(Original post from 2005. -Ed.)
José Luis García Ramón, Professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the Universität zu Köln, visited PASP and UT Classics for two weeks October 29-November 12.
Professor García Ramón offered four seminar sessions in Tom Palaima’s Mycenaean seminar on the following topics:
Mycenaean onomastics: Personal names (and oxen names).
- Recognition, interpretation.
- Greek personal names: Word formation.
- Greek personal names: Meaning, naming motives.
- Personal names and Mycenaean society.
- Personal names and Greek Poetry
- Oxen names.
Mycenaean onomastics: Religious names
- Recognition, interpretation.
- Formal aspects.
- Mycenaean religious names attested in 1st millenium.
- Mycenaean religious names not attested in 1st millenium.
Mycenaean onomastics: Geographical names
- Recognition, interpretation.
- Mycenaean place names and 1st millenium place names.
- Greek place names: word formation.
- Greek place names: meaning, naming motives.
- Non-Greek geographical names: word formation.
- Place names and Greek prehistory.
Mycenaean Onomastics: the new Theban Texts.
He also offered a departmental colloquium entitled:
“The Mycenaean Bechtel: New Developments in Early Greek Onomastics.”
José Luis offered an extra evening seminar on Greek dialects, and joined Prof. Palaima in offering a final special two-hour seminar on Interpretations of the Thebes Tablets.
José Luis also met at length with:
(1) dissertators Dimitri Nakassis (Pylian Prosopography and Agency Theory) and Stephie Nikoloudis (the Mycenaean ra-wa-ke-ta) to discuss problems relating to their research work;
(2) discuss with Dimitri Nakassis and Joanne Gulizio their article in progress on Greek and non-Greek deities;
(3) Prof. Paula Perlman to discuss Cretan historical dialect issues and inscriptions;
(4) Profs. Carole Justus and Sara Kimball, and Prof. Emeritus Winfred Lehmann to discuss Hittite and Indo-European matters; and he attended Prof. Bridget Drinka’s talk at the UT Linguistics Circle.
Despite such a rigorous academic schedule, José Luis managed to:
(1) visit San Antonio;
(2) examine items in the forthcoming Harry Ransom center Exhibition on “Technologies of Writing”;
(3) attend a UT women’s basketball game (where he learned the Hook ‘Em Horns sign that he cannot use in his native country unless he wants to start a fight);
(4) sit with Clifford Antone and blues piano legend Pinetop Perkins listening to Alvin Crow and his band and club owner James White perform hard core country music at the Broken Spoke;
(5) hear Ruthie Foster, Sara Brown, Carolyn Wonderland and Cindy Cashdollar perform women’s blues at Antone’s;
(6) catch another evening of Austin music at the Continental Club.
José Luis’s stay at Adams House B&B in Hyde Park placed him in a warm and friendly and attentive atmosphere.
We thank Richard Lariviere, dean of Liberal Arts, for supporting our distinguished visiting scholar program. Special thanks to Leslie Crooks in the dean’s office, Classics department administrative associate Stephanie Scott, Kurt Heinzelman and Elizabeth Garver of the Harry Ransom Center, Stephie Nikoloudis of PASP, associate athletics director Chris Plonsky, and Classics chairperson Cynthia Shelmerdine.
Thanks also to Christina Skelton for taking photos.