Faculty

Amy Cohen

Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William E. Thoresen Professor of Speech and Theatre, Chair of the Theatre Department, Professor of Classics
B.A., Yale University; Ph.D., Stanford University
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I received a B.A. in Classics (Greek) at Yale University, and then a Ph.D. in Classics, with a minor in Comparative Literature, at Stanford University. My doctoral work focused on the interpretive implications of doubling and the three-actor convention in Greek tragedy.

At Randolph my students and I put that work on its feet by continuing the R-MWC Greek Play tradition, begun in 1909 by Greek Professor Mabel K. Whiteside. Directing the plays provides insight into the realities facing the ancient playwrights, and my research continues to argue that you cannot understand the plays without understanding how they were played. I have now directed twelve productions using original practices, eleven in the Whiteside Greek Theatre on campus and one in Greece as part of the 2009 summer travel seminar, “Practical Wisdom: Philosophy and Drama in Greece.”

Although Greek drama is my specialty, I love teaching any course that leads students into an understanding of ancient literature and culture, in translation or in the original language. I haven’t met an obscure grammatical term I don’t love, and I do my best to inspire your passion for them as well in my ancient Greek courses. I also try to help students remember that the point of learning that declension or conjugation is to be able to read the words of the ancients, and to draw us that much closer to understanding them and their importance to us.

When I have time, I see movies, read novels, and knit. I live happily on Garland Hill with my husband Chris, my sons Spencer and Leo, and my daughter Helen.