News
The Honors "Worlds of Greece and Rome" Greek Ceramics Project: Hands-on Experience with an Ancient Craft
October 26, 2016
The Greek Ceramics Project began in Fall 2001, soon after the founding of the Department of Classics, as the result of interdisciplinary collaboration between Professor Daleene Menning in Art & Design and Professor Diane Rayor in Classics.
In the years since, under the guidance initially of Menning (Professor Emeritus) and since 2004 Associate Professor Hoon Lee, participants in the Honors Worlds of Greece and Rome (formerly Classical World) freshman sequence (HNR 211/212) have researched, designed, and created vases modeled upon ancient Greek red and black figure pottery.
As part of their research, students examine Greek originals during a field trip to the Kelsey Museum of Archeology, the Art Institute of Chicago, or the Toledo Museum of Art. The museum visit is followed by a lecture by Greek ceramic specialists in Classics (Drs. Melissa Morison and Bice Peruzzi) and library research. The students' own vases are the products of many hours in the Ceramics Studio during the three-week project. In the first two-hour session, they learn how to make a coil pot. In the second two-hour session, Lee demonstrates polishing, applying slip, and carving the design. During the week, Lee, ceramic assistants, and advanced students provide much needed aid to individuals as they work. For many Honors freshmen (and their Classics faculty), this hands-on experiential project is the highlight of the course.
Since 2004, the GVSU Art Gallery has purchased several of the student-made pots for the permanent collection, some of which are displayed in Lake Huron Hall near the Classics Department and in the Niemeyer Learning and Living Center.
____________________
(This piece was written by Diane Rayor,
PhD, and published with her consent. Rayor is Professor of Classics
at Grand Valley State University in the department that she
co-founded in 2000. She teaches classical literature, mythology,
ancient Greek language, and women in antiquity. As a side note,
Prof. Rayor has also made ten pots herself since Fall 2001.)