The 2014-15 academic year was a busy one at Assumption. After an organizational meeting early in the fall, the year started with a lecture on October 7 by Dr. John Dobbins: “Architecture and Mosaics in the House of the Drinking Contest at Antioch: Reconstructing the Ancient Context” (sponsored by The Archaeological Institute of America and Assumption’s Humanarts Program). This lecture was particularly apt since the Worcester Art Museum houses a number of Antioch mosaics including the Drinking Contest between Herakles and Dionysus. Then just prior to Halloween on October 30 we held our annual Paint your own Pot or Pumpkin event. On December 8 together with the French Club we had dinner and sang carols in Latin and French with piano accompaniment by an emeritus French professor and cello accompaniment by Professor Catto.
At the beginning of the second semester on February 19 a group of students with Prof. Catto visited the excellent classical collection at the Worcester Art Museum. The collection has now been augmented by materials from the now closed (eheu!) Higgins Armory Museum so that one can view ancient armor and related materials. On March 12 we initiated 11 new students into Eta Sigma Phi, including one student from Clark who takes Greek here. On March 26 we met to elect new officers and to start planning for next year. That same day there was a lecture by Dr. John H. Hale: “Cleopatra: An Archaeological Perspective on Egypt’s Last Pharaoh” (this was also sponsored by AIA and Humanarts). On April 18 twenty-five students went with Prof. Catto and Emeritus Prof. Barbara Beall-Fofana by bus to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to view the newly reinstalled Greek galleries – plus of course the recent addition of a 13 foot tall cult statue of Juno. On April 23 we held a joint Parilia/Vinalia celebration by trekking into the basement of Founders Hall to view an intricate model of Rome in the 4th century A.D. constructed many years ago by one of the Assumptionist priests. Then we came up for fresh air and refreshments (cake, pomegranate soda). We had planned some fun with an Eta Sigma Phi frisbee but the weather was still too cold! Finally, on April 29 at the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department’s annual dinner Professor Catto presented three laurel wreaths to graduating Classics majors and acknowledged two graduating minors.
Submitted by Bonnie A. Catto, Faculty Advisor