Biography•Heather Waddell Gruber

Degrees and Education:
B.A. Concordia College, Moorhead, cum laude, Latin and philosophy, minor in Greek
Alumni scholarship award, College Year in Athens, 1997
Archaeological dig at Caesarea Maritima, Israel, 1997
M.A. and Ph.D. University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
Focus on Seneca as special author and Dionysos cult as special topic

Awards:
Seashore Dissertation Year Fellowship, University of Iowa Graduate College
Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, presented by the Council on Teaching, University of Iowa

Teaching / Research Interests:
Latin, Latin prose, Vergil, advanced Latin composition, Roman poetry, Roman historians (Livy, Caesar), Cicero, Roman drama, classical mythology, classical literature in translation, scientific terminology.

May Seminar Abroad: “Vanished Civilizations of the Ancient World”

Ohio University, Department of Classics and World Religions, visiting assistant professor

University of Iowa, Classics Department, graduate instructor

Scholarly Activities:
Enduring Stereotypes:  Declamation and the “Problem” of Marriage
APA Annual Meeting 2009, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Desperate Housewives and the Legal Implications of Fantasizing About the Help
CAMWS 2008, Tucson, Arizona

“Don’t Trust a Woman, Even When She’s Dead,” and Other Fine Schoolboy Maxims
CAMWS 2007, Cincinnati, Ohio

Stasis Theory and Female Characterization in Greek Declamation
CAMWS 2006, Gainesville, Florida

Wife Swapping and Cat Fights:  Domestic Issues in Greek Declamation
CAMWS 2005, Madison, Wisconsin

Catullus’ Hymn to Lesbia?  A Re-evaluation of c. 34
CAMWS 2004, St. Louis, Missouri

Orb-People and Winged Souls:  Aristophanes’ Speech and its Influence on the Phaedrus

International Society of Neo-Platonic Studies, June 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana

The Struggle Within: A Narratological Approach to Lucan and the Issue of Believability
APA Annual Meeting 2003, New Orleans, Louisiana

Unity through the agon in Euripides’ HekabeCAMWS 2001, Provo, Utah

Invited Lectures:

Living Latin
National Junior Classical League Convention, Fargo ND (July 27-August 1, 2010).

Reading Pots: Mythological Iconography in Greek Vase Paintings
National Junior Classical League Convention, Fargo ND (July 27-August 1, 2010).

Sex and Status:  A Guide to Same-Sex Relationships in the Ancient Greek and Roman World
Elon University, April 2009

Medea and Bacchae:  Two Plays of Euripides
Athens Public Library, November 2008

Who Says Latin is Dead?  How to Speak Like a Roman in One Easy Lesson
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, November 2004 and Iowa City Senior Center, March 2006

Dionysos and his CultClassical Mythology, Cornell College, October 2003
Greek Drama and its Performative ContextInterpretation of Literature, University of Iowa, September 2003 

Gender Roles in Euripides’ Bacchae and the Cult of Dionysos
Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World, University of Iowa,  September 2003 and 2005

Girls Gone Wild and Men in Drag:  Dionysos and his CultUniversity of Iowa Classics Club (Clava), April 2003

Maenadic Rituals
Hero, God, and Mortal, University of Iowa, October 2002