Lecture Series
We host two annual endowed lecture series: the Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture and the Thomas J. and Anne W. Sienkewicz Lecture on Roman Archaeology.
Each year we host additional visiting speakers from the Archaeological Institute of America and other guests who speak on topics that supplement course offerings.
Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture
Established in 1985 to honor Bernice L. Fox, who taught classics at Monmouth from 1947-81. Throughout her dynamic career, she promoted the classics among Illinois high schools and colleges. She is also the author of Tela Charlottae, the Latin translation of E. B. White’s Charlotte’s Web. The goal of this lecture is to illustrate the continuing importance of classical studies in the modern world and the intersection of the classics with other disciplines in the liberal arts.
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Professor Jackie Murray delivers the 35th-annual Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture, "Freedom and Unfreedom of Speech in Apollonius' Argonautica." -
Tom Sienkewicz delivers the 34th-annual Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture, "Hercules Politicus in Art: The Mythic Hero as Political Role Model." -
Thomas Jenkins delivers the 33rd-annual Bernice L. Fox Classics Lecture, "Classics, Comics, and America."
Thomas and Anne Sienkewicz Lecture on Roman Archaeology
Established in 2017, it is sponsored by our department and the Western Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Steven Tuck delivers the third-annual Sienkewicz Lecture, “Where Did the Pompeians Go? Searching for Survivors from the Eruption of Vesuvius, AD 79.”
Tom Sienkewicz was Monmouth’s Minnie Billings Capron Chair of Classics from 1985-2017. He taught a wide range of courses, many with strong archaeological features, including classical mythology, the ancient family and Africa in the Ancient World. In 1984, he founded the Western Illinois Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Since its inception, the society has hosted hundreds of archaeological lectures at Monmouth. Anne Sienkewicz has been a loyal supporter of archaeology, and over the years she has hosted countless speakers. They continue to live close to campus and come back often for events.
Past Sienkewicz Lectures
2020-21: Mont Allen, “Dicing with Death: Games, Contests, and the World of Play on Roman Sarcophagi”
2019-20: Steven L. Tuck, “Where Did the Pompeians Go? Searching for Survivors from the Eruption of Vesuvius, AD 79”
2018-19: Nathan Elkins, “The Significance of Images in the Reign of Nerva”
2017-18: Victor M. Martinez, “The Decline and Falls of the Roman Material Economy or How to Trash Talk Rome”