# Senior Theses ## expand\_more ![Vase painting of a young man reading](/sites/g/files/omnuum8266/files/styles/hwp_21_9__1920x825/public/2025-02/boy%20reading.png?h=b3f14d0a&itok=BEDF0I24) Many senior concentrators in Classics choose to write a thesis. Through this project, students can delve deeply into an aspect of the field that interests them. During this year-long project, students conduct extensive research under faculty supervision. Every thesis writer is paired with a faculty adviser. Those concentrating solely in Classics typically also receive a graduate student assistant adviser. Joint concentrators—for whom the thesis is required—will generally have two faculty advisers, one in each field. The length of the thesis should be determined by the student and the thesis adviser but should not ordinarily exceed 60 pages of text. Open all sections Close all sections ### Timeline expand\_more Those interested in writing a senior thesis should begin thinking about a topic and potential advisers during the spring of their junior year. Every April, the department invites juniors to an information session on the thesis-writing process. At the beginning of the summer, the department aims for each student to have a tentative topic (or topics) and a potential faculty adviser. Those writing a thesis in the Department of the Classics are asked to present in our annual Senior Thesis Colloquium, which takes place in **mid-November**. This is a relatively informal event, at which each thesis writer presents their topic to faculty, graduate students, and their peers. The colloquium gives thesis-writers a chance to receive constructive comments and questions, and also hear what their peers are doing and offer them feedback in return. Students must present their thesis advisor with written proof of progress before the end of the reading period of the fall semester—i.e., **Tuesday, December 10**. A minimum of one chapter or 20 pages is required in order to continue to the spring. Senior theses are due in the Department office by **noon on the Friday before spring break**. Joint concentrators must submit their theses by the *earlier* of the two deadlines set by their Primary and Allied Fields. Prior to the due date, the classics advising team will circulate instructions for digitally submitting theses. ### Writing Resources expand\_more Each thesis adviser will have their own preference as to the form of and expectations for your meetings, but the important thing is to see them regularly to ensure that you make steady progress. You should submit written work to your advisor(s) as often as possible so that you can incorporate their feedback into your successive drafts. [Stephen Kuehler](https://library.harvard.edu/staff/steve-kuehler), a research librarian in the Harvard University Library with extensive experience in classics, can provide tailored guidance on research tools and methods, including the latest electronic resources. You can [schedule a consultation](https://libcal.library.harvard.edu/appointments/kuehler) with him. The website [**Inter Libros**](http://guides.library.harvard.edu/interlibros) collects invaluable resources that are free through Harvard, from the Loeb Classical Library to Oxford Bibliographies Online. To assist with your research, you can also get access to the [Smyth Classical Library](/smyth-classical-library "Smyth Classical Library") in Widener by emailing (). ### Requirements expand\_more The length of the thesis should be decided upon by you and your advisor but should not ordinarily exceed sixty pages. The thesis does not need to conform to a specific structure, although successful theses usually consist of an introduction, at least two chapters but generally three, and a conclusion. It must, however, conform to a specific format (margin widths, etc.), as specified in our thesis style sheet, which is circulated to thesis writers in the fall of their senior year. Further information about citations and bibliography is supplied in the [*Harvard Guide to Using Sources*](http://usingsources.fas.harvard.edu/). ### Evaluation expand\_more Every thesis is assigned at least one faculty reader by the department. The number of readers differ based on whether the thesis writer is concentrating solely in Classics, is pursuing Classics as the primary field in a joint concentration, or is pursuing Classics as the allied field in a joint concentration. For more information, see our full [honors procedures](/honors-procedures "Honors Procedures"), which details our system for assigning thesis readers. ## Recent Theses Past thesis-writers have researched a wide range of topics in archaeology, art history, history, history of science, linguistics, literature, philosophy, reception studies, and religion. Joint concentrators have written interdisciplinary theses combining Classics with, to name a few, Government, Mathematics, Theater, Dance & Media (TDM), and Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS). An asterisk (\*) indicates a thesis that won a [Hoopes Prize](https://prizes.fas.harvard.edu/hoopes-prize), Harvard’s highest honor for undergraduate writing. Open all sections Close all sections ### 2026 expand\_more *Prometheus Bound and the Rhetoric of Paint in the Art of Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Snyders* by Roger Brockett, a joint History of Art and Architecture and Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisors: Richard Thomas and Felipe Pereda *Breaking Binaries: Representations of Satyrs and Prostitutes in Attic Vase Painting* by Frances Campos, a Classical Civilizations concentrator Advisor: Irene Soto Marín, Asst. advisor: Sarah Gonzalez A *NEW BARBARIAN: Oppositional Roman Identity in the Long Twelfth Century, 1081–1216* by Christine Corcoran, an Ancient History joint concentrator. Advisors: Dimiter Angelov, Alexander Riehle *Redeeming Tragedy: Rewriting Euripides through Christian Identity in the Christos Paschon* Megan Degenhardt, an Ancient History joint concentrator. Advisors: Alexander Riehle, Dimiter Angelov *Leges Sine Moribus: The Lex Iulia et Papia* by Sophia Downs, a Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisor: Irene Soto Marín, Asst. advisor: Luby Linden \**Quantifying the Past: Empirical Tropes in Greek Historiography* by Emma Finn, a double concentrator in Classics and Statistics Advisor: Emily Greenwood. Asst. advisor Connor North *THE PHANTASM IN DE NUGIS CURIALIUM* by Theo Glaeser a joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Folklore and Mythology Advisors: Jan Ziolkowski, Joseph Nagy *Panegyric as Genre in Umayyad and Byzantine Praise Poetry: A Comparative Study of al-Akhtal al-Taghlibi’s ‘Khaffa al Qatinu’ and George Pisides’ ‘Heracliad’* by Jericho Hendershot, a joint concentrator in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Classical Civilizations Advisors: Alexander Riehle, Houssem Chachia *Translatio as Mediation: Translation, Metaphor, and the Limits of Language in Boethius* by Thomas Juhasz, a Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisor: Jan Ziolkowski, Asst. advisor: Caroline Engelmayer \**From Authority to History: Comparison and its Limits in 17th- and 18th-Century Homeric Scholarship* by Elena Lu, an Ancient History joint concentrator Advisors: David Elmer, Anne Blair \**Voices of Ambition and Critique: Contrasting Historical Inquiry in Herodotus’ Histories and Sima Qian’s Shiji* by Olivia Ma, a joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature Advisors: Emily Greenwood and Benjamin Orion Landauer *Bittersweet Birds: Women, Lament, and the Visual Language of White-Ground Lekythoi* by Fiona McFerrin-Clancy, a Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator (Feb. Graduate) Advisor: Gregory Nagy; Asst. advisor: Ollie Cowley *In with the New? Faliscan Movement and Memory in the Wake of Roman Conquest* by McKenna McKrell, a Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisor: Margaret Andrews, Asst. advisor: Samantha Richter *The Age of Everett: Philhellenism, Abolition, and Classical Education at Harvard and Beyond* by James McCoy (Mac) Mertens, a double concentrator in Classical Civilizations and History Advisor: Emma Dench, Asst. advisor: Diontay Wolfries-Thomas *κῆν᾿ ὄττω τις ἔραται: A Study of Complementarity in Lesbian Lyric* by Kiesse Nanor, a double concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Economics Advisor: David Elmer, Asst. advisor: Esther Reichek *Rura cano: the Speakers of Virgil’s Country* by John Rogers III, a Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisor: Richard Thomas, Asst. advisor: Phoebe Lakin *The Long Shadow of Homer: The Greek and Roman Settlement that Dared to Call Itself the Site of Troy* by Livingston Zug, a Classical Civilizations concentrator Advisor: Margaret Andrews, Asst. advisor: Samantha Richter ### 2025 expand\_more *The Joy of Being Bad: The Joy of Being Bad: The Scripta Puella in Augustan Rome and Reagan’s America* by Haley Algrant, joint concentrator in Art, Film, and Video Studies and Classical Languages and Literatures Advisors: Maryam Hoseini, Rachel Love *\*The Body Restored: Constructions of the Patient in the Cult of Asclepius* by Katie Burstein, joint concentrator in History of Science and Classical Civilizations Advisors: Hannah Marcus, Mark Schiefsky *Uncovering Similarity in Dissimilarity: Simile in the Works of Catullus* by Jonathan Fu, double concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Mathematics Advisor: Richard Thomas, Asst. advisor: Sarah Gonzalez *Adamantios Koraes: The Socrates, Solon and Pericles of Modern Greece; An Analysis of Koraes’ Ideological, Political and Cultural Reasons for Supporting Constitutional Republicanism for Modern Greece* by Alexandros Gaffney, a Classical Civilizations concentrator Advisor: Panagiotis Roilos, Asst. Advisor: Alex Reed *Beyond Words: Logos and Sacramentality in the Pseudo-Dionysian Tradition* by Olivia Glunz, a joint History and Classical Languages and Literatures concentrator Advisors: James Hankins, Jan Ziolkowski *Intertext.AI: Augmented Close Reading for Classical Latin Using AI for Intertextual Exploration* by Ashley Gong, a joint concentrator in Computer Science and Classical Languages and Literatures Advisors: Elena Glassman, Mark Schiefsky *Why Friends Are Indispensable: The Importance of Friendship for the Good Life in Seneca’s Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium* by Olivia Jaskolska, a double concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Economics Advisor: Kathleen Coleman, Asst. Advisor: Will Edwards *Paradise in the Reconquered City: Light, Revelation, and Justinianic Propaganda in the Mosaics of Ravenna's San Vitale* by Jane Josefowicz, a joint concentrator in History of Art and Architecture and Classical Civilizations Advisors: Ioli Kalavrezou, Margaret Andrews *The Witches and River Goddesses of Ancient Gaul in their Inscribed Traces: A Study of the Adaptation of Greco-Roman Inscriptional Practices to the Gaulish Language* by Madeleine Riskin-Kutz, a joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Linguistics Advisors: David Elmer, Jay Jasanoff *Gregory of Tours and the Perception of the Fall of Rome* by Carter Stewart, a Classical Civilizations concentrator Advisor: Alexander Riehle, Asst. advisor: Louis Zweig *The Monsoon Road: The Stratigraphy of Terminology in the Shadow of “Indo-Roman Trade”* by Tejas Vadali, a joint concentrator in Classical Civilizations and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Advisors: Paul Kosmin, Peter Der Manuelian ### 2024 expand\_more *Monumental Expressions of Classicized Identity in Contemporary Art: Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Visualized Counter Classicism* by Ryan Durando, concentrator in History of Art and Architecture (HAA) and Classical Languages and Literatures Advisers: Seth Estrin, Emily Greenwood *Computational Analysis of Initial Digamma Loss in Homer’s* Iliad *and* Odyssey by Ben Elwy, joint concentrator in Linguistics and Classical Languages and Literatures Advisers: Jeremy Rau, Kevin Ryan \**‘Prophet of Epicurean Gods’: Nature as Norm in the Works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Horkheimer* by Benjamin Gross-Loh, joint concentrator in Social Studies and Classical Languages and Literatures Advisers: Peter Gordon and Irene Peirano Garrison *Cube Ex Machina: The ‘Impossible’ Problem of Cube Duplication in Ancient Greek Mathematics* by Justin Han, joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Mathematics Advisers: Paul Bamberg and Mark Schiefsky; Asst. Adviser: Nate Herter Tempus Fuget? *The Phonetic Realization of the Latin Short I and Its Outcomes in Sardinian* by Blake Lopez, joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Linguistics Advisers: Jay Jasanoff and Jan Ziolkowski Meritas Celebrare Puellas*: Examining Sex Labor in Latin Love Elegy* by Vivi Lu, concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures Adviser: Irene Peirano Garrison; Asst. Adviser: Luby Kiriakidi \**'All the Cosmos’s Decrees’: Universalization and Cyclicality in Nonnus’s* Dionysiaca by Dante Minutillo, concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures Adviser: David Elmer; Asst. Adviser: Davide Napoli \**Defending ‘the Jerusalem of the Balkans’: Resilience and Disempowerment in Interwar Jewish Thessaloniki* by Julia Tellides, joint concentrator in History and Classical Civilizations Advisers: Paul Kosmin and Derek Penslar *Christian Natural Slavery, or, How to Manage Inequality* by David Vega, joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Philosophy Advisers: Jeffrey McDonough and Mark Schiefsky *Digitally Caring for the Dead at the Harvard Art Museums: The Development of an Augmented Reality Experience for the Ancient Mediterranean Exhibit’s Funerary Artifacts* by Jack Weldon, joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures and Computer Science Adviser: Ivy Livingston ### 2023 expand\_more \**Transgender Rome* by Gabriel Ashe-Jones, concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures Adviser: Naomi Weiss; Asst. Adviser: Emily Mitchell \**How Science Got a History: The Making of a Discipline and the Classical Ideal* by Connor Chung, concentrator in History of Science & Classical Civilizations Advisers: Irene Peirano Garrison and Alex Csiscar *Classics War, Cold War, Culture War: Exploring the New Traditionalist Paradigm in the Battle for American Education* by Jaden Dey Deal, concentrator in Classical Civilizations & Women, Gender, and Sexuality Advisers: David Elmer and Michael Bronski *The Power of a Name: Religious Experience, Representation, and Leadership through Feminine and Gender Non-Conforming Liturgy* by Angela Eichhorst, concentrator in Comparative Study of Religion & Classical Languages and Literatures Advisers: Giovanni Bazzana and Joseph Kimmel *The Concept of Τύχη in Polybius and Zosimus* by Clair Fu, concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures Adviser: Alex Riehle; Asst. Advisor: Connor North Ius Gentium: *Cosmopolitanism from Cicero to Du Bois* by Esteban Gutierrez, concentrator in Government & Classical Civilizations Advisers: Jared Hudson and Richard Tuck Asklepieia *to* Basileias*. Hospital to City* by Samuel Ho, concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures Adviser: Mark Schiefsky; Asst. Adviser: John Kee *From Rome to Byzantium: Continuities in Roman and Byzantine Historiography* by Joseph Kester, concentrator in Ancient History Advisers: Rachel Love and Dimiter Angelov *The Gods Are Dead: Furial Agency and Unseated Divinity in Statius’* Thebaid by Amy Lu, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Richard Thomas; Asst. Advisor: Vivian Jin *Ελληνικοί Χοροί: The Poetic Movement of the Soul: Bridging Modern and Ancient Dance* by Maria Theodore, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Greg Nagy; Asst. Adviser: Felipe Soza *Carp Diem: Fishponds and Roman Moral Decline* by Ivor Zimmerman, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Jared Hudson; Asst. Adviser: Greta Galeotti ### 2022 expand\_more *Harmonia in Love and War* by Ethan Arellano, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Natasha Bershadsky; Asst. Adviser: Jorge Wong Medina Translatio Imperii et Studii: A*merican Classical Education and Reception in the Progressive Age* by Charlotte Berry, joint concentrator in Classical Languages and Literatures & Government Advisers: Emma Dench and Celia Eckert; Asst. Adviser: Justin Miller \*Ioci Nudandarum Mimarum: *Uncovering the Roman Floralia* by Anna Cambron, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Harry Morgan; Asst. Adviser: Rebecca Deitsch *Julius Caesar and his Centurions: A Study in the Power of Words* by Philip Geanakoplos, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Emma Dench; Asst. Adviser: Stephen Shennan Res Publica Res Populi? *A Study of Ciceronian Populism* by Molly Goldberg, joint concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures and Government Advisers: Jared Hudson and Richard Tuck; Asst. Adviser: Stephen Shennan *An Optimality Theoretic Account of Vowel Weakening* by Benjamin LaFond, joint concentrator in Linguistics and Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Kevin Ryan; Asst. Adviser: Nadav Asraf *Layers of Antiquity: An Epigraphic Analysis of Cy Twombly’s Poetic Inscriptions* by Sam Lincoln, joint concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures and Comparative Literature Advisers: David Elmer; Asst. Adviser: Tony Shannon \*‘INTER EXEMPLA ERIT’: *Germania in Tacitus and Its Use by Early German Humanists* by Zelin Liu, joint concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures and Comparative Literature Advisers: Richard Thomas and Ann Blair; Asst. Adviser: Emily Mitchell *Selim the ‘Algerine’: Exploring an Odyssey in Early Colonial America* by Fariba Mahmud, joint concentrator in History & Literature and Classical Civilizations Advisers: Natasha Bershadsky and Arianne Urus; Asst. Adviser: Felipe Soza T*he Environment of Disease: From* Karkinos *to Cholangiocarcinoma* by Abigail Miller, joint concentrator in Molecular & Cellular Biology and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Mark Schiefsky & Fernando Camargo; Asst. Adviser: Xiaoxiao Chen \**The Earth’s Stretchmarks: Winds as Directional Systems Generated from the Ground in Mesopotamia and Greece* by Ana Luiza Nicolae, special concentrator in Geography & Identity Advisers: Paul Kosmin and Mark Schiefsky *If a Picture Never Lies: Musicalizing Vergil’s* Bucolics by Harry Sage, joint concentrator in Music and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Richard Thomas and Chaya Czernowin; Asst. Adviser: Susannah Wright *Love Beyond the Grave: The Development of Ariadne’s Discovery on Sarcophagi* by Midge Scheftel, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Adrian Stähli; Asst. Adviser: Sarah Eisen *Consolation and Tears in the Works of Augustine* by Esther Um, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Jared Hudson; Asst. Adviser: John Mulhall Ad Astra: *A Modern Adaptation of Hercules’ Twelve Labors* by Jonathan Yuan, joint concentrator in Art, Film, & Visual Studies and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Rachel Love & Young Joo Lee; Asst. Adviser: Julia Judge Mulhall ### 2021 expand\_more *Trinitarian Sensation: A Commentary and Translation of St. Augustine’s* De Trinitate *11.1-6* by Joseph Anthony Ramos Barisas, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Adam Trettel, Asst. Adviser: Suzanne Paszkowski *Pierre Gassendi: From Epicureanism to Christian Ethics* by Frances Choi, joint concentrator in History & Science and Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Mark Schiefsky; Asst. Adviser *Terrorism, Rhetoric, and the Forever Wars in Rome and America* by Lincoln Herrington, joint concentrator in Classical Civilizations and Government Advisers: Emma Dench and Harry Oppenheimer; Asst. Adviser: William Tilleczek *An Analysis of the Neural Correlates of Psychosis: From Antiquity to Modern Research* by Emily Johns, joint concentrator in Neuroscience and Classical Civilizations Advisers: Mark Schiefsky and Martha Shenton; Asst. Adviser: Miriam Kamil *Stories of the Antonine Plague and the Significance of Pandemic Disease in the Roman Empire* by Mikayla Morosky, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Mark Schiefsky; Asst. Adviser: Xiaoxiao Chen *Examining the Authenticity of Plato’s Epistle VII through Deep Learning* by Bliss Perry, joint concentrator in Computer Science and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Mark Schiefsky and Stuart Shieber; Asst. Adviser: Nadav Asraf \**To Revive a World and Rebuild a Word: Classical Slave Names and Their Afterlives in the Antebellum U.S. South* by Serena Shah, joint concentrator in Classical Civilizations and African American Studies Advisers: Paul Kosmin and Henry Louis Gates Jr.; Asst. Adviser: Justin Miller *Boundaries, Pirates, Connectivity, and Brexit: Britain’s Role in the Maritime Networks of the Roman Empire* by Justin Tseng, joint concentrator in Ancient History Adviser: Emma Dench; Asst. Adviser: Supratik Baralay *Architectural Iconography on Roman Imperial Coins: Monumentality, Miniaturization, and the Role of the Viewer* by Katherine Vallot-Basker, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Harry Morgan; Asst. Adviser: Malcolm Nelson *Selected Poems from Ovid’s* Tristia, *Prefaced with a Poetics of Translation* by Muhua Yang, joint concentrator in Comparative Literature and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Richard Thomas and Thomas Wisniewski; Asst. Adviser: Rebecca Deitsch ### 2020 expand\_more *Insulting Slaves in Latin* by Sasha Barish, joint concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures and Linguistics Advisers: Kathleen Coleman and Jay Jasanoff; Asst. Adviser: Nadav Asraf The Peace of Women: *An Arabic Adaptation of Aristophanes* by Lydia Cawley, joint concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations Advisers: Richard Thomas and Annette Lienau; Asst. Adviser: Justin Miller *\*Voicing Tragedy: A Realization of Ancient Greek Music* by Christopher Colby, joint concentrator in Music and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Alexander Rehding and Naomi Weiss; Asst. Adviser: Hannelore Segers Nubem Eripiam: *Exploring the Narrative Manipulation of Virgil, Aeneas, and Augustus* by Julie Effron, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Advisers: Richard Thomas and Gregory Mellen; Asst. Adviser: Miriam Kamil \*aliquis est ex me pius?: *Seneca’s* Phoenissae *and Its Early Modern Reception* by Caroline Engelmayer, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Richard Tarrant and Leah Whittington; Asst. Adviser: Paul Johnston *Making Meaning in the Cults of Vesta and Flora Under Augustus: A Literary, Historical, and Anthropological Analysis* by Samantha Hand, concentrator in Classical Civilizations Adviser: Kathleen Coleman; Asst. Adviser: Chris Cochran *Theseus and the Amazons: Images of the Ideal and the Other in the Context of the Greco-Persian Wars* by Micah Johnson-Levy, joint concentrator in Folklore & Mythology and Classical Civilizations Adviser: David Elmer; Asst. Adviser: Paul Johnston *“Antinous, Superstar”: The Cult of Antinous in Greece and Asia Minor* by Sheridan Marsh, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Emma Dench; Asst. Adviser: Supratik Baralay *In the Wake of Theseus: Intertextuality and Reception in the Lament of Catullus’ Ariadne* by Samuel Puopolo, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Richard Thomas; Asst. Adviser: Hannelore Segers *\*Local Migration in the Arsinoite Nome of Egypt during the Early Principate* by Alejandro Quintana, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Giovanni Bazzana and Paul Kosmin; Asst. Adviser: James Zainaldin *The Cretan Hero: Intertextuality, Identity, and Resistance in Prevelakis’ Το Δέντρο* by Ben Roy, concentrator in Classical Languages & Literatures Adviser: Richard Thomas; Asst. Adviser: Sergios Paschalis *Love's Grief Work: Reading Ancient Greece in the AIDS Elegies of Paul Monette and James Merrill* by Ellis Yeo, joint concentrator in English and Classical Languages & Literatures Advisers: Leah Whittington and Richard Tarrant; Asst. Adviser: Jorge Wong