Department of Classical Studies
Kelly Olson
Associate Professor of Classics
 |
B. A. Calgary, M.A. Victoria, Ph.D. Chicago.
|
Special Interests:
Roman society and culture (social attitudes, women and the family, sexuality, and slavery, clothing); Roman art and architecture; Latin historiography. Publications include articles on costume, women, Roman art, and ancient society.
Current Teaching (2013-2014):
-
CS 2810A/Film 2198A: Ancient Greece in Film MW (1:30-2:30pm), Tu (7:00-10:00pm) - Screening - Course Website
CS 3300G: Greek and Roman Sexuality MWF (11:30-12:30pm) - Course Website
CS 3905F/Law 5871A: Family Law MWF (11:30-12:30pm) - Course Website
Classics 9351B: Roman Imperial Society Th (3:30-5:30pm)
Research Interests:
- Ancient history, more specifically Greek and Roman society and culture: social attitudes, social structure, women, the family, sexuality, and slavery, clothing and appearance
- Greek and Roman art and architecture
- Greek and Roman historiography
- Sexuality and appearance in Western culture
Distinctions and Awards (Selected):
- 2012-2014 Teaching Fellow, School of Advanced Study in the Arts and Humanities (UWO)
- 2011-2013 Faculty Scholar, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, Univ. of Western Ontario
- 2011 Academic Development Fund (for Greek Dress and Romanitas in Roman Antiquity)
- 2008-2011 SSHRC Standard Research Grant (for Men, Appearance, and Sexuality in Roman Antiquity)
Books Published (Selected):
- Dress and the Roman Woman: Self-Presentation and Society (Routledge, 2008). 171 + xv pp.
Books in Preparation:
- Masculinity and Dress in Roman Antiquity (Ann Arbor)
Articles:
- “Masculinity, appearance, and sexuality: Roman dandies.” Forthcoming 2014, Journal of the History of Sexuality.
- “Cosmetics in Roman antiquity: substance, remedy, poison.” Classical World 103.2: 2009: 291-310.
- ‘Insignia lugentium: female mourning garments in Roman antiquity,’ in the American Journal of Ancient History 3-4 (2004-05). [2007]: 89-130.
- "Roman underwear revisited." Classical World 96.2 [2003], 201-210.
- "Matrona and whore: the clothing of Roman women" in Fashion Theory 6.4 (2002), 387-420.
- “Roman glass gaming pieces or jewel stones” in Mouseion Series III vol. 1 (2001), 127-138.
Book Chapters (Selected):
- “Greek dress in Roman antiquity: status, sexuality, identity” chapter in Sex in Antiquity: New Essays on Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (forthcoming, Routledge)
- “Roman marriage,” chapter in A Companion to Ancient Sexuality (forthcoming, Wiley Blackwell)
- “Gender and sexuality,” chapter in Themes in Roman Society (forthcoming, Oxford Univ. Press).
- “The appearance of the young Roman girl,” in Roman Dress and the Fabric of Roman Culture, eds. J. Edmondson and A. Keith (Univ. of Toronto Press, 2008): 139-57.
- “Matrona and whore: clothing and definition," in Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World, eds. eds. C. Faraone and L. McClure (University of Wisconsin Press 2006), 186-204.
Papers Read (Selected):
- Classical Assoc. of Canada Lecturer, October 2012 (Western tour):
“Celluloid Cleopatras 1899-2005:” Univ. of Winnipeg and Univ. of Manitoba, Oct 14
“Clothing and Ritual in Roman Antiquity,” Univ. of Calgary, Oct 16
“Celluloid Cleopatras 1899-2005:” Univ. of Alberta, Oct 22
“Clothing and Ritual in Roman Antiquity,” Univ. of British Columbia, Oct 26
“Roman men in Greek clothing: class and sexuality,” Univ. of Victoria, Oct 29 - "Beware the Ill-Girt Boy: Tunics, Status, and Masculinity in Roman Antiquity," Dress and ID conference, Berlin, Germany, September 2012 (keynote address)
- “Luxury and Dress in Roman Male Clothing,” Dress and ID Conference Study Group C: Dress and Gender, Berlin, Germany, September 2012
- “Roman and pre-modern dandies: sexuality and affect,” The Reception of Rome and the Construction of Western Homosexual Identities conference, Durham UK, April 2012.
- “Greek dress in Roman antiquity,” Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Frankfurt am-Main, Germany, March 2012
- "Dandies, Effeminacy, and Masculinity in Roman Antiquity," Celtic Conference, panel on “Addressing Dress,” Edinburgh, Scotland, July 2010 (invited lecture).
- “The Color of Masculinity in Roman Antiquity,” Classical Association of Canada annual meeting, Quebec City Canada, May 2010.
- “Insignia lugentium: the Roman widow,” University of Toronto, Department of Classics, October 28, 2005 (invited lecture)
Service to the Discipline (Selected):
- May 2012: invited respondent, panels on ‘Adornment in the Bible and Antiquity,’ Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, Congress (Kitchener-Waterloo)
- May 2012: Organizing chair of the Classical Association of Canada annual meeting (London, Ontario)
- March 2012: Organizing chair of “Philhellenism and the Romans”
(panel at the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) - May 2011: Organizing Chair of “Justice on the Margins in the Ancient World” workshop
(UWO; SSHRC funded, May 2011) - 2010-2013: Member, Classical Association of Canada Council
- March 2010: Organizing Chair of “Justice in the Ancient World” conference
(UWO; awarded a SSHRC conference grant, 2010-11) - March 2010: Organizing Chair of “Clothing, Clothing, and Gender in Roman Art.”
Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference panel, Oxford UK