Graduate - Testimonials

Casey McMickle

In my time in the MA program at KU, I read classics like Caesar’s Gallic Wars and Virgil’s Aeneid as well as the lesser known texts like Pseudo-Virgilian Ciris. As a middle- and high-school Latin teacher, I find that every ancient text offers insight and wisdom that young students can use to handle struggles in their own lives.



While there are many lines to choose from, a phrase I always return to comes from Virgil’s Aeneid: “forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit” (“perhaps even this will be a joy to remember one day”). Though my students may not be enduring the same type of trials that Aeneas does, the words of the poet remind them that they can use even bad situations to lead themselves toward something better.



It has been, and will continue to be, my joy to share these texts with my students.

Matt Naglak

During my two years in KU's Master's Program, while gaining better proficiency in Latin and Greek, I discovered that my true interests lay in material culture and digital archaeology. While working with Prof. Stinson on my thesis on the street grid of Pompeii, I also had the opportunity to work on an innovative digital archaeology project using satellite imagery and GIS, expanding my skills in this area and, eventually, resulting in a peer-reviewed publication.



This combination of language expertise and digital archaeology skills helped me get into a top-tier Classical Archaeology program at the University of Michigan, where I had the opportunity to work on archaeological excavations and surveys across Italy, Greece, and Turkey.



Having finished my PhD in May 2020, I am now working a job I love as a Digital Scholarship Librarian at Boston College, helping faculty and students on a wide variety of digital research projects across the arts and humanities (while still doing some digital archaeology on the side!).



Without my experience in the University of Kansas Classics program, there is no way I'd have been able to accomplish this.

Caroline Nemechek

During my time in the Classics MA Program at KU, I found a welcoming community where I was able to develop my academic skills, receive guidance from mentors, and collaborate with my peers. As a teaching assistant, I gained valuable teaching experience by both assisting experienced faculty instructors and leading my own online and hybrid courses.



The department also awarded summer funding for student research and education, which allowed me to participate in archaeological field work in Spain and Italy. I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan, as a member of the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology.



My time at KU was an irreplaceable invaluable experience, and helped me advance to where I am today.

Andrea Samz-Pustol

Entering KU’s MA program, I knew that I wanted to continue onto an archaeology PhD program afterward, and it would be a good test for that future. The MA program allowed me to gain research experience, and I even got to teach my own classes and learn how to craft a syllabus and prepare lectures, exams, paper topics, etc.  I really enjoyed how friendly and open the department was – there was a sense of community that was also reflected in the grad students, many of whom I’m still close friends with. I was the only archaeologist in a cohort of classicists, but the department supported my goals, helped fund summer excavations, and gave me the tools I needed to get into a PhD program.

Now I’m writing my dissertation at Bryn Mawr College and still excavating in the summers.  Tools and methodologies that Prof. Stinson taught me became the driving force of my MA thesis at Bryn Mawr and introduced me to the world of digital humanities in archaeology. I recently spent a year as an Associate Member at the American School for Classical Studies in Athens. I will forever be grateful for the many opportunities and lessons I learned at KU.