National conference on classics studies will honor John Peradotto

The colloquium, "Interdisciplinarity and the Classics," will take place March 7-9 at the University of Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, Ga. It will feature presentations by more than 25 scholars from classics and related fields including anthropology, art history, history and comparative literature. The topic will be interdisciplinary studies in theory and practice.

Peradotto, an internationally recognized Homeric scholar and former president of the American Philological Association, will be recognized for more than three decades of teaching and scholarship and in particular for his pioneering work with the journal Arethusa, which he edited from 1975-95 and which continues to serve as major forum for the discussion of interdisciplinary work in classics. Upon his retirement from that position he was given an award as Distinguished Retiring Editor.

Peradotto has also served as the general editor of the SUNY Press Classical Series and is a former fellow of Harvard University's Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.

Highly regarded as a teacher as well, he has been a recipient of the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Teaching, the most distinguished teaching award bestowed by the New York state university system.

His publications include "Classical Mythology: an Annotated Bibliographical Survey," "Man in the Middle Voice: Name and Narration in the Odyssey" and 22 edited volumes including "Women in the Ancient World: The Arethusa Papers." He has also published many articles on myth, epic and tragedy.

His works in progress include a book-length study of assumptions underlying 200 years of classical philology; a study of prophecy, narrative and ideology in Homer and the Greek tragedians and a textbook-anthology for use in courses on Greek myth.

Peradotto has lectured at more than a hundred colleges, universities and classical associations throughout the country as well as abroad, and delivered the prestigious Charles Beebe Martin Lectures at Oberlin College in 1986. The classical journal Helios dedicated an issue to him in 1977.

The colloquium is hosted by the University of Georgia with grants from its Department of Classics, Humanities Center and Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. Additional support was provided by the College of Wooster, the University at Buffalo and the University of Georgia Museum of Art.

Among those scheduled to present are Helen Bacon, Simon Goldhill, Marilyn Katz, David Konstan, Gregory Nagy, Peter Rose, Joseph Russo and Froma Zeitlin. Respondents are Ivan Karp, Michael Herzfeld, Charles Segal and Laura Slatkin. An additional 16 workshop participants include Martha Malamud, associate professor of classics.