Greek Week will hit the Gonzaga University campus March 22-28. This program is an interdepartmental event sponsored by Gonzaga's Classical Civilizations Department and facilitated by faculty members from the departments of Classical Civilizations, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and the Theater Arts Program.
This week-long extravaganza will focus on ancient Greek drama and culture to highlight the fundamental contributions made to human society by the ancient Greeks, these accomplishments include the development of science, democracy, philosophy and drama.
When Dr. Andrew Goldman became the chair of the Classics Department in 2007, not many people understood what it was.
"I wanted to do something to get the name out and remind students how important classics are as part of their Gonzaga education," Goldman said.
By last spring, Goldman was eager to get the students involved and increase awareness about classics.
"The Classics program is a collaborative program that represents the interdisciplinary nature of Classics," Goldman said, describing how the collaboration of different disciplines to create Greek Week illustrates its nature.
The idea blossomed when Goldman asked Theatre professor Brian Russo if he could put on a Greek play. Russo agreed, and "the rest of the project snowballed from there," Goldman said.
In October, the Classics Department received a grant from Humanities Washington. Goldman said that this grant allowed him to bring in specialists from the Northwest region that could talk about Greek culture. These speakers will also be active participants after the plays to discuss the play with the audience.
Sophomore Leah Marley and junior Jenny Van Houdt, both Classics majors, are Dr. Goldman's student assistants that have helped him organize Greek Week. They are responsible for setting up the receptions, dramaturgy researching the context of the plays, play decorations, and publicity.
Marley and Van Houdt "grease the wheels" to make sure that everything goes smoothly, Goldman said.
"It will allow the entire school body to get involved instead of just being spectators," Marley said.
She stresses engaging the campus.
"Our Classics Department is small, but it's growing," Marley said.
Van Houdt is excited to "shed some light" on the Classics Department.
"Classics: It's everything. It teaches you a little about art philosophy, languages, and history," she said. "It enlightens people on a way of life that is interesting and deserves our attention."
Featured events will include a production of Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" at Gonzaga's Magnuson Theatre and a free lecture series with specialists on all aspects of Greek culture and history.
A student-run event will take place March 22 to kick off the Greek Week festivities: the Homer-athon. The Gonzaga Latin Club, Classics students, faculty members and others will spend the day performing an uninterrupted reading of the Homer's "Odyssey" in Crosby Student Center.
Greek Week will feature a series of lectures about Greek drama and society March 23 – 27. Specialists in ancient Greek history and culture from Gonzaga and universities across the Northwest will present their work to provide greater insight into Greek society of the fifth century B.C. All lectures are free and open to the public.
The Olympic Games that will be held on Saturday during Greek Week are going to be run by the History Club.
"The goal is to expose people to a little bit of culture and history, but also make it fun," Elizabeth Tanonis, secretary of the history club, said.
Tanonis said the location of these games is still to be determined. The Olympics will be a free event with prizes. Everybody is welcome to participate. Each group of Olympians should consist of four or five people.
The events of these Olympics are going to be modeled after the first Olympics including: discus throwing, arm wrestling, tug-of-war, the relay race, and the long-jump.
For more information, you can go to the Web site:
http://web02.gonzaga.edu/greekweek/
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!