Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Classics
Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan, Israel)
1980
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Faculty
Faculty
Molly Myerowitz Levine ( Ph.D.)
Professor
Department/Office
- World Languages & Cultures
School/College
- College of Arts & Sciences
Additional Positions
-
Certified WAC Instructor
Biography
Molly Levine, Ph.D. has been a faculty member in the Department of Classics at Howard University since 1984. Levine has taught a wide range of Greek and Latin language and literature courses for both the Classics Department and the Honors Program of the College of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on Roman Poetry, cultural diffusion and constructions, gender criticism, and the interface between early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. Her major publications include Ovid’s Games of Love, The Challenge of Black Athena, "The Gendered Grammar of Ancient Mediterranean Hair," and "Ovid's Evolution." She has been the recipient of many humanities grants and awards including a Lady Davis Visiting Professorship, Blegen Research Fellowship, and an NEH Humanities Initiative Grant. Levine has served as Chair of the Department of Classics and as Chair of the Humanities Division of the College of Arts and Sciences. She holds degrees in Classics from Harvard (B.A.), Yale (M.Phil.), and Bar-Ilan (Ph.D.).
Education & Expertise
Education
Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.)
Classics
Yale Univesity
1971
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)
Classics
Harvard University (Radcliffe College)
1964
Expertise
Augustan poetry
Ovidian reception
Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism
Evolutionary Psychology
Ancient Love Literature
Academics
Academics
Love in Antiquity
General Literature for Honors
Latin (all levels)
Research
Research
Specialty
Ovid, Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism, Apocalyptic Literature, Evolutionary Psychology and Ancient Love LiteratureFunding
Principal Investigator: NEH Humanities Initiatives grant to HBCU’s “From ‘Classical Civilization’ to ‘Ancient Mediterranean Studies Studies’: A Program for Curricular Innovation.” Jan 1 2013-Dec. 31, 2015. $59,147. Howard Project #0007903
2008 FFAE Grant for Humanities Division, The Common Text Project (author) for cycle 2007-2009. $6,000.
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
COAS Faculty Mentoring Award, May, 2016
Publications and Presentations
Publications and Presentations
Iphigenias in Jerusalem: Sacrifice and Survival in Jewish and Greek Culture
Iphigenias in Jerusalem: Sacrifice and Survival in Jewish and Greek Culture
In the classroom in modern Jerusalem, I ask my students to account for Iphigenia’s dramatic reversal. Does the voice that Euripides gave Iphigenia speak with any reason? Or does Euripides intend her speech as a parody of the frenzied patriotism of children intoxicated by the ideal of their own sacrifice on the altar of their father’s wars?
Ovid's Evolution
Chapter 13: Ovid's Evolution in The Art of Love: Bimillennial Essays on Ovid's Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amoris (pp. 252-278)
The Art of Love celebrates the bi-millennium of Ovid's cycle of sophisticated and subversive didactic poems on love, traditionally assumed to have been brought to completion around AD 2. Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love) and Remedia Amoris (Cures for Love), which purport to teach young Roman men and women how to be good lovers, were partly responsible for the poet's exile from Rome under the emperor Augustus. None the less they exerted great influence over ancient and later love poetry. This is the first collection in English devoted to the poems, and brings together many of the leading figures in the field of Latin literature and Ovidian studies from the British Isles, Germany, Italy, and the United States. It offers a range of perspectives on the poetics, politics, and erotics of the poems, beginning with a critical survey of recent research, and concluding with papers on the ancient, medieval, and modern reception of the poems.
Oracles of a Quadragenarian Latin Teacher
Oracles of a Quadragenarian Latin Teacher in The Classical World Vol. 100 (pp. 49-53)
A rock-hard foundation in elementary Latin is critical if students are to read and understand real Latin. And that firm basis requires memory work, laying in a healthy stock of vocabulary and forms. As it turns out, memorization (not to speak of grammar in any language, especially English) is an alien, indeed radical concept for today's American college student. Most students who arrive at college don't do very well on Latin placement exams and must start over from scratch.