Pennsylvania Classical Association

 

ANNUAL INSTITUTE

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY

"PERFORMING THE PAST"

                      

 

Thanks to all for helping to make the 2010 PCA Institute a success! 

NOTE:  Checks for those who were unable to attend will be mailed back soon (I will post here when all have been mailed).  Thank you for your patience!

The 2011 PCA Institute will be in the Pittsburgh area and its theme will be The Rigor and Relevancy of Rome.

 

 

WEATHER UPDATE:  As of now (Friday, Feb. 26, 12:05 pm), Villanova has closed the University for Friday, and so the PCA Institute will not be held on Friday.  We have, however, been given access to Bartley Hall for Saturday, so we will go ahead with our Saturday events and include as many of the Friday events as possible.  The updated schedule is posted just below.  We will plan to hold the Percy Jackson Mythology bee from 1:30-2:30.  Please check this website early tomorrow morning in case something occurs to prevent us from holding our Saturday events.  Also, for those of you who have paid for Friday's dinner, if you would like to bring a new check that leaves out the fee for the dinner, that would be great...I will have everyone's original checks to return in those cases.  Thank you for your understanding and patience!

 

NOTE on the Oresteia:  The Oresteia production at Swarthmore will go on as planned Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

PCA 2010 INSTITUTE REVISED SCHEDULE

Saturday, February 27:

8:00-8:30         Breakfast (2045 Bartley Hall)

8:00-2:30         Registration and Book/Project display (2045 Bartley Hall)

8:30-9:30       Session I  (2001 Bartley Hall)

The Classics Alive!  How Marathon Readings Can Delight and Instruct Today’s Students, Gary Meltzer,

            Villanova University

The Greek Play at Bryn Mawr, Adrienne Kiki Aranita, Bryn Mawr College

9:30-10:30     Session II  (2001 Bartley Hall)

Presenting Mythology and Astronomy in the Latin Classroom, Tina Moller, Upper Dublin School District

Roman Myth and Legend Skits in Latin Class, Donal Spence McGay, Radnor School District

10:30-10:45      Coffee Break  (2045 Bartley Hall)

10:45-11:15     Session III

In Adapting An Oresteia, Louis Jargow, Swarthmore College

11:15-12:30      Session IV  (2001 Bartley Hall)

Directing Euripides’ Medea, Shawn Kairschner, Villanova University

Seneca’s Medea Machinatrix, Carrie Mowbray, University of Pennsylvania

Response, Gary Meltzer, Villanova University

12:30-1:30        Lunch  (2001 Bartley Hall)

PCA General Announcements

Classics in Children’s Literature and Pop Culture, Valentina DeNardis, Villanova University

1:30-2:30         Percy Jackson Mythology Bee  (2001 Bartley Hall)

 

RESCHEDULE UPDATE:  The 2010 PCA Institute has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 27.  Please note that the schedule has a few changes (mainly the location, Bartley Hall, and Friday events moved to Saturday).  Hopefully many of you got a chance to see the Medea production.  The weekend of Feb. 26-28 offers another classically-themed theatrical production:  An Oresteia will be performed at Swarthmore College (see info below).  The performances are free and I will have a map of Swarthmore College and directions available at PCA.  Louis Jargow, the director of An Oresteia will be speaking at the Institute Saturday morning.  Please check back at this website for updates on the schedule and information.

If you have already sent in a registration and can no longer attend or wish to change your meal preferences, please email Dr. Valentina DeNardis at valentina.denardis@villanova.edu.

Swarthmore College's production, An Oresteia, is scheduled for the following dates/times:
Fri, February 26, 2010 at 8pm
Sat, February 27, 2010 at 8pm
Sun, February 28, 2010 at 3pm
Frear Ensemble Theatre
Lang Performing Arts Center

The Honors Directing Thesis of Louis Jargow ’10, An Oresteia is a pop, punk- rock re-telling of the ancient Greek tragedy: the story of Electra and Orestes’ revenge on their mother, Clytemnestra, for murdering their father, Agamemnon.  The script is a Lynchian mash-up of Ann Carson, Charles Mee, and the Greeks.  Source material for the text includes Anne Carson’s An Oresteia (new translations of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Sophocles’ Elektra and Euripides’ Orestes), Charles Mee’s Orestes 2.0, Louise Glück’s Averno, and Slavoj Zizek’s In Defense of Lost Causes, along with text created in rehearsal.
 

Another PCA Institute session focusing on Medea will feature a talk by the production’s director, Dr. Shawn Kairschner.  Dr. Kairschner directed Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses last February and it is exciting to see him put on another classics-themed show.  The production runs February 2-14.

The classical world is getting a lot of performance time these days in Hollywood, with films such as Gladiator, 300, Alexander, the remake of Clash of the Titans and the new TV version of Spartacus.  In celebration of the film release (February 12) of a very modern classics-themed work, Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief, the Institute will also feature some myth-themed events.  It is wonderful to see classical mythology living on in this way and inspiring young minds to explore the classical world.  The Institute’s Saturday afternoon session will feature a Percy Jackson mythology bee with the new boxed set of all five Percy hardcover books as one of the prizes.  Teachers are welcome to bring their students to compete in the mythology bee.  [Undergraduate and secondary school students may attend the conference at no charge but must pay for meals if they choose to order them.]

                                

 

The Lightning Thief image is the poster for the upcoming film and the mythology bee image above was the graphic for the official Percy Jackson national mythology bee.  First prize for that was a trip to Greece!  Above is our first prize, the hardcover box set 'treasure chest' complete with character cards and Camp Half-Blood map.

Other recommended events, such as museum trips for Saturday afternoon and dining recommendations for Saturday night, will be made available here on the Institute website and at the Institute itself.  One museum exhibit of note at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, entitled A Purer Taste of Forms and Ornaments:  Josiah Wedgwood and the Antique, features a number of classically-styled Wedgewood objects, such as the vase in the photo below.  For a full description of this temporary exhibit, please see http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/369.html .

 

Another possible excursion is to the new Ancient Rome & America exhibit at the National Constitution Center.  This exhibit runs from Feb. 19-Aug. 1. 

Ancient Rome & America showcases the cultural, political, and social connections between the lost world of ancient Rome and modern America. The exhibition features more than 300 artifacts from Italy and the United States, bringing together a never-before-seen collection from Italy’s leading archaeological institutions in Florence, Naples, and Rome, paired with objects from over 40 lending institutions in the United States.  website:  http://www.constitutioncenter.org/rome/ . 

We hope you join us for a program which will explore and celebrate many aspects of performance of the classical past from the classroom to the stage and beyond!

Accomodations: 

Accomodations are available Friday and Saturday night at The Radnor Hotel (please see www.radnorhotel.com for location, directions, etc.).  Rooms are $109.00 (+ 6 % state tax and 2 % local tax) for single or double occupancy.  To get this rate you must refer to ‘Villanova University –Pennsylvania Classical Association’ when placing the reservation, which must be done by phone or fax (8 am to 8 pm 610-688-5800, or toll free 800-537-3000, or fax 610-341-3299).

Book Display:

Confirmed exhibitors are:

Parking:

Parking is available in the 'Main Lot' which is the large lot across from campus, south of Route 30/Lancaster Ave.  You can then cross Lancaster at the intersection of Lancaster and Ithan Ave.  All sessions, including meals, will be in Bartley Hall, which is located just north of the north-west corner of the Lancaster and Ithan Ave intersection.

The conference sessions will take place  in Bartley Hall. 

NOTE:  the PCA Institute qualifies for ACT 48 credits.  Sign up sheets for this will be available at the Institute and credits will be reported to the PA Dept. of Education.

For questions regarding the conference, please contact PCA President, Dr. Valentina DeNardis (valentina.denardis@villanova.edu).  Check back here at the conference website (www.villanova.edu/pca) for updates on schedule details.