Will Brockliss, Assistant Professor of Classics
His dissertation was entitled "The Flower in Homeric Poetry." As a classicist, he focuses on how Latin and Greek were learned throughout history. But while William Brockliss, a new Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, expects to log plenty of hours at the Chazen Museum of Art, pondering the mysteries of the ancient world, you may also run into him at the Dan McCLimon Memorial Track/Soccer complex, cheering for the Badger soccer teams. Like all “Limeys,” he says, he’s confounded by what he calls “helmet-football.”
Brockliss, who received his BA at Oxford, in England, and his Ph.D. at Yale, taught for a year at Brigham Young University before arriving in Madison to teach ancient poetry. Classics is one of UW-Madison’s three original departments, dating back to 1849. Last year, through an extraordinary $10 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to “preserve and enhance the humanities,” the department received funds to hire a new professor in the area of ancient epic and archaic Greek poetry. Intensive recruiting led to Brockliss, an emerging expert on Homer.
Welcome, Will! Tell us about your research interests.
I like Homer and I like flowers, so I thought I’d combine the two by looking at how Homeric floral imagery responds to the characteristics of flowers in the Greek natural environment. I’m also working on a volume on the learning of Latin and Greek as second language throughout history, and dabbling in monsters and magic.
Is there an exciting resource you can’t wait to explore here at UW-Madison?
Ancient art at the Chazen. It’s great when students get the chance to engage with real stuff from the ancient world.
What courses will you teach?
Classics 373 (monsters) and Greek 510 (Homer).
What can your students expect in the classroom?
Lots of hands-on learning; no snoozing. Energy drinks are not your friend!
The most-thumbed book on your shelf?
Homer (Oxford Classical edition).
How do you unwind?
Watching “Ice Road Truckers” or “Top Gear” (strictly the UK version); hanging out with my orange parrot, Bruce.
You’re a soccer fan; what other events are you looking forward to on campus?
Anything good in theater or music. Send me your recommendations!