R. Scott Smith

Growing up in Mechanicsville, Virginia, I became an unexpected classicist: I loved languages and science, baseball and music, but when I took Latin in high school and ancient Greek in college (Mary Washington College), it was as if I was being reborn—twice. My parents had no idea what to do with me, but they supported their weird child and off I went to pursue my doctorate in classical philology ("philology" was once described to me as "reading texts excruciatingly carefully and slowly"). I feel deeply fortunate to have joined the UNH faculty in 2000 after receiving my PhD from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in the same year.

I specialize in ancient mythography (the way the Greeks and Romans organized and interpreted their own mythical stories) and the philosopher-poet Seneca the Younger. In the profile below you can peruse my wide-ranging work. Currently, I am co-editing for Oxford University Press The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography, as well as heading a digital humanities project, "Putting Greek Myth on the Map," a digital platform to visualize the relationship between mythical figures and real places on the ground. A teacher at heart—my motto is qui miscuit utile dulci ("one who combines fun with something useful")—I have taught all levels of Latin, Greek, and Classics courses, and am director and instructor of the January-term Study Abroad in Rome Program. For his sins in past lives I currently serve as president or chair in state and regional classics organizations, and as chair of the Faculty Senate. I am a proud speaker for New Hampshire Humanities.