Undergraduate research is a vital part of the student experience in Classics at Pitt, and we offer a variety of opportunities for our majors and minors to develop, pursue, and present independent and directed research projects.
Departmental Honors
Students who successfully complete either an Honors Thesis or a Bachelor of Philosophy in Classics (see below) are eligible for departmental honors, by vote of the Classics Faculty.
Honors Thesis in Classics
Majors who have reached the end of their junior year with a GPA in departmental courses of 3.50 or higher may, in conjunction with a senior-level course, write an honors thesis. Acceptance of the thesis by the Classics Department will qualify the student to graduate with departmental honors in Classics. Click here for guidelines and to download an application
| Year | Student | Title | Supervisor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2020-2021 |
C. Ruby | How Greek Tragedy and the Concept of Catharsis could act as a Didactic Tool for Empathy in Healthcare | E. Lee |
| 2020-2021 | G. Stout |
Women in Warfare: Wartime Participants with the Most to Lose |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2019-2020 |
E. Hrynko | Volcanic Eruption, Climate Change and Societal Upheaval: What Led to the Collapse of the Minoans? |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2019-2020 |
M. Sanglikar |
Infelix Dido vs. Δεινὴ Medea: Fate and the Puella Relicta Trope in Ancient Myth |
E. Lee |
| 2018-2019 | S. Gibbons |
Individualism in Western Thought: Socrates, Hegel & Liberalism |
N. Jones |
| 2018-2019 | E. Maloney |
The Greatness of the Greeks: Greek Military Superiority during the Greco-Persian Wars |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2017-2018 |
Z. Kovacs |
The Nomos-Phusis Antithesis and Calliclean Justice: from Antiquity to Contemporary Political Thought |
D. Mark Possanza |
|
2017-2018 |
O. Parks |
Mercury: Redefining the Theme of Identity in Plautus's Amphitruo |
D. Mark Possanza |
|
2017-2018 |
V. Rajakumar |
The Evolution of Medicine in Ancient Greece |
N. Jones |
|
2017-2018 |
A. Roos |
These Caucasian Heads: Combating Racist Rhetoric in the Classical Tradition |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2016-2017 |
Z. Herbster |
Fiat Lux: Illuminating Augustinian Synthesis |
C. Hoenig |
|
2014-2015 |
A. Scott |
Trajan and Caesar – A Shared Ideology |
A. Weis, D. Mark Possanza |
|
2013-2014 |
A. Campman |
Vercingetorix, Improbable Revolutionary |
D. Mark Possanza |
|
2012-2013 |
T. Fernald |
First and Second Person Pronoun Confusion in the Greek New Testament |
E. Floyd |
|
2008-2009 |
M. Dooley |
Appearance Over Substance: Advertising Success in Roman Britain, the Antonine Wall |
D. Mark Possanza |
|
2008-2009 |
S. Black |
Roman Patrician Women: Wealth, Autonomy, and Passive Politics |
N. Jones |
|
1999-2000 |
A. Spratley |
Impiety and Deception: An Analysis of Ovid’s Procne, Tereus and Philomela Episode Focusing on the Portrayal of the Female Characters |
D. Mark Possanza |
First Experiences in Research
The First Experiences in Research (FE-R) program pairs students as early as the spring term of their freshman year with faculty researchers from across the arts and sciences. The FE-R program culminates in a poster presentation at the end of the year and often leads to more sophisticated, independent research projects later in a student’s career.
| Year | Title | Student | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2018-2019 |
E. Kaiser |
E. Floyd | |
|
2017-2018 |
Go to Hades! Representations of the Underworld in Antiquity |
L. Suppo |
A. Korzeniewski |
|
2017-2018 |
Spanish Language Scholarship on Homer |
E. Grulke |
E. Floyd |
|
2017-2018 |
Comparison of Translations of Bhagavad Gita |
D. Shah |
E. Floyd |
|
2017-2018 |
Marginalized Populations in the Ancient Greek World: The Bioarchaeology of the Other |
A. Buncich M. Sanglikar |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2016-2017 |
Whose Translation of Homer is Best? |
J. R. Starr |
E. Floyd |
|
2015-2016 |
What's the Best Italian Translation of the Iliad? |
J. Antonucci |
E. Floyd |
|
2015-2016 |
The Many Fathers of Achilles |
L. Dornan |
E. Floyd |
|
2015-2016 |
The Psychology of Theft In Antiquity |
M. Blacksmith C. Clark D. Regan |
A. Korzeniewski |
|
2013-2014 |
‘Mentor’: From Ancient Greece to Modern Day |
M. O'Brien Jones |
E. Floyd |
|
2013-2014 |
“Mentor” Through the Eyes of the Odyssey |
A. Sobotka-Briner |
E. Floyd |
|
2013-2014 |
Semantic Satiation Reinforces Penelope’s Early Recognition of Odysseus |
S. Suhaimi |
E. Floyd |
|
2012-2013 |
Analysis of Political Subtext in the Aeneid |
D. Akapo |
E. Floyd |
|
2012-2013 |
Veiled Criticism in Vergil |
T. Lucas |
E. Floyd |
|
2010-2011 |
Early Recognition and Modern Emendations in Homer |
T. Fritz |
E. Floyd |
|
2010-2011 |
Disguise and Advice in Les Aventures de Télémaque |
E. Marriott |
E. Floyd |
|
2009-2010 |
The Evolution of the Latin Language Through Usage Patterns of Words for “And” |
L. Keeler |
E. Floyd |
|
2008-2009 |
Comparative Etymology of Latin Texts: The Ratio of "And" |
S. Doescher |
E. Floyd |
David C. Frederick Honors College Fellowships
The Brackenridge Fellowship, awarded by the University's David C. Frederick Honors College, supports Pitt undergraduates pursuing independent research under the mentorship of a faculty member. The Fellowship is designed to help you develop your research, while also gaining a better understanding of research across disciplines. In addition to working on your individual project, you'll attend weekly seminars with students from different disciplines to discuss and present your research. Full-time undergraduate students on the Oakland campus who have identified a faculty member or appropriately qualified research mentor, who has agreed to mentor them during the Fellowship. The fellowship is open to students from any field and any class, including rising sophomores as well as rising seniors. Details are available through the David C. Frederick Honors College.
| Year | Student | Title | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2015-2016 |
M. Kenney |
Plato the Mystic |
J. Bromberg |
|
2014-2015 |
Z. Herbster |
Augustine and Late Antique Cosmology |
R. McDermott |
Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) Degree
The Bachelor of Philosophy in Classics, conferred jointly by the David C. Frederick Honors College and the Department of Classics, represents the highest level of scholarship attainable by an undergraduate student at Pitt. Through the B.Phil., undergraduate students any time after their first year at Pitt can begin research and scholarly work toward a rigorous baccalaureate degree in a manner usually reserved for the graduate level. Simultaneously, the B.Phil. degree includes an element of intellectual scope in the expectation that students have a challenging academic program in the course work for their majors, minors, and/or certificates. Details are available through the David C. Frederick Honors College.
| Year | Student | Title | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2020-2021 |
T. Altunin | The Bankes Homer: a window into Homeric song | J. A. Bromberg |
|
2020-2021 |
M. Fox | Optical Theory and Feminine Auctoritas within Chaucer’s the Tale of Melibee | R. McDermott (English) |
|
2016-2017 |
M. Merante |
A Universal Display? Investigating the Role of Panathenaic Amphorai in the British Museum |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2014-2015 |
S. Taborski |
Not Just for the Birds: Bird Omens in Horseman Scenes on Archaic Vases |
A. Weis |
|
2012-2013 |
M. Bowser |
The "Golden Age" of Rome: Augustus' Program to Better the Roman Empire |
N. Jones |
|
1995-1996 |
S. Menon |
The Iliad, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Odyssey: A Comparative Analysis of Character Depictions in the Epics |
E. Floyd |
Field Studies Program
The Field Studies Program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to conduct research in new and exciting places. Students will devise a research project in consultation with a faculty mentor and will be expected to conduct research independently. Students will also participate in a community of peer researchers through planned cultural activities and group discussions.
Recent Field Studies Program Participants
| Year | Student | Site | Title | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017 |
M. Merante |
London |
A Universal Display? Investigating the Role of Panathenaic Amphorai in the British Museum |
C. L. Sulosky Weaver |
|
2017 |
Z. Herbster |
London |
In Pace: Britannia Perdomita Revisited |
A. Weis |
If you would like to learn more about undergraduate research opportunities in Classics and Ancient History, contact our Undergraduate Advisor, Professor D. Mark Possanza.