Evan Birks is a senior studying Classics and Medieval Studies and working with political theorist professor Emma Planinc. In the past Birks assisted with Professor Planinc with her work on H.G. Wells's own political theory during the interwar period and with an upcoming piece on a new methodology for analyzing works of political theory. Now he is working with her and Classics professor Brian Krostenko on his senior thesis exploring letters between the politicians Cicero and Caelius in the Late Roman Republic. Through a linguistic and political lens, Birks is investigating the connection that rhetoric and language has with politicians’ political outlook and behavior and hopes to expand his work to include political theory frameworks.
Birks has also studied and completed research in Italy and Greece, receiving fellowships from the Notre Dame Classics Department, Notre Dame Rome, the Glynn Family Honors Program, and the Career Development Center in order to complete this work. These experiences have included archaeological digs and cataloguing work at the American Academy of Rome, as well as research visiting and learning from different archaeological sites and museums in each country with the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies and the American School for Classical Studies at Athens.
Thesis Title: Caelius in Cicero’s Letters
Thesis Adviser: Brian Krostenko