Classics - Faculty & Staff

Professor Theodora Kopestonsky (Dr. K) began teaching at Wabash in 2024 after spending over a decade at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is a specialist in Greek archaeology, particularly the Classical period (5^th/4^th centuries BCE), and has excavated in England, Italy, and Greece. She is most interested in ritual activity at small shrines or near water in ancient Greece.

Her current research is focused on the creation, use, and meaning of small objects, especially terracotta figurines. While her work often begins at the site of Corinth with its rich history, she also studies material from other sites in Boeotia, Aitolia-Acarnania, Rhodes, and Ionia that are rich in terracotta offerings. She is finishing her monograph on the Shrine of the Nymphs at Kokkinovrysi (Corinth) and working on other small projects connected to the religious experience at ancient sanctuaries.

Dr. K teaches all sorts of classes across the discipline in Classics from ancient Greek and Latin to ancient history to culture-focused content like ancient Greek Myth and Film as well as archaeology courses. From engaging in a mock hoplite battle to re-creating a procession or modernizing ancient genres, Dr. K’s class often have an experiential aspect to them.

As an undergraduate at the University of Evansville, Dr. K studied abroad at Harlaxton College in England and got her first taste of archaeology at an Etruscan site of Poggio Civitate (Murlo) in Tuscany, Italy. During her graduate work at the University at Buffalo, she spent three years at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens as a regular member (traveling around Greece) and as an associate member working on her dissertation and exploring the museum storerooms at ancient Corinth. She has returned several times to Greece to continue her studies.

While not as musically inclined as her colleagues in Classics, Dr. K enjoys listening to popular music (especially Taylor Swift) and mining it for allusions to ancient poetry and art. When she has time, baked goods will appear in Detchon Hall and her Greek classes.