De
Flavio Magistro
Updated
1/25/10
John M. McMahon, Ph. D.
Professor of Classics
LeMoyne College
Reilly Hall 211
Syracuse, NY 13214-1399
(315) 445-4730
mcmahon@lemoyne.edu
WWW:
http://webserver.lemoyne.edu/~mcmahon/index.html
University of
Pennsylvania: Ph.D., M.A. (Classical Studies)
SUNY Albany: M.A. (Latin)
Adelphi University: B.A. (Classics)
Special Interests:
- Latin Language and Literature
- Poetry
- Petronius
- Ancient Natural History, especially botany and astronomy
- Roman Civilization and Archaeology
Current Projects:
- 18th Century Neo-Latin Manuscripts from a Colonial American Collection
- A Latin teaching text based on Hyginus's De astronomia
In Print:
- "Central by Nature: Taking Classics Beyond the Textual Margins" in Jesuit Education and the Classics. ed. Cueva, E., S. Byrne and F. Benda. (Newcastle: 2009): 83-101
- Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer Verlag, 2007): Articles on Homer, Hesiod, Vergil, Ovid, Theon of Alexandria, Synesius of Cyrene, Dionysius Exiguus, Cassiodorus, and Severus Sebokht
- Museion Series III. Vol. 7.1 (2007): Review of A. C. Bowen and R. B. Todd, Cleomedes' Lectures on Astronomy
- Encylopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World (Oakland Park, FL: Schlager/Facts on File: 2007): "Astronomy: Rome"
- Amphora 4.1 (Spring 2005) Review of Bill Neal, Gardener's Latin
- Museion Series III. Vol 4.1 (2004): Review of Victoria Rimell, Petronius and the Anatomy of Fiction
- "Ein guter Lateinischer Poet: A Latin Lyricist on the Colonial Pennsylvania Frontier" in Germania latina - Latinitas teutonica: Politik, Wissenschaft, humanistische Kultur vom spaeten Mittelalter bis in unsere Zeit. 2 vols. Ed. E. Kessler and H. C. Kuhn (Munich: 2003): 2.741-50
- Archaeoastronomy Vol. 16 (2001): Review of Theony Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook
- Scholia Reviews ns 11 (2002) 3: Review of John Raven, Plants and Plant Lore in Ancient Greece
- Journal for the History of Astronomy 32.2 (May, 2001): Review of Emma Gee, Ovid, Aratus and Augustus: Astronomy in Ovid's Fasti
- Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Salem Press, 2002): Articles on Horace, Petronius, and Longus
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2000.09.19): Review of Laurin R. Johnson, Shining in the Ancient Sea: The Astronomical Ancestry of Homer's Odyssey
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 99.9.19 (1999): Review of Patrica Jeskins, The Environment and the Classical World
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 98.11.15 (1998): Review of Catherine Connors, Petronius the Poet: Verse and Literary Tradition in the Satyricon
- Paralysin Cave: Impotence, Perception, and Text in the Satyrica of Petronius (Leiden: Brill, 1998)
- Mnemosyne 50.1 (1997): "A Petronian Parody at Sat. 14.2-14.3"
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 8.2.(1997): Review of Timothy Barnes (ed.), The Sciences in Greco-Roman Society
- Newsletter of the Classical Association of the Empire State 31.2 (Summer 1996): "Cultivating Passion: Vegetables, Belief, and Sexuality"
- New York Council for the Humanities "Lives Worth Knowing" Program (Fall 1996): Discussion guide for Mary Renault's The Nature of Alexander
- Journal of American Folklore 109 (1996): Rev.of V. S. Jenkins, The Lawn: A History of an American Obsession
- Newsletter of the Classical Association of the Empire State 30.2 (Spring 1995): "Trees: Living Links to the Classical Past"
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 6.5 (1995): Rev. of M. Janan, When the Lamp is Shattered: Desire and Narrative in Catullus
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 6.3 (1995): Rev. of G. M. Seligson,Greek for Reading
- The Garlic Press 21 (Summer 1994): "Not Just Another Pretty Scape: Garlic's Ancient Serpent Connection"
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review 5.4 (1994): Rev. of J. D. Hughes, Pan's Travail: Environmental Problems of the Ancient Greeks and Romans
- Society for Ancient Medicine Review 21 (1993): Review of Christopher Hobbs, "Garlic-the Pungent Panacea," Pharmacy in History 34.3 (1992)
Papers, Lectures, Panel Presentations:
- Jesuit Education and the Classics Conference (Xavier University, 11/4-6/05): "Central by Nature: Taking Classics Beyond the Textual Margins"
- Classical Association of the Empire State 41st Annual Institute (10/22-23/04): Workshop organizer and presenter: "Astronomical Resources for the Latin Classroom" (illustrated)
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States Fall 2003 Meeting (10/03): "The De astronomia of Hyginus: an Ideal Beginning Latin Prose Text"
- Architecture and History Slide Show sponsored by the Town of Tully, NY (6/22/03): Invited panelist and speaker on "Marcus Tullius Cicero: Life and Times"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States Spring 2002 Meeting (4/02): Invited presenter/panelist (on Roman sites in Germany) for "Beyond 'Capitalism': Visiting Ancient Roman Sites Outside the Urbs Aeterna"
- Seminar fuer Geistesgeschichte und Philosophie der Renaissance im Philosophie-Department Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen: Germania latina - Latinitas teutonica (9/10-13, 2001): "Ein guter Lateinischer Poet: A Latin Lyricist on the Colonial Pennsylvania Frontier"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States Spring 2001 Meeting (4/01): Invited presenter/panelist for the "Round Table for New - and Innovative - Latin Teachers"
- Syracuse Astronomical Society (1/01): "The Calendar from Observation to Calculation"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States Fall 2000 Meeting(10/00): Invited presenter for "Building on Pedagogical Excellence: American Philogical Association Teaching Award Winners and their Collaboration with Secondary School Teachers" (with Latin teacher Mary Miggins of East Syracuse-Minoa High School)
- Syracuse Astronomical Society (3/00): "Stars, Sun, and Salvation: Astronomical Symbolism in the Mithraic Mysteries"
- American Association for Neo-Latin Studies panel, American Philological Association (12/98): "De Christiano Wedstedio poeta Latino carminibusque eius" (abstract)
- Society for Textual Scholarship (4/97):"Neo-Latin Verse in Colonial America"
- Classical Association of the Midwest and South (4/96):"Paralysin Cave: Folk Medicinal Elements in the Satyricon"
- Classical Association of the Empire State (10/95):"Cultivating Passion: Vegetables, Belief, and Sexuality"
- American Philogical Association (12/94): "The Botany of Bedlam: Some Classical Plants Associated with Madness"
- Classical Association of the Empire State (10/94): "Trees: Living Links to the Classical Past" (Included in the 1996-1998 New York Council for the Humanities Speakers in the Humanities Program Catalogue)
- American Philological Association (12/93): "Vegetables, Vipers and Virility: The Subtext of Horace Epode Three"
- International Association of Word and Image Studies, Third International Congress (8/93):"Visible Virility: Image, Metaphor and the Genus Allium"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States (10/92): "Amatory Control and Submission in Catullan Lyric"
- University of Pennsylvania / Morris Arboretum (9/92): "Arboretum Classics: Trees in Greek and Roman Literature"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States (4/92): "The Imagery of Garlic in Aristophanes"
- American Philological Association (12/91): "Streetwise: Petronius' Cynic Elements"
- Classical Association of the Atlantic States (4/91): "ektopos aroura: Deianira's Imagery of Self"
Awards / Honors / Fellowships:
- Le Moyne College: Nominee / Finalist, Rev. Msgr. A. Robert Casey Teacher of the Year Award (2001-2002)
- American Philological Association: APA Excellence in Teaching Award (1998)
- Le Moyne College: Rev. Richard M. McKeon, S.J. Scholar of the Year Award (1998-1999)
- Nature in Legend and Story (NILAS): Elected to Board of Directors (1997); Served: 1997-2000
- Le Moyne College Research and Development Stipend (1996): Indexing of Paralysin Cave
- Le Moyne College: Faculty Senate Summer Research Stipend:"Neo-Latin Mansucript Materials from a Colonial American Collection" (1995)
- University of Pennsylvania:
Mellon Dissertation Fellowship
(1992-93)
University Fellowship (1991-92)
Mellon Dissertation Workshop (Summer 1991)
Pepper Fellowship (1990-91)
Department of Classical Studies Graduate Fellowships (1988-90)
- Herb Society of America: Research and Education Grant (1991-1992)
- NEH Summer Seminar for Secondary School Teachers (Sum. 1984)
- Fulbright Grant: American Academy / Vergilian Society (Sum. 1983, 1984) [declined]
- SUNY Albany: Department of Classics Teaching Fellowship (1977-79)
College / University Level Course Experience in Classics:
- Latin and Greek Languages and Literatures (Elementary / Intermediate Levels)
- Latin: Cicero, Nepos, Livy, Catullus, Vergil, Horace, Petronius, Seneca, Suetonius, Pliny
- Greek: Plato
- Latin and Greek Etymology
- Classical Mythology
- Classical Literature in Translation: Tragedy, Comedy, Epic, Lyric
Service Activities:
- Le Moyne College Scholar of the Year Committee (1999, 2000, 2001)
- Le Moyne College Faculty Senate Divisional Representative (1997-99, 1999-2001, 2001-2002)
- Le Moyne College Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee: At-Large Representative (1998-1999)
- Le Moyne College Faculty Senate Elections Committee (Chair: 1995-97)
- Le Moyne College Jubilee Year Academic Programming Subcommittee (Co-chair: 1995-97)
- Women Studies Program Curriculum Committee (1995-96 / 1997-98 / 1998-99)
- Societas Classica Lemoynensis (Faculty Sponsor)
- Association of Teachers of Latin around Syracuse (ATLAS)
Related Community Service Activities:
- Town of Tully (NY): Zoning Board of Appeals (appointed: 2000-05; re-appointed: 2006-2010)
- Town of Tully Comprehensive Plan, Environment and Recreation Subcommittee (appointed 11/02)
- Syracuse Astronomical Society: Board of Directors: Publicity and Public Outreach (2000-2003; 2006-2010); Liason to Local Community 2006 - present)
- Co-founder (1999) and board member (1999-2009) of SELENE (Sensible and Efficient Lighting to Enhance the Nighttime Environment), an educational organization that advocates for the reduction of excessive and wasteful outdoor illumination (light pollution) and its adverse effects on nocturnal ecosystems, on the environment and on human awareness of the night sky.
- Lectures:
- Syracuse Astronomical Society Summer Seminar (8/4/00): "Introduction to Light Pollution
- Syracuse Astronomical Society Summer Seminar (8/5/00): "The Politics of Light Pollution"
- Syracuse Astronomical Society Summer Seminar (8/14/04): "Introduction to Greek and Roman Astronomy"
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- In Print:
- The Independent 1.43 (10/27/99): "Lights Out for the Leonids"
- Central New York Environment 24.4 (Aug. / Sept. 1999): "Pulling the Plug on Light Pollution"