“Summers always go by way too fast,” says David Kawalko Roselli, associate professor of Classics and director of the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Studies. “You start out with what seems to be a lot of time and a packed research agenda – and then you turn around to find emails about fall orientation in your inbox.”
While Roselli readied himself for another term at Scripps College, he spent much of his summer in New York City researching and writing his second book, tentatively titled “Minority Discourse in Ancient Greece.”
Although much time was spent reading works by French and Italian historians for his forthcoming book, Roselli also attended a conference on power and property in late antiquity at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. He even attempted to brush up on his Polish, although, he admits, “It is a tough language, and I didn’t get beyond increasing my vocabulary. I will keep trying.”
Now back in Claremont, Roselli has launched into his second year as the director of Core. Excited about the Core I syllabus – which delves into the topic of “Histories of the Present: Violence” – and the “stellar” professors teaching it, Roselli looks forward to working to strengthen the program as a whole. He hopes to have more open discussions with students about Core’s program as the semester progresses and will be working closely with interested faculty to develop new courses.
With his clear dedication to education and the humanities at Scripps, it’s no wonder Roselli was selected to be this year’s convocation speaker. “Maybe it’s a strategy to ensure my attendance?” he jokes. Nonetheless, Roselli will take the opportunity to share his thoughts on the state of higher education not just at the College, but across the country.
“I’m seeing a lot of self-censorship among faculty members and a related flight from politically-engaged intellectual pursuits,” he says. “At the same time, some academics seem to have trouble acknowledging the value of traditional fields of study in the humanities. And to study ‘theory’ these days is often tantamount to self-exile. I find this all rather shortsighted. After all, who benefits from the hollowing out of education?”
Higher education is at times a touchy subject, but Roselli hopes to get students and faculty thinking about “why we, as a society, have come to accept an impoverished state of education” and the possible ramifications.
“I have always been concerned about the state of higher education,” he adds. “But having a small child has only opened my eyes more to the systemic problems with education in this country.”