Reece named Boldt Distinguished Teaching Professor
St. Olaf College Professor of Classics Steve Reece has been named the O.C. and Patricia Boldt Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities.
Reece’s teaching and research focus on Homeric studies, New Testament studies, comparative oral traditions, and historical linguistics.
His scholarly work includes research done at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Lord Fellowship), the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition at the University of Missouri (National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship), the American Academy in Rome (Fulbright Fellowship), and the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C.
Reece is the author of a book about the rituals of ancient Greek hospitality titled The Stranger’s Welcome: Oral Theory and the Aesthetics of the Homeric Hospitality Scene and a monograph on early Greek etymology titled Homer’s Winged Words: Junctural Metanalysis in Homer in the Light of Oral-Formulaic Theory, for which he received a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship.
He is currently engaged in two projects: one on handwriting styles among ancient Greek, Roman, and Jewish letter writers, the other on allusions to classical literature in the letters of St. Paul.
Reece chaired the St. Olaf Department of Classics and directed the programs in Medieval Studies and Ancient Studies for two years. He earned his baccalaureate and master’s degrees from the University of Hawaii and his Ph.D. in classics from the University of California-Los Angeles. He joined the St. Olaf faculty in 1994.
The Boldt Chair was established in 1994 by contractor Oscar C. Boldt and his wife, Patricia Hamar Boldt. It is offered to a current faculty member whose scholarship and professional endeavors advance the teaching and learning of humanities at the baccalaureate level.
The Boldt Chair is awarded for terms of three years; prior holders are James Farrell (History), Carol Holly (English), Edward Langerak (Philosophy), Gordon Marino (Philosophy), Diana Postlethwaite (English), Solveig Zempel (Norwegian), and John Barbour (Religion).