Lillian Doherty's class on comedy is noticed in this piece on the University of Maryland's Honors program--newsworthy especially because a newspaper mentions Menander:
Take Lillian Doherty's "Comedy: Ancient and Modern." One day, 19 students sat at a U-shaped arrangement of tables. The discussion in class centered on a homework assignment comparing Menander's Samia, the classic Greek comedy, to the 1967 film "The Graduate."
Doherty, an associate professor of classics, started off the conversation, knowing full well that Samia is a dense, serious work and that "The Graduate" was made well before these students were born. But the students kept the conversation going. Near the end of class, Doherty praised their insights into the play and the film.
Her body language seemed to indicate that class was done for the day, and in many college classrooms, students would have already been packing up to leave. But not here. The students snuck in a few more questions, even as Doherty walked out the door.
That sounds like a good class.
With Roman comedy, on the other hand, they'd probably be making comparisons with Airplane and Animal House....
Posted by: Anna | April 08, 2005 at 07:46 PM