Bess Rachel Halbert Myers
Curriculum Vitae
Department of Comparative Literature
313 Villard Hall
5242 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403
(856) 287-3186
bmyers@uoregon.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 2018 (expected)
Comparative Literature
University of Oregon
Exam fields: classical rhetoric, modern (post-1950) English
reception of classical rhetoric, comparative literature
M.A. 2015
Classics
University of Oregon
M.A. 2012
English
The College of New Jersey
Thesis: Translating the Tragic: Semiotic Texture and
Paradigmatic Translation of Euripides’ Hippolytus, Seneca’s
Phaedra, and Racine’s Phèdre
Advisor: Felicia Steele
B.A.
2010
English and Classical Studies
The College of New Jersey
Magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Honors Thesis: The Iliads of Chapman and Pope: The Trials of
Translation in the Invocation of the Muse, Achilles’ Reaction to
Patroclus’ Death, and Achilles’ Pursuit of Hector
Advisor: David Venturo
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Greek and Roman rhetorical theory and practice; English reception of Greek and Roman
rhetorical theory; classical tradition and reception; oratory and funeral oration; translation studies
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
Ancient: Greek, Latin
Modern: French (reading knowledge), Spanish (reading knowledge)
B. Myers CV 2
PAPERS DELIVERED
2016 “Poetry as Persuasion: Kenneth Burke’s Poetic and Semantic Language in the Metaphors
of Lucretius”
Rhetoric Society of America Biennial Conference
Atlanta, GA
2016 “Roman Funeral Proceedings as Tragic Performance: Imagines Maiorum and the
Rhetoric of the Laudatio Funebris”
Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest Annual Meeting
Olympia, WA
2015 “Narrative Circles in Plato’s Timaeus”
Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest Annual Meeting
Portland, OR
2014 “Cleopatra’s Polyglottism and the Connotation of Interpreters in Plutarch’s Life of
Antony”
UMass Amherst Graduate Student Translation Studies Conference
Amherst, MA
2013 “Euripides’ and Thucydides’ Tragic Visions in Hippolytus and Book I of the
Peloponnesian War”
Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest Annual Meeting
Eugene, OR
2013 “The Pedagogy of Translation in the Classics Classroom”
CUNY Classics Graduate Conference
New York, NY
CAMPUS TALKS
2016 “The Threshold Between Death and Life: Deliberative Rhetoric in Pericles and Obama”
Nomad Program, Department of Comparative Literature
Eugene, OR
AWARDS AND HONORS
University of Oregon
2015, 2016
Travel stipend, Department of Classics
Stipend to attend conference
2013, 2014
Beall Fellowship, Department of Comparative Literature
Summer stipend for high academic achievement
B. Myers CV 3
2013, 2014, 2016
Beall Educational Opportunity Award, Department of Comparative
Literature
Travel stipend to attend conferences
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
University of Oregon
Instructor of Record
2014-2016
Composition Program (College Composition I, II, & III)
Teaching Assistant/Discussion Leader
2012-2014
Department of Comparative Literature and Department of German
SERVICE
University of Oregon
2015-16
Secretary, Albert Kitzhaber Rhetoric Society
2015
Research Assistant to Leah Middlebrook, Department of Comparative Literature
2013-2014
Mentorship Coordinator, Nomad Program, Department of Comparative Literature
Paired undergraduates with graduate students or faculty members to develop a
scholarly essay over the course of a year. Ran workshops for undergraduates and
helped coordinate the culminating conference of student work.
Outside Organizations
2014 Volunteer, Recogito (Greek tradition)
Annotated texts in Greek and English in preparation for geo-resolution
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Society for Classical Studies
Rhetoric Society of America
Classical Association of the Pacific Northwest
Albert Kitzhaber Rhetoric Society at the University of Oregon