Week 1: Gotta Start Somewhere...

Imagine that there is some sort of clever introduction here because I've got nothing other than a bunch of excitement about my project. Salvete amici. (equivalent to "hello friends")

For this particular endeavor, I am looking at public language(graffiti, dipinti, and twitter) and why it matters. Even though so little of it remains from the Roman period, public language was an important part of their culture. It allows us the opportunity to better understand their world, and I'm looking at to see what public language says about our modern world. I had initially thought that I would be looking into the language and literacy associated with public language, but the more I read and think about the topic, the more ideas I generate.

On a mildly related and important side note, my BASIS advisor is Dr. Williams who has helped me so much with research for all my classes. His proper title is The Most Honorable Herr Professor Doctor Magister Williams, but that gets a little lengthy to type up each time. My on-site advisor at the University of Arizona is Professor Jennifer Kendall who has already been a great help to me even though the first week has been mostly figuring out scheduling matters. Not only has she been helping me with research and contextualizing the Roman epigraphy I'm looking at, she is also more than willing to chat about the figure skating at Sochi.

Back to the ideas, I know that I need to edit my ideas down so that I can end up with a focused final product, but I have a few possible themes that I am considering at the moment. The idea of literacy and the meaning of symbols gets into a lot of semiotics business which is a headache to most.

As a continuation of my Latin capstone paper, I would look at the permanence of language and memory in public writing. The Romans had ways of messing with the permanence of an inscription, and digital social networking today has its ramifications for posts. I'm thinking about looking at the permanence of memory, language, an individual, or the permanence of a culture.

Also, by looking at the people who are putting up this public writing I can get a sense of the deeper meaning behind the latest tweet from an individual. The writing comes from both minorities and groups already in power although the same vehicle of public writing is being used to convey opposite meanings.

 For an overarching concept, I'd like to gain an understanding of why any of this matters. Why are humans so inclined to sharing everything and making these connections? Basically, what is the point of all of this?

This week, while figuring out scheduling issues, has been a lot of reading with my nose in various books. There's already a stack of books on epigraphy and social media sitting on my desk waiting for me to read. Professor Kendall and Dr. Williams have been especially helpful with providing me with background reading to inform the direction of my research about modern epigraphy.

Professor Kendall has offered for me to sit in on her two classes. One in the mornings is about several Roman emperors who may not be as bad as they are made out to be. Nero, well he wasn't fiddling while Rome burned that's for sure, and this is because the fiddle wasn't invented yet. From this class, I'm seeing how what monuments he put up affected the public's view of him as an individual and a leader. Her afternoon class is about how other cultures have viewed Rome throughout history going up to Mussolini and WWII.

I'd thought that college classes would be startlingly different from high school classes, but it turns out that that's not true, for humanities at least. Well, the desks are quite a bit smaller, and more people are in what appear to be pajamas with the accompanying flip flops.

The first week was really to iron out any details we could think of for starting out, but now that those are smoothed over, I can't wait to start reading and researching more about my topic.

Valete.
(Be well.)