|
|||||
 | |||||
|
Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/1/07 |
|
|
In
the News Archive - Year:
March 11, 2004 School Zone: By Cynthia Hodnett That's just what Gregory Aldrete, an associate professor of humanistic
studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, will do beginning in
June while completing his book, "Floods in Ancient Rome."
Aldrete's one year sabbatical is being made possible through a $40,000
research fellowship that he received recently from the National Endowment
for the Humanities.
The fellowship supports individuals pursuing advanced research that
contributes to scholarly or public knowledge about the humanities.
Aldrete is among 180 scholars nationwide, and one of three in Wisconsin,
to receive one of the fellowships.
"He's only the second person here (at UW-Green Bay) who has received
it," said Joyce Salisbury, associate dean of liberal arts and sciences
and history professor at UWGB.
"It's a well deserved honor," Salisbury said. "This award is for his
research. His research is exciting and path-breaking."
A historian specializing in ancient Greek and Rome, Aldrete is focusing
his research on Roman floods and how they affected food supply, transportation
and economics in the city.
The book will also examine the immediate and long-term effects the floods
had on the city and how ancient Romans dealt with the destruction from
the floods.
Besides ancient Roman history, the book will also focus on art, archeology,
language, geography and other fields.
"It's a scholarly book, but I hope it will be a greater interest to
more than just ancient Roman historians," he said. "Floods are still the
number one natural disaster in the world. It's a serous problem even in
today's time. The research from modern times can provide explanation of
what actually happened during that period."
Aldrete's interest in ancient Rome began while he was an undergraduate
at Princeton University.
"I was pre-med," he said. "I took a Roman history class and fell in
love with the subject. I had a real inspirational teacher who got me interested
in it. That experience convinced me to change my focus."
It's that same inspiration he has passed to his students at UWGB since
he began teaching there in 1995.
Each semester, more than 400 students take his courses in subjects such
as ancient Greek and Roman history and the foundation of western culture.
To further engage his students, Aldrete wears a toga to class once a
semester to illustrate what it was like to be an ancient Roman citizen.
"I try to give my students a glimpse of what life was like in the ancient
world and try to show connections of that life to our life now," he said.
"How we tell time, our calendar system — it all comes from our Roman
predecessors."
Aldrete's book, "Gestures and Acclamations in Ancient Rome," was published
in 1999. He edited volume one of "The Ancient World," which was included
in "The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Daily Life," which was published in
January.
He is also finishing another book, "Daily Life in the Ancient Roman
City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia" and is co-authoring a western civilization
textbook, "After the Fact," with UWGB professor Jennifer Popiel.
Last year, he received UWGB's Founders Association Award for Excellence
in Teaching and a Teaching at Its Best Award, which recognizes successful
strategies in the classroom.
"He's the best example of how scholarship and teaching come together,"
Salisbury said. "He can make difficult topics come alive and he's inspired
many of his students. Since he's been here, he's had students who really
didn't know they wanted to major in ancient history go off to graduate
school."
| |
