Chris Carswell (BAH '07, MA '09)
I am currently teaching Latin and social sciences at Havergal College (an independent high school) in Toronto. I received a teaching award from the Ontario College of Teachers two years ago (Joseph W. Atkinson Award). I cannot describe how invaluable my education at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ has been as I prepare the next generation of classicists (and Classics aficionados). I confidently work with and teach a wide variety of Latin and Greek texts, and incorporate archaeology alongside the textual evidence whenever possible. I am deeply grateful for the amazing education I received at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥.
Michael Fergusson (BAH '10, MA '13)
Brian Turner (BAH '03, MA '05)
In my first year at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ I registered for CLST 101 and by the end of the year my initial plan to complete a B.A. and move on to law school was moot. Four years later I graduated with my B.A.H. in Classics (2003) and two years after that I completed my M.A. in Classics (2005). I have fond memories of reading Tacitus outside with Prof. Kavanagh, and somewhat less fond, but equally enlightening, memories of meeting inside Watson Hall with himself and Prof. Falkner to discuss my penchant for split infinitives and dangling participles. Despite my best efforts they, and the entire faculty, made me a better writer and researcher. Study sessions led by Bill Sirman (M.A. 2006) at the Grad Club often eased the rigour of an excellent program that fully prepared me to pursue the Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am now Assistant Professor of the Ancient Mediterranean World in the Department of History at Portland State University.
Kyle Gervais (MA '09)
As I write this, I am six months out from having obtained my PhD in Classics at Otago University (New Zealand), and one month away from taking up an assistant professorship in Classics at that other great school in Ontario (Western). I am acutely aware that such a quick and successful transition from student to faculty is highly unusual, and it is thanks in no small part to the education and network I obtained at Queen’s Classics. I entered a BSc in biology at Queen’s in 2002, intending to become a dentist. A first-year elective in Latin with Prof. Kavanagh convinced me to continue with Latin (and then Greek) throughout my undergrad, and staring through a microscope for a fourth-year summer biology project convinced me to enter the MA program in Classics the following year. My graduate education, supervised by Prof. Griffith, got me an early start on doing the things needed to succeed in the typically impossible world of academia—I even got my first publication from a revised essay written for the late, great Prof. Kilpatrick. It is fair to say that without the Queen’s Classics department, I would now be spending my days repairing teeth.