
Thomas E. Jenkins, Ph.D.
- Professor , Classical Studies
I have been a Professor of Classical Studies at Trinity since 2001, a former chair of the Department, and am currently the Director of the Collaborative for Learning and Teaching, a center dedicated to the intersection of pedagogy, technology, and professional development. As director, I foster workshops and training in many areas of educational development, including inclusive classrooms, open resources, active-learning, and civility (a.k.a. difficult dialogues). In 2019, I will be facilitating a Faculty Learning Community on Oral and Visual Communication (focusing on students' presentation skills). As a classics professor, I’m especially interested in how the ancient world is reflected in contemporary media, including novels, performance, and even video games! My second book, Antiquity Now (Cambridge 2015), is now in paperback, and I've forthcoming articles about translations of Homer for the stage, and on the Broadway musical Hadestown. A volume on Plautus' comedy Asinaria is also in the works. For a copy of my full c.v. please email me at tjenkins@trinity.edu.
This coming academic year, I will again team up with my colleague in Theater, Kyle Gillette, to offer a co-taught course entitled Reimagining Tragedy, a class that combines my interests in the creative arts and creative pedagogy. By the end of the term, students will create their own contemporary (and even hip) adaptations of tragedies such as Elektra, Oedipus, Thyestes, and more! This is part of Trinity’s emphasis on “Creative Expression,” an essential component of our Pathways undergraduate curriculum.
Lastly, I engage in 'public humanism' by publishing reviews of theater, cinema, and opera in the San Antonio Current; my most recent columns can be found here.
“Translations of Homer to the Stage,” for The Companion to the Translation of Greek and Latin Epic (Wiley-Blackwell, forthcoming). Edd. Armstrong and Lanieri. 8000 words.