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Classical studies professor to discuss Greek satire, comedy in Feb. 22 lecture

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February 15, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? Ralph M. Rosen, professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss "The Poetry of Mockery and Abuse in Ancient Greece" on Thursday, Feb. 22, at St. Olaf College.

The lecture, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 525 of Rolvaag Memorial Library, is free and open to the public. It is co-sponsored by the St. Olaf Department of Classics and the Carleton Department of Classical Languages.

Rosen?s talk will examine little-known traditions of ancient Greek satire and comedy, looking at artful ways in which poets made personal and political attacks while claiming to amuse and instruct their audiences.

An expert in ancient Greek comedy and satire and a self-described jazz fanatic, Rosen received a B.A. from Swarthmore College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania since 1983, and since 1993 has chaired the Department of Classical Studies there.

He is the author of numerous articles and reviews, as well as an important scholarly book, Old Comedy and the Iambographic Tradition, published by the American Philological Association in 1988. He also is a contributor to The Birth of Comedy (forthcoming from Johns Hopkins Press), a book of English translations of Greek comic fragments that have long been inaccessible.

He has received grants from Apple Computer and IBM to develop pedagogical software and computer-assisted language instruction.

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.