Ancient Studies

Michael P. Goyette

Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics

Degrees

• Ph.D., MPhil, M.A., The City University of New York
• B.A., Vassar College

Research Interests

My research interests include ancient science and the medical humanities, gender studies, Greek and Roman tragedy, and reception studies. These interests frequently stem from my fascination with the nature of bodies (both human and non-human), including the evolution of ideas concerning anatomy, physiology, and medicine; interactions between and within bodies in both dramatic settings and the natural world; and the implications of embodiment for lived experiences. I am highly enthusiastic about interdisciplinary inquiry, and in both my research and teaching I strive to demonstrate ways in which the humanities and the sciences complement and speak to each other in antiquity as well as the modern world. As such, I am especially interested in the works of Seneca the Younger, a versatile Roman author of tragic plays, essays on moral philosophy, an encyclopedia of natural history, and more. My research also includes pedagogical issues, and as both a scholar and a teacher I am dedicated to pursuing teaching that is innovative, effective, and inclusive.

Recent Courses Offered

• Introduction to Ancient Greek I
• Language and History of Medicine
• The Sea in the Ancient Imagination
• Women and Gender in the Ancient World

Upcoming Courses Offered

• Animals in Ancient Science
• Intermediate Greek: Herodotus – Father of Disinformation?
• New Diseases in History and Literature

Selected Papers and Publications

• “Insult to Injury: Senecan Stoicism, Misogyny, and the Semantics of ‘Special Snowflake’”. Forthcoming chapter in Toxic Masculinity in the Ancient World, eds. Aven McMaster and M. Racette-Campbell.
• “Deep Cuts: Rhetoric of Human Dissection, Vivisection, and Surgery in Latin Literature”. Forthcoming chapter in The Body Unbound, eds. B. Sowers, K. Lu Hsu, and D. Schur.
• “Seneca’s ‘Corpus’: A Sympathy of Fluids and Fluctuations”. Forthcoming chapter in Bodily Fluids/Fluid Bodies in Greek and Roman Antiquity, eds. L. Totelin, V. Leonard, and M. Bradley; under contract with Routledge.
• Book Review: From Abortion to Pederasty: Addressing Difficult Topics in the Classics Classroom, eds. N. Sorkin Rabinowitz and F. McHardy, Columbus (OH), 2014. The Classical Outlook 91.3 (2016): 104–105.
• “Do Arrows Kill People or Does Hercules Kill People?” Eidolon (11.2.2015): https://medium.com/eidolon/do-arrows-kill-people-or-does-hercules-kill-people-aefe8c1fce19#.su3n28r0x
• “Ptolemy II Philadelphus and the Dionysiac Model of Political Authority”. The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 2.1 (2010): 1–13.