Noted Papyrologist Dirk Obbink to Deliver Lectures on December 1 & 2

November 28, 2005

November 28, 2005, Greencastle, Ind. - Dirk Obbink, a MacArthur Fellow and professor of classics at Oxford University in England, will come to the campus of DePauw University to present two lectures. Thursday, December 1 at 8 p.m., Obbink will discuss "Vanishing Conjecture: Lost Books and their Recovery from Aristotle to Eco." The following day, Friday, December 2 at 4:15 p.m., the professor will speak on "A New Poem by Sappho: Editing and the Reception of Fragments." Both events will take place in Watson Forum of the Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media and are free and open to all.

In his work, Dirk Obbink rescues damaged texts and interprets the wisdom of ancient authors. In 2001, Obbink received a MacArthur Fellowship, which honors contributors to the expansion of knowledge, and includes a stipend of $500,000 over five years. The MacArthur Foundation’s announcement stated that the professor's papyrological work gives scholars "access to a body of ancient documents opening new windows on poetry, society, and philosophy in the ancient world."

On April 20, 2005, Professor Obbink was featured on NPR, where he discussed "recent technological breakthroughs that allow researchers to read more of the university's collection of ancient papyrus texts. Until recently, many of the documents were illegible, but new multispectral imaging tools are bringing to light words written thousands of years ago." Access the segment by clicking here.

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