Discussion with Temple Classicists: Part 3

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Dan Tompkins. Robin Mitchell-Boyask. Sydnor Roy.

This is the third part of my conversation with Classics professors Dan Tompkins, Robin Mitchell-Boyask, and Sydnor Roy, which took place on March 18, 2010. We talked about how they share their ideas with other scholars, publishing, classics web sites, and scholarly repositories.

Dan Tompkins received his PhD from Yale University in 1968 with a dissertation entitled Stylistic Characterization in Thucydides. Robin Mitchell-Boyask graduated in 1988 from Brown University with a dissertation entitled Tragic Identity: Studies in Euripides and Shakespeare. Sydnor Roy is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her dissertation is entitled Political Relativism: Implicit Political Theory in Herodotus’ Histories.

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(Listen to Part I and Part II of our conversation.)

—Fred Rowland

Margery Sly Joins Temple as Director of Special Collections

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I am delighted to welcome Margery Sly to Temple University Libraries, where she will take on the newly created position of Director of Special Collections beginning today, December 20. Reporting to me, Margery will lead the merger of the collections and staff within our current Urban Archives and Special Collections operating units, and then lead the ongoing operations of this unified Special Collections division.

Margery comes to us from the Presbyterian Historical Society (PHS), where she served as the Deputy Executive Director for the past seven years. Prior to that, she held several other administrative and archival positions at the PHS and Smith College in Northampton, MA. Margery received her MA in American History and MS in Library Science at Case Western Reserve. She received a BA in German literature and history from Dickinson College.

Please join me in welcoming Margery to Temple University Libraries.

With warm wishes,

Larry P. Alford

Talking Tuna

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On September 24, Professor Daniel Levine of the University of Arkansas Classics Department spoke at Temple University about “Tuna in the Ancient Greek World”.  The Zeta Beta Chapter of Eta Sigma Phi brought him to campus after hearing him speak at a national conference.  Zeta Beta is a group on campus that promotes the teaching, study, and appreciation of Latin, Greek, and the ancient world.

Before his talk in the afternoon, Dr. Levine was kind enough to stop by my office to discuss his topic.  We had a lively conversation punctuated by lengthy classical quotes, strange-sounding Greek words, and a few laughs.  It was a thorough education on the ancient tuna, some of whose relatives still exist today, though in ever sparser numbers.  The interview is broken into two parts.

Tuna in the Ancient Greek World

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iTunes U link (for downloads)

Tuna in the Ancient Greek World – Part II

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iTunes U link (for downloads)

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—Fred Rowland

Lost Tribes of Israel: The Interview

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On November 15, Paley Library hosted the 5th Annual Symposium on Race and Judaism. Entitled “Lost Tribes: Ancient and Contemporary Perspectives”, it featured eight speakers who spoke on a range of topics from the ancient context to modern interpretations. The keynote address was delivered by Rabbi Debra Bowen, the leader of Congregation Temple Beth El in North Philadelphia.

Before the symposium, three of the speakers sat down with me for an interview: Lewis Gordon, director of the Institute for Afro-Jewish Studies and philosophy professor at Temple; Mark Leuchter, chair of the Jewish Studies program; and David Koffman, history professor at York University.

Listen to the audio of the interview: Lost Tribes

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iTunes U link (for downloads)

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—Fred Rowland

Delphine Khanna joins Temple University Libraries as Head of Digital Library Initiatives

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I am delighted to welcome Delphine Khanna to Temple University Libraries, where she will take on the role of Head of Digital Library Initiatives beginning today, December 1. Delphine will create a Digital Initiatives Department, where she will oversee the digitization of special collections and other library materials in text, image, and video formats. She will also lead the development of digital repository systems to preserve and make accessible the intellectual output of Temple University, and the implementation of discovery tools related to these initiatives.

Delphine comes to us from the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as the Digital Projects Librarian for over ten years. Prior to that, she held several digital librarianship positions at Rutgers University. Delphine earned her MLS from Syracuse University, and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Linguistics and Computer Science from the University of Paris.

Please join me in welcoming Delphine to Temple University Libraries.

With warm wishes,

Larry P. Alford

Paley Open 24 Hours Starting Monday December 6

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Starting Monday morning December 6th, Paley Library will be open 24 hours a day through the end of finals on Saturday December 18th. Paley will close at 5 p.m. on Saturday December 18th. During this time, the circulation/reserve desk in Tuttleman and the reference desk in Paley will close at their regular times, but the building will be open 24/7 for studying and research. Hours for other library locations are available here.

Students can access all articles on course reserve through our e-reserve service in the Diamond catalog by following the links for Reserve / E-Reserve. Books can be checked out using the 2 self-check machines in Paley opposite the reference desk.

— Penelope Myers, Head of Access Services

Climatologist Michael Mann

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On October 13, climatologist Michael Mann spoke to a packed house in the Paley Library Lecture Hall about global warming and the politicization of science.  He is the director of the Earth System Science Center and a professor at the Pennsylvania State University.  In 2007, he and other members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  In 2009, many of his emails and the emails of other climatologists were hacked from a server at the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, an incident which came to be known in the popular press as “climategate.”

Before his lecture, I interviewed Michael Mann about some of the details of climate change research and the email hack that spilled across the Internet.

Listen to the interview with Michael Mann

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iTunes U link (for downloads)

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–Fred Rowland

2010-2011 Library Prize Dates

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The dates for the 2010-2011 Library Prize for Undergraduate Research have been set. The submission date for student applications is March 30, 2011 at 5:00 pm. The awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 3 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. The application consists of a number of different items including the research paper or project, research essay, and faculty recommendation. For full details on the Library Prize and a look at last year’s winners, visit the prize web site.

The Library Prize for Undergraduate Research is now in its seventh year and was created to highlight Temple University’s best undergraduate library research. The winning papers/projects are vetted by a panel of four librarian and three faculty (one each from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences) judges. Winners receive $1000 and their prize-winning submissions are made permanently available on the library’s web site. The Temple University Libraries take research seriously.

If you’re an undergraduate we hope you’ll consider participating in the 2010-2011 Library Prize for Undergraduate Research. If you’re a faculty member, please encourage your students to submit their best work. Whether student, faculty, staff, or public, join us at the awards ceremony on May 3!