Author: Claire Campbell Major: Classical Studies
Claire Campbell presenting her research at the Classical Association of the Middle West and South at the annual conference
I am Claire Campbell, a recent graduate with a BA in Classical studies and a minor in Jewish studies in Fulbright college. In the final semester of my undergraduate career, I worked with my thesis mentor, Dr. Rhodora Vennarucci in the Classical studies department on the non-domestic, commercial gardens in Regio I and Regio VI of Pompeii. This included cataloging all documented gardens in these regions of Pompeii and creating a garden typology based on the material evidence found in these spaces as opposed to categorizing gardens based on private or public designations. My thesis incorporates this holistic approach to Roman gardens and focuses on the gardens of commercial spaces, including taverns, inns, and orchards. The catalog methodology created for this research permitted me to analyze the qualities of commercial gardens, both productive and aesthetic, in order to suggest that commercial gardens incorporate the same qualities found in gardens of the private sphere, allowing for an affordable and accessible elite garden experience.
Although this final semester was full of stress-induced writing and final revisions of the thesis, I am very pleased with the final product and the overall experience of my Honors Undergraduate Thesis. I plan to continue researching and writing on Pompeiian Gardens over the summer with the Virtual Pompeii Project. My honors thesis would not have been such a success without the guidance and encouragement of my thesis advisor and the other members of my thesis committee, Dr. Spencer Allen and Dr. Dave Fredrick who both were very helpful and supportive throughout this process.
My advisors, Dr. Vennarucci and Dr. Fredrick encouraged me to reach out to current scholars in the field to receive their input on my research. I reached out to Dr. Kathryn Gleason from Cornell University, who was incredibly helpful. She extended an invitation to work as an editor on the Gardens of the Roman Empire Project, an open-access database that provides all the documented excavated Roman gardens that extended across the empire. Although I was unable to work extensively with the project during the semester, I am working with GRE over the summer as they revise and edit the open-access site to make it more user-friendly and organized. I will be helping compile the documented excavations of the gardens in Pompeii which I researched extensively during my thesis process.
On top of thesis work, I was able to present a chapter of my thesis at the Classical Association of the Middle West and South annual conference on April 9th, 2021. Although the virtual format was not as exciting as an in-person conference, the opportunity to present my research and receive feedback from students and faculties of other institutions was enriching and informative. The conference was also great practice for my thesis defense, which I successfully passed on April 16th, 2021. My top advice to future honors students is to take advantage of conference and presentation opportunities. It can help you build confidence and even develop your research in a very significant way.
This summer, I planned on participating in the Marzuolo Archaeological Project, an archaeology project co-directed by Dr. Vennarucci. I was fortunate enough to receive three scholarships for this opportunity. I planned on continuing my research to provide a comparison between rural landscaping and urban horticulture of the Roman Empire in my thesis; however, I had to cancel these plans in order to focus on my transition to graduate school this upcoming academic year. I hope I can join Dr. Vennarucci in the dirt of Italy in the future.
I have accepted a position at Yale Divinity School to work towards my MA in Religious Studies with a focus on the Hebrew Bible. Ancient religion and languages have been a strong passion of mine for years. I decided not to focus my thesis on ancient religion, because I wanted my first large research project to be the most enjoyable (and painless) experience. Gardening is a personal hobby of mine and is a past time I thoroughly enjoy doing with my mom, especially during the Covid-19 crisis. When I needed to step away from my thesis, I would work in the flower, fruit, and vegetables gardens with my mom who would let me tell her about interesting trends or characteristics in ancient Roman gardens that I had learned about during my research.
I do not consider this research unrelated to what I am wanting to do with my future academic career. In fact, I look forward to incorporating the interdisciplinary research and methodology style to future projects in my graduate career. Perhaps I will be able to spend some time researching on how ancient religions incorporated gardens or garden imagery into their worship or faith. I am also looking forward to gardening in the community gardens at Yale and fondly looking back on the four years I spent at the University of Arkansas with the Classics Department.