In September 2010, Mary McClanahan, an alumna of the program (BA ’67, MA ’69), made a very generous planned gift to endow an annual series of Classics department lectures, typically three public lectures given by departmental faculty and one by the recipient of the Mary McClanahan graduate essay prize ($1500), awarded annually to the best essay submitted to the department by a current student in the department.

Previous Winners:

2023 - Rachel Dzugan
2022 - Jacob Horton
2021 - Hannah Slough
2020 - Florencia Foxley
2019 - Jacob Sawyer
2018 - Samuel Hahn
2017 - Samuel Kindick
2016 - Elizabeth Deacon
2015 - Kevin Jefferson
2014 - Sidney Christman
2013 - Ian Oliver
2012 - Reina Callier
2011 - Mitch Pentzer


michael ventris and the Pylos Tablet An35

McClanahan Lecture: Cracking a Late Bronze Age Code

April 15, 2021

Dr. Nakassis will review how the decipherment of Linear B happened and what insights it continues to provide to scholars of early Greece, almost 70 years after Michael Ventris’ magnificent discovery.

Bocklin's painting of the cyclops, polyphemus battling Odysseus

McClanahan Lecture: Nobody's Monster

Feb. 18, 2021

Dr. Callier explores the Cyclops' appearances from archaic Greece to the early Roman Empire. Thursday, February 18th at 7pm.

woman sitting on chair with raven

McClanahan Essay Prize: Maternal Dreams

Feb. 4, 2021

Our 2020 McClanahan Essay Prize winner, Florencia Foxley, discusses the power of Maternity in ancient Greek literature. Thursday, February 4th at 5pm.

Landscape of the Western Argolid region of Southern Greece

McClanahan Lecture: In the Shadow of Argos

Nov. 5, 2020

Come and hear how this area of Southern Greece has responded to the tides of 6,000 years of inhabited history.

Trionfi di cesare

McClanahan Graduate Essay Prize Announcement 2020

Oct. 12, 2020

Announcement of the 2020 Mary E. V. McClanahan Graduate Essay Prize Summary: Classics Graduate students are invited to submit essays to be judged by a committee of three faculty members. The writer of the essay judged to be the best will receive $1,500 and will present his or her essay...

Menoikeus pictured in a red robe

McClanahan Essay Prize: Virgin Sacrifice

Dec. 2, 2019

McClanahan Graduate Essay Prize Lecture Virgin Sacrifice? Menoikeus in Euripides' Phoenician Women presented by Jake Sawyer, University of Colorado Boulder Monday, December 2nd I 5 pm I HUMN 1B90 Free and open to the public Parking available just north of the Eaton Humanities building

Ancient inscripted necklace

McClanahan Lecture: Fugitive Slaves

Nov. 13, 2019

McClanahan Lecture Series Fugitive slaves in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds Dr. Peter Hunt, University of Colorado Boulder Wednesday, November 13th I 7 p.m. I HUMN 150 Free and open to the public Parking available just north of the Eaton Humanities building

picture of old hand painted book with bright colors

McClanahan Essay Prize: Virgil's Chaonian Doves

Dec. 3, 2018

Mary E. V. McClanahan Graduate Essay Prize Monday, December 3rd at 5:30 pm | HUMN 250 Virgil’s Chaonian Doves Reading Hesiod in Eclogues 5 and 9 Classics PhD candidate, Samuel Hahn On one level, Virgil’s Eclogues consider the tension between Latin poetry and the Roman state. With the image of...

Picture of two actors rehersing the Hecuba play with costumes and masks

McClanahan Lecture: Euripides' Hecuba

Oct. 24, 2018

“’s upcoming production of Euripides’ Hecuba ” presented by Professor John Gibert “ Presents/Casey Cass” Wednesday, October 24, 2018 7:00 PM in HUMN 250 After the fall of Troy, Queen Hecuba suffers the sacrifice of one of her remaining children to appease the ghost of Achilles and the brutal murder...

The Triumph of Aemilius Paulus painting

McClanahan Lecture: Roman Temple Robber

Sept. 19, 2018

How to make a Roman temple robber: rhetoric and abuse from Ciceronian Rome to Lord Elgin presented by Professor Isabel Köster Wednesday, September 19, 2018 7:00 PM in HUMN 250 Stealing from a sanctuary was one of the worst crimes a Roman could commit. A temple robber was a creature...

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