Faculty and Staff
Faculty
Connie L. Rodriguez
Associate Professor, Advisor for Majors and Minors, Advisor for Eta Sigma Phi (rodrigue@loyno.edu)
I received my B.A. in Classical Studies from the University of Richmond, VA and my M.A. and Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. I teach Greek and Latin and Greek and Roman Archaeology as well as courses on women in antiquity and Ancient Mystery cults. As a graduate student, I excavated on Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. Since coming to Loyola, I have taught in Rome and has traveled extensively throughout Italy and Greece. I am also involved with the New Orleans Society of the Archeological Institute of America which sponsors several lectures on campus during the academic year. I am a former president of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to historic preservation of the architectural treasures of New Orleans and of Louisiana. I worked as a visiting curator for a special exhibit, "A Day in Pompeii", that opened in Mobile, Alabama (January 12-June 3, 2006) and traveled to the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Oliver Ranner
Visiting Assistant Professor
I joined the department in 2006, having taught previously at the Universities of Oxford, Bristol (both in the UK), and Cork (Ireland). My research interests are in Greek literature and ancient philosophy. I am particularly interested in Plato’s conception of philosophy and how he seeks to develop and to communicate it, especially in his later dialogues. Currently I am teaching Beginning and Advanced Latin: I will offer a course on Plato’s and Aristotle’s ideas on love and friendship in the spring semester.
Karen Rosenbecker
Visiting Assistant Professor
So much of what I love about Classics has to do with the idea of discourse within communities and it seems to me that this is also at the heart of Loyola. Having such a wonderful group of people (faculty, staff, and students) around me who are also interested in issues of compassion, service, and social justice makes this a wonderful job.
My research has been largely focused on two areas: the connection of food and political satire in ancient comic literature, and the re-presentation and occasional misuse of the Classical past in modern films. This produces an odd set of articles and topics, from discussing sausages and assemblymeetings in Aristophanes to dissecting villainous classics professors in the Coen brothers’ “Ladykillers”. I wrote and edited the Attic Prose section for the 2008 National Greek Exam.
I received my BA in Ancient History and Greek from the University of Minneapolis and my MA and PhD in Classics from the University of Pittsburgh. I have lived and worked in many places but I think I love New Orleans best. Along the way I’ve also become quite fond of football, birdwatching, thrift stores, anarchist philosophers, strong coffee, and the color pink.
Adjunct Faculty
Lori Ranner
Lecturer, Department of History
I am an alumna of Loyola University, New Orleans where I received my B.A. in History and Classical Studies (A & S '95). I received my M.Phil and D.Phil in Byzantine Studies from the University of Oxford. My research interests include the Latin Church in Medieval Greece, socio-cultural interaction between Latins and Greeks in the Eastern Mediterranean and Genoese colonial presence in the North Aegean. At Loyola, I teach World History to 1650 and World History from 1650 (also for the Honors Program), Greek Culture, Byzantine History, Greek Mythology and History of the Crusades.
In Memoriam
Fr. E. M. Bienvenu S.J., Professor Emeritus
Father Beinvenu was a Jesuit priest for fifty-one years and a professor of Greek philosophy and literature at Loyola for thirty-eight of those years. Before joining the university faculty, he taught at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. He continued to teach until December 1997, when he decided to retire. He passed away in June 1998. Fr. Bienvenu will forever be in our hearts and thoughts as we try to uphold the values and standards that he instilled in so many generations of students. (To read his words about those values, click on his name.) Ave atque vale.
Robert Rowland, Jr. (in memoriam, March 14, 2007)