Prof. Aldrete (Humanistic Studies and History) just had a video course published by the Teaching Company/The Great Courses (you might recognize this company from their frequent ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Economist). The course consists of 48 lectures and is called “The History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective,” and it explores the story of civilization all around the world from its beginnings up to about 800 AD—basically from Mesopotamia to the Middle Ages. It not only traces the overall development of ancient civilizations in Europe, Asia, India, Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas, but also includes a number of special lectures that directly compare key features of different civilizations. For example, there are lectures that analyze the similarities between Homer’s Iliad and the epic poems of India, or that compare the armies of the Mayans, the Chinese, and the Romans.
Prof. Greg Aldrete of Humanistic Studies, fresh off the Discovery Channel’s Penn and Teller segment on his linen armor research, is on TV again with a different project. This time, the Smithsonian Channel is showing another documentary in which he appears. The piece, which ran several times over the weekend, is part of the network’s environmentally focused history series “Trashopolis,” which is about how the development of various great cities has been shaped by issues of disposal of garbage and sanitation. Aldrete’s episode is #4 “Rome.” The documentary makers flew him to Rome to film the segment a couple of years ago, but it is only airing now. Check program listings, or, if you miss the show, this episode (just like the Penn and Teller one) can also be purchased from iTunes for $2.99.
Award-winning UW-Green Bay Prof. Greg Aldrete has landed yet another prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, this time for the 2012-13 academic year. The grant will provide 12 months support for Aldrete to research and write the book Riots in Ancient Rome. He says periodic riots gave Rome a reputation for lawless violence and indicted its poor as unruly, but he argues many of the riots were in fact organized, instigated and exploited by the political and social elite. It is Aldrete’s second NEH fellowship. Currently on leave from UW-Green Bay as a postdoctoral fellow with the humanities research institute at UW-Madison, Aldrete will return to teaching in Green Bay for the 2011-12 academic year. For more on this latest honor, click here
Professor Greg Aldrete and Scott Bartell’s linothorax collaborative research project is gaining national and international attention. During a session taped by a German news crew for a European TV series, Green bay Channel 2 and Channel 11 reported on the project:
Channel 11:
And see Professor Aldrete shoot Scott Bartell with an arrow at Channel 2:
This Friday and Saturday, the Archaeological Institute of America in conjunction with the Milwaukee Public Museum will be having a big Archaeology Fair with over 20 interactive exhibits and presentations intended especially for schoolchildren. Among the featured presenters are two from UWGB, a booth on ancient pottery run by the UWGB History Club, and one on the UWGB Linothorax Project. For those of you with children, this might make a fun and educational day trip.
Professors Aldrete and Kersten will be on sabbatical for the academic year 2009-2010. Although the history department will miss their contributions in ancient and American history, both of them will be actively engaged in research. Professor Kersten is writing a biography of the famous American lawyer, Clarence S. Darrow, while Professor Aldrete is conducting research on ancient Greek arms and armor.
