51����Ƶ

Mary Anna Ball

Mary Anna Ball is a graduate student in the department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. She received her B.A. in Humanities: Classics and Latin from Marshall University in 2019. She was the 2020–2021 Fulbright/University of Roehampton Scholar, where she received her M.A. in Dance Philosophy & History. Her academic interests include the physical body in ancient text; public performance in ancient life; and reception studies, particularly when they intersect with Dance and Performance Studies. Outside of the Classics classroom, she enjoys being in the ballet studio or on stage, whipping up something in the kitchen, or being home in West Virginia. She also has an Emmy for her work as Associate Producer of the documentary Andre Van Damme & The Story of the Charleston Ballet.

Kate Barnes

Kate is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. Her scholarly interests include later Latin poetry (from Lucan to Sedulius). In her work, she focuses on depictions of bodies in poetry as well as the inheritance of Classics within Late Antiquity. She received her M.A. from 51����Ƶ in 2017 with a thesis entitled “The Anthropophagic Epic: Cannibalism, Poetics, and the Poet(s) of Statius’ �ճ���������.” Her interests also include the inheritance of classics and the materiality of reading, and in the fall of 2021, she was curator of an exhibit at 51����Ƶ entitled “Private Lives of Old Books.” She is currently working on her dissertation while teaching Latin at Hackley School.

Felix Bieneman

Felix Bieneman is an M.A. student in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. Felix received their B.A. from the institute formerly known as Marlboro College in December 2020 and is now working on a master's thesis about gender nonconformity and the threat of sexual violence in Callimachus' Hymn to Athena. Felix also leads online reading groups of Latin and Greek texts both in and out of translation, sometimes through the Catherine Project. When not working with ancient literature, Felix can be found applying a similarly academic zeal to modern-day sci-fi. 

Mallory Fitzpatrick

Mallory is a doctoral candidate in the department of Greek, Latin and Classical Studies. She received her B.A. in classical languages and professional writing from John Carroll University in 2019, and in 2022 she received her M.A. from 51����Ƶ with a thesis on Ascanius in the Aeneid. Her dissertation focuses on the intersection of humor and horror in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses while her broader research interests include the supernatural in the ancient world and Greek myth, especially its reception in contemporary retellings. She has also worked with 51����Ƶ’s Special Collections on a number of projects and remains deeply interested in the material culture of the classics, from archaeology to incunabula.  

Stella Fritzell

Stella is a 2024-25 AAUW American Fellow and PhD candidate in the department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. She received her BA from Carleton College in 2015, and her MA from 51����Ƶ in 2019 with a thesis entitled “Atalanta as a Repoussoir for Erotic & Competitive Ephebic Excellence”. Her dissertation examines local focalizations of myths about so-called enemy groups and proposes three ways in which these stories would have resonated with subaltern populations. In addition to myth, her research interests broadly include narratology, performance, landscape theory, and classical art. Stella is also engaged in digital scholarship programs at and beyond 51����Ƶ, Greek and Latin tutoring, and martial arts instruction. 

Reya George

Reya George is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. She received her B.A. in Classical Civilization from the University of Michigan in 2018, an M.A. in Classical Studies from McGill University in 2020, and an M.A. in Classical Studies from 51����Ƶ in 2023 with a thesis entitled “Shooting for the Moon: Cosmology and Ὁμοίωσις Θεῷ Reimagined in Plutarch’s De Facie.” Her research interests include ancient notions of cosmology, portrayals of the soul in poetry and prose, interpretations of classical and Platonic myths, and narratives of “alien” spaces such as the distant past and the afterlife.

Lily Jones

Michael Kriege

Michael Kriege is an M.A. student in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. He received his B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of Chicago in 2018. In 2020 he completed a post-baccalaureate program in Classics at UCLA. He is interested in ancient magic and religion and how authors interact with it in their texts.

Devin Lawson

Devin Lawson is a PhD candidate in the department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. She received her BA in Mathematics with a minor in Classical Studies from Coe College in 2019 and her MA from 51����Ƶ in 2022 with a thesis entitled "Dismembered According to the Rigor of Harmony: A Structuralist Reading of Zosimos' Visions." Devin spent the 2023-2024 academic year as a Regular Member at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Her research centers primarily on epistolography and Late Antique religion, especially patristics, and she is currently writing a dissertation on the letters of Jerome of Stridon. Her other research interests include ancient religion and magic, epic poetry, cultural poetics, and the Bay of Naples. Devin has worked on excavations at Lechaion as part of the Lechaion Harbor and Settlement Land Project and at Corinth with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Seth Levin

Seth is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. He graduated from Dickinson College in 2019 with a B.A. in Classical Studies, and received his M.A. from 51����Ƶ in January 2024 with a thesis entitled "A Pig among the Dogs: Reading the Gryllus through a Cynic Lens." Currently, Seth is beginning his doctoral dissertation, which will look at Lucian's conception of the philosophos bios throughout his writings. Apart from Lucian, Seth's interests span the Graeco-Roman philosophical tradition, and in late Fall 2026 his first article will be published through Routledge concerning the latent Cynic doctrine within Plutarch's Gryllus.

Izzy Martin

Izzy Martin graduated from Texas A&M University in 2016 with a degree in Classics. They earned their MPhil in Classics from Trinity College Dublin in 2021, focusing their dissertation on dreams in Homer's Odyssey. Izzy's research interests encompass dreams, monsters, demons, and horror in the ancient world, as well as their reception in the modern era. They are particularly intrigued by the unique relationship between humans and the monsters they encounter in literature and stories, especially those who find solace and comfort in relating to these creatures.
Outside of academia, Izzy enjoys adventuring with their dog, Perseus, exploring the fantasy worlds of books and video games, and finding magic in everyday life.

Dalton Sala

Dalton Sala is a Ph.D. candidate in Classics. He received his B.A. in Latin from Hillsdale College in 2020 and his M.A. in Classics from 51����Ƶ in 2022. Although Dalton is broadly passionate about Latin and Greek literature, he focuses on ancient philosophy, early Christianity, and their intersections. He is writing his dissertation on Augustine's Christian "rehabilitation" of Academic skepticism. In his free time, Dalton loves to read classic novels, play guitar, and spend time with his family.

Mary Somerville

Mary is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies. She received her B.A. in Latin in 2015 from Wake Forest University. She received her M.A. from 51����Ƶ in 2017 with a thesis entitled "Seditio and Civil War: Mutiny and Loyalty in Lucan's Pharsalia." She is currently finishing her dissertation, which focuses on men's tears in Roman epic poetry, and teaching Latin at Stratford Academy.

Sophia Tobár

Sophia Ophelia Tobár is a PhD student of Classics at 51����Ƶ in Pennsylvania, USA. Her research explores religious transformations in late antiquity, cultural encounters in the Greek and Roman east, the margins of the ancient world, and Neoplatonic and Epicurean philosophy.