CONTACT: James Sickinger, (850) 644-0307Laura Edmondson, (850) 644-0727
By Jeffery SeayApril 2001
TWO FSU PROFS WIN PRESTIGIOUS NEH SUMMER STIPENDS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-Two Florida State University professors, classics Associate Professor James Sickinger and theatre Assistant Professor Laura Edmondson, have received summer stipends for 2001 from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The stipends, which no more than two professors at any one university may be nominated annually, provide money for two consecutive, uninterrupted months of full-time independent study and research.
Sickinger will spend one month in Athens, Greece, studying the level of literacy among the population of ancient Athens through an examination of 150 hand written ballots, or ostraka, dating from the 480s B.C.E.
"I'm honored by the vote of confidence the NEH has given my work," Sickinger said.
In ancient Athens, the practice of ostracism - the limited exile of a prominent citizen for 10 years - was instituted by the reformer Cleisthenes in 507 B.C.E. Each year, the Athenians first decided whether to hold a vote of ostracism. If a majority were in favor, they cast votes to decide whom to ostracize. To vote, citizens inscribed the name of someone they wanted to ostracize onto ostraka, or small pieces of pottery.
Sickinger will be working on 150 ostraka discovered in recent excavations. He believes they support the concept of a literate society where many people could write not only their own names but also the names of others.
However, some ostraka discovered in the 20th century seem to have been mass produced by small numbers of people, perhaps to be distributed or sold to voters at the polling place. This practice has led other scholars to question the degree of Athenian literacy and to suggest that citizens obtained ballots from others. Two of the ostraka Sickinger will be studying were clearly written by the same per-son, and he will consider how they fit into views of a literate Athenian population.
"The handwriting on the other 148 ostraka vary widely," Sickinger said. "In addition to differences in handwriting and spelling, different ostraka designate candidates in different ways. Some include only a candidate's name, but others mention hometowns and even family relations. These 148 were inscribed by separate individuals and that means that ideas of mass production have to be qualified."
He also will study the link between literacy, democracy, and voting practices.
"The ostraka offer insights into Athenian elections and how they took place," Sickinger said. "They point to a very different type of democracy than that of modern-day nations."
Laura Edmondson will travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to conduct research for her book, "Sexing the Nation: Women and Performance in Tanzania." She will be building upon her fieldwork in 1996 and 1997 on theatre troupes based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city.
"I am extremely grateful to the NEH for this research opportunity," Edmondson said.
Edmondson said that in contrast to the Western tradition of theatre, in which audiences quietly watch the performance of written plays, Tanzanian theatre consists of local theatre troupes performing four-to-five hour performances in open-air bars and social halls. The performances include a variety of theatrical and musical forms, such as local dances, skits and full-length plays, Congolese pop music, Swahili music and even acrobatics. Spectators cheer, call out advice to characters and frequently get on stage to tip the performers or join in the ethnic dances.
"It's more like a carnival than a theatre performance," she said.
Edmondson will study the role that such troupes play in building a sense of national identity.
"These performances are Tanzania's popular entertainment," she said. "Although they aren't formally connected with the government, the dances, plays and songs frequently express a grassroots commitment to forging a sense of what it means to be Tanzanian."
Edmondson says that Tanzania is a more peaceful, stable country than its East African neighbors. She sees a link between this stability and the strong national identity expressed by the theatre troupes. She will also explore how gender factors into this performance of national identity.# # #
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