Dr. Ellen Lee
LightNews LightNews
banner
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Dr. Ellen Lee
@ellenleephd.bsky.social
800 followers 320 following 170 posts
Feminist, queer, & cognitive approaches to ancient lit + equity pedagogy in language classrooms. UMich PhD, UTexas BA. USW Steelworker. (she/ista) FirstGen
Posts Replies Media Videos
ellenleephd.bsky.social
YESSS
AI policy for Speculum: The use of generative AI to write any part of an article’s text or notes or to generate ideas is strictly prohibited. AI cannot be considered an author of submitted works, as AI tools cannot take ethical or legal responsibility for their output or enter into legal agreements. If prohibited AI use is discovered even after an article has been accepted, the article will not be published and the offense will be treated as plagiarism. Authors must fully disclose and cite their use of any content created by AI tools in their manuscripts at the time of submission. This includes data, images, figures, or any other type of content. Authors must accept full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and citation of content created using generative AI systems, including factual and citation accuracy. Software that assists with grammar, spelling, or translation of your own words is not considered generative AI and doesn’t require disclosure.
September 2, 2025 at 10:29 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
One week until the Day of Action for Higher Education on 4/17! #Pittsburgh #HigherEd folks, my union is organizing a rally in Schenley Plaza at noon; spread the word! (Definitely the biggest event I've ever personally organized!) Anyone else planning actions on their campuses for 4/17? #AcademicSky
Flyer in blue, yellow, and white: RALLY. Defend higher education and free speech! Schenley Plaza, 12pm, April 17. Organized by United Steelworkers Local 1088, University of Pittsburgh, Point Park University, and Robert Morris University Faculty, and American Association of University Professors, University of Pittsburgh chapter, in solidarity with the National Day of Action for Higher Education and all who are opposed to the attacks on our civil liberties.
April 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Labor's getting out the vote in PA, yinz!
Me, wearing a United Steelworkers shirt and "Steelworkers for Harris/Walz" sticker, holding up a lanyard that reads "Labor Votes AFL-CIO Union Voter Outreach Volunteer "
November 2, 2024 at 3:28 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Speaking of penis size, here's one of the images I had to restrain myself from using in this textbook, since I want it to be usable in secondary classrooms, too. Look at this excellent penis-shaped anatomical votive! (Baths of Diocletian, Museo Nazionale Romano, photo my own)
Set of ancient anatomical votives, in a museum display (at the Baths of Diocletian museum, Rome), including votives in the shape of a foot, bowels, and a large penis (about the same size as the foot).
August 21, 2024 at 2:34 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
To make this textbook visually engaging, I spent a ton of time going through public domain or CC-licensed images to pick cool ancient art/artifacts to feature! One of my favorites is this marble funerary altar with a relief depicting the deceased, a boy named Anthus, with his dog. 🐶
🖼️ The Met
Marble funerary altar with a relief depicting the deceased, a boy named Anthus, with his dog, c. 1st cent. CE. The boy holds a scroll in one hand and his garment in the other, as the small dog looks up at him. (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
August 18, 2024 at 2:15 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Reader, I did the thing! My open-access Wheelock supplement officially drops tomorrow!!! Stay tuned for more!
Screenshot of tweet from 07 March 2023: "Hey #LatinTeach, a query: if I were to publish an OER supplement to Wheelock, that would include videos, exempla, exercises, & reading passages meant to extend past a strict grammar+translation approach and diversify the view of the ancient world, would you use it? / Does this already exist? Is it a desideratum? I'm thinking a lot of people use Wheelock for a lot of reasons, so it might be nice to have (and I've developed most of these materials for my own classes already)."
August 14, 2024 at 2:29 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Very Serious Research Question of the Day: Have I just been looking at too much phallic art or does this "dog" look like a penis?
Getty Museum description reads: "Engraved Gem with a Youth and his Dog inset into a Hollow Ring, 3rd–2nd century B.C., A nude youth leaning on a staff bends over to feed his dog on this Italic gem set into a hollow gold ring."
July 17, 2024 at 6:20 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Or is it more of a kantharos? Material culture people, weigh in.

Also look at the olive leaf and/or wheat detail on these handles!
Detail of olive leaf (or wheat?) on c-shaped handle
July 8, 2024 at 7:39 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
PSA for discerning Classicists, looking for only the finest of Greek-inspired housewares: I found this kylix-looking ice bucket on sale in the dollar spot area at my local Target for $2.50!
Kylix (or maybe kantharos?) shaped ice bucket, made of plastic in a harvest gold color, with a deep bowl, two elongated c-shaped handles featuring olive leaf relief details, and a ridged base.
July 8, 2024 at 7:37 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
This one, you mean? I hadn't seen it before, so thank you!
(Source here: commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:He... )
Mosaic panel depicting Hercules and Omphale, from a mosaic depicting the Labors of Hercules from Llíria (Valencia), 3rd cent CE, National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid. Hercules, bearded and darker-skinned, is represented in women's clothing, standing at Omphale's feet, while Omphale is lighter-skinned and mostly naked, draped in Hercules's lion skin and holding his club, sitting on a raised throne.
November 7, 2023 at 7:02 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
How will I advertise my new Ancient World on Screen class this Spring, you ask?
Still from /Barbie/: image of Barbie dancing, asking "Do you guys ever think about - The Roman Empire?" (with "The Roman Empire" in a pink font, different from the white subtitles in the image, indicating that it has replaced the original dialogue, which should read "death")
October 18, 2023 at 12:41 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
Not an art historian, but it looks, to me, a lot like this?
www.google.com/amp/s/www.nb...
Fragment of Etruscan black pottery, depicting a person giving birth, in relief; "The image show the head and shoulders of a baby emerging from a mother. Portrayed with her face in profile and a long ponytail running down her back, the woman has her knees and one arm raised." (quotation from linked article)
October 17, 2023 at 2:14 PM
ellenleephd.bsky.social
I know this is just a burned clump of tortilla chips, but all I see when I look at it is Herculaneum papyri. What lost texts are on this scroll?
Crispy blackened layers of a very burned clump of tortilla chips
October 17, 2023 at 1:41 PM