Conference, lecture, Latin mass
A busy weekend ahead for the college’s classics department
Highlighted by the third meeting of the Illinois Classical Conference (ICC) at Monmouth College, Oct. 2-4 will be a busy weekend for the college’s classics department. The ICC, which is the statewide organization of K-16 teachers of Latin and ancient Greek, has met at Monmouth twice before, in 1964 and 2002. This year’s ICC will meet jointly with AMICI, the classical association of Iowa. “The program includes a variety of scholarly and pedagogical papers on the classical languages and the ancient world, as well as book displays, a Catholic Mass in Latin, an archaeology lecture by our own Kristian Lorenzo, and a Roman banquet consisting only of Old World foods,” said Tom Sienkewicz, Monmouth’s Capron Professor of Classics. Titled “Ares’ Dedication to Timagoras: The Curious Case of an Inscription, Powerful Poetics and Naval Victory,” Lorenzo’s archaeology lecture will be presented on Oct. 3 at 3 p.m. in the Pattee Auditorium of the Center for Science and Business. It is free and open to the public. A former member of the classics faculty, Lorenzo returned to Monmouth this fall after a year at the University of Richmond. After completing his undergraduate work in Mediterranean archaeology at SUNY-Buffalo, he earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in classics from the University of Wisconsin. Also presenting at the meeting will be Sienkewicz and assistant professor of classics Robert Simmons, who are serving as co-chairs of the event. Sienkewicz will give a presentation titled “A Latin Seal of Biliteracy? Quo Vadamus (Whither He Goeth)?,” while Simmons’s presentation is titled “What Can Classics Day at Monmouth College Do for You?” The Catholic Mass will be celebrated Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. in Dahl Chapel. “This will be the Novus Ordo (New Order) liturgy celebrated every Sunday, but entirely in Latin,” reported Sienkewicz. Celebrant will be Fr. Thomas Otto of Immaculate Conception Church; organist, Nancy St. Ledger; cantor, Kathy Mainz; altar servers, Nick Mainz and Dario Fuller; lectors, Rachel Masch, Kathleen Brown and Mackenzie Davis. The Mass fulfills the Catholic Sunday obligation, and all are welcome. Monmouth College has one of the leading departments of classics in the region, serving as headquarters of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS). Recent graduate Tim Morris served as the national president of Eta Sigma Phi, the national classics honor society. Sienkewicz, who holds the highest office in CAMWS, has been honored with multiple lifetime achievement awards in classics, while Simmons was recently honored by CAMWS for the Classics Day program, which debuted at Monmouth last spring.