Dr K.O. Chong-Gossard

Biography

K.O. was born in the USA in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, went to grad school in Michigan, and now loves living in the southern hemisphere. After grad school, he taught at the University of Michigan and Kalamazoo College. Like many of his colleagues in Classics, foreign languages has always been his favourite hobby; in addition to Latin and Ancient Greek, he has pursued German, French, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Literary Chinese, Russian, and would love to master Biblical Hebrew. He has two cats named Gerald and Oscar; he has a passion for opera (especially Handel and Mozart); he plays the violin and viola; he collects teddy bears (over 200 are in his office!); he adores chocolate; he has a fondness for re-runs of Dark Shadows (that late 1960's American soap opera about the vampire); and he's over 1.9 metres tall. He is also a genealogist and has published books on his Chinese American family in Hawaii.

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Research

K.O.'s main interest is Greek tragedy, specifically the gendered use of language in Euripides. Other interests include gender theory, Senecan drama, Roman prosopography, and Latin pedagogy.

Current projects:

Consolation in Greek Tragedy
Type of Project: non-funded
Collaborators: Dr Han Baltussen, University of Adelaide
Brief Description: This project is my contribution to an international collaboration, The Consolation Genre in the Western Tradition: Approaches to Mortality and Mourning from Homer to the Renaissance. It examines how Greek tragedy, originally from 5th century BCE Athens, explores the ethical dilemmas of grief by acting out consolation on stage. Dr Baltussen has organized a group of over a dozen international scholars from Australia, New Zealand, USA, U.K., and the Netherlands to collaborate on a history the genre of 'consolation,' from Greek and Roman times through to mediaeval and Renaissance literature. The response to grief (often the death of a loved one) might seem to be a universal experience, but every culture has distinct conventions of grief therapy and "dealing" with loss. This project examines the literary consolation from ancient, mediaeval, and renaissance times, not only to pinpoint gradual changes in philosophies about grief, but also to see how modern grief therapy might benefit from ancient models.

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Publications

Journal Articles

• Chong-Gossard, 'Song and the Solitary Self: Euripidean women who resist comfort', in Phoenix: Journal of the Classical Association of Canada 57 (2003): 209-231
• Chong-Gossard, 'The Silence of the Virgins: comparing Euripides' Hippolytus and Theonoe', in Antichthon: the Journal of the Australasian Society for Classical Studies 38 (2004): 10-30
• Chong-Gossard, 'Female Song and Female Knowledge in the Recognition Duets of Euripides', from the Greek Drama III Conference, Sydney, July 2002. Published in Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies (BICS) Supplement (London), 2006
• Chong-Gossard, 'On Teaching the Oedipus Rex', in Iris: Journal of the Classical Association of Victoria 16-17 (2003-2004): 26-40
• Chong-Gossard, 'On Teaching Sophocles' Ajax: sôphrosunê, hubris, and the character of Ajax', in Iris: Journal of the Classical Association of Victoria 18 (2005): 13-36

Recent presentations

• 1 February, 2006. Conference paper. 'Matrons Under the Microscope: gender, sexuality and power in Suetonius' Caesares.' Australasian Society for Classical Studies (ASCS) Conference and General Meeting. University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
• 13-14 January, 2006. Conference papers. 'Gender, Sexuality and Power in Suetonius' Caesares.' and 'Consolation in Euripides' Hypsipyle.' Fourth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
• 6 January, 2006. Conference paper. 'Consolation in Euripides' Hypsipyle.' American Philological Association/ American Institute of Archaeology (APA/AIA) Joint Annual Meeting. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• 10 September, 2005. Public lecture for VCE students. 'Sophocles' Ajax.' VCE Classical Societies Revision Day, sponsored by the Classical Association of Victoria. University of Melbourne.
• 8 September, 2005. Seminar paper. ‘"You Have Sorrows, I Know": patterns of consolation in Greek Tragedy.' Ancient World Seminar Series, Centre for Classics and Archaeology, University of Melbourne.
• 11 April, 2005. Public lecture. 'A Sphinx Named Jocasta: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and the monstrous feminine.' University of Adelaide (Classical Association of South Australia).
• 4 September, 2004. Public presentation for VCE students. On the Classical Tradition, from Sappho to Pop Music lyrics. VCE Classical Societies Revision Day, sponsored by the Classical Association of Victoria. University of Melbourne.
• 9 August, 2004. Public lecture. 'A Sphinx Named Jocasta: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and the monstrous feminine.' University of Melbourne (Classical Association of Victoria, and School of AHCCA Public Lecture Series).
• 2 February, 2004. Conference Paper. ‘A Sphinx Named Jocasta: Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and the Monstrous Feminine.’ Australasian Society of Classical Studies (ASCS) Conference and General Meeting. La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia.
• 24 October, 2003. Colloquium presentation. ‘Lyric Metre as a Specific "Female" Language in Euripides.’ Language and Literature Colloquium. Museum of Ancient Cultures, Language Showcase Series V. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
• 8 October, 2003. Public lecture. 'Swollen-Foot the Usurper: Reviewing Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus.' University of Melbourne (Classical Association of Victoria).
• 6 September, 2003. Public lecture for VCE students. 'Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.' VCE Classical Societies Revision Day, sponsored by the Classical Association of Victoria. University of Melbourne.
• 6 February, 2003. Conference paper. ‘Authority and Resistance in Women's Songs in the Plays of Euripides.’ Australian Society of Classical Studies (ASCS) Conference and General Meeting. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
• September 2002. Public lecture for VCE students. 'Sophocles' Oedipus Rex.' VCE Classical Societies Revision Day, sponsored by the Classical Association of Victoria. University of Melbourne.
• 10 July, 2002. Conference paper. ‘Song as Female Language in the Recognition Duets of Euripides.’ Greek Drama III Conference. University of Sydney, Australia.

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