Ô»åÌýthither, from the Minoan sites like Knossos ²¹²Ô»åÌýZakros, to Leonidas and the dead at Thermopylae, to theÌýregal Macedonian tombs of Vergina. Ìý
We met leading scholars and soaked in their knowledge at countless museums and sites. The SummerÌýSession was particularly rewarding as it Ìý affirmed much of the theoretical knowledge I hadÌýlearnt in theÌýclassroom at UW architecture, art, language, and epigraphy. The great joy of meeting with manyÌýprominent scholars gave me greater insight into all facets of the Classical Greek world; Professor JohnÌýMcK. Camp II explained the finer points of Doric architecture; Drs. Vance Watrous and Kim SheltonÌýexplained the state of excavation at their respective sites of Gournia and Mycenae; Jonathan FloodÌýshowed to us Theran volcanic ash at Mochlos; and countless others.Ìý
My research in the Ancient Mediterranean Cultures program is based on creating a prosopography ofÌýRhodos. This project entails a fair amount of work with epigraphical material. Having studied GreekÌýepigraphy in a graduate course with Dr. Sheila Ager, I was especially enthusiastic about the myriad ofÌýinscriptions that I encountered during the Summer Session at many different sites across Greece.ÌýEspecially memorable was the occasion to sight-read and analyze several inscriptions at the EpigraphicalÌýMuseum with Dr. Molly Richardson.Ìý
This Summer Session experience was unique and can never be matched. I am grateful to the UniversityÌýof À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, the supportive faculty in the Classics Department, the American School of Classics and Mr.ÌýNick Aroutzidis for this opportunity. I highly recommend any aspiring classicist to apply to this programÌýand too to know how wonderful Greece and the American School can be.
NA EngineeringÌýAssoc. Inc. Award
The NA EngineeringÌýAssoc. Inc. Award is granted to full-time undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students from the Department of Classical Studies in the Faculty of Arts. The award is based upon demonstrated interest in the study of Greece and Classical Greek heritage. If you are interested in further information on this award, visitÌýStudent Awards and Financial AidÌýfor undergraduate information as well as theÌýGraduate StudiesÌýwebsite.