Faculty News - Associate Professor Christopher Gregg

Associate Professor Christopher Gregg is back from an exciting year of teaching in Rome. During the academic year, he taught at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, a competitive study-abroad program that is more than 50 years old. After his previous experience at the “Centro,” as it is popularly known, Professor Gregg was appointed the Mellon Professor in Charge for academic year 2016-17. He was responsible for planning the curriculum, envisioning big-picture goals for each semester, and arranging logistics of travel and instruction.

Gregg and his co-teachers arranged on-site experiences for the students, who all have a substantial knowledge base in Classics. The class visited Rome, Sicily, the Bay of Naples, Ravenna, and other sites containing some of the best-preserved examples of Greek and Roman art, architecture, and urbanism. With a pedagogical focus on the Roman city, Gregg planned the semester to culminate in an on-site final exam, in which students visited a previously unfamiliar archaeological site and applied the knowledge they had learned.

Gregg has brought back some knowledge and techniques that he honed during his time at the Centro. He and his students got a first look at new finds, such as a recently restored Greek bronze of a dancing satyr found off the coast of southern Sicily and newly displayed in its own museum. He also had the opportunity to learn from his three co-teachers, two specialists in Latin literature and one in Greek literature. He also spent the previous two summers as Professor in Charge for the University of Georgia's Classics program in Rome, where several Mason art history students joined him each summer.