A newly minted PhD classics scholar has been selected to be part of the College of LAS Public Humanities Fellow program, which gives post-doctoral researchers the opportunity to pursue a public engagement project with the Humanities Research Institute. 

The Department of Classics welcomed Eduardo García-Molina as a public humanities post-doctoral fellow this fall. García-Molina is an ancient historian focusing on the Hellenistic period and antiquity, the Seleucid Empire, comparative approaches to ancient imperialism, archives and sources of administrative knowledge in antiquity, and the reception of classics in Latin America and in video games.

García-Molina moved to campus with his husband after earning his PhD at the University of Chicago. The decision to uproot from Chicago was not made lightly, but García-Molina found that the public facing, narrative, and collaborative work in the Department of Classics and the Humanities Research Institute made the opportunity unique.

While he has only lived in Champaign since August, he has already enjoyed the Urbana farmers market and local restaurants like Black Dog Smoke & Ale House, and the area has begun to feel like home.

Some of García-Molina's responsibilities include writing articles, turning his dissertation into a monograph (unified text or book on a specialized subject), and building public humanities initiatives like leading a seminar on ancient politics titled “Smack-Talking in Antiquity: Oratory and Politics in Ancient Greece and Rome” for the Education Justice Project, an initiative that brings university faculty members, students, and staff to prisons to teach college courses for credit.

Much of García-Molina's journey has been characterized by an appreciation for ancient history. History can be viewed as storytelling, García-Molina explained, and trying to put oneself in the shoes of ancient communities helps understand important topics.

“I think I’ve been so drawn to antiquity because it feels like there is this hand inside of you that is always reaching and trying to grasp these moments and full understandings of history,” García-Molina said.

Specifically, he has been looking at the Seleucids, a major empire at the center of Hellenistic culture. Just last spring, he defended his dissertation on the Seleucids and their relationship with language. Inspired by his abuela, or grandmother, who speaks only Spanish, García-Molina examined what it would have been like to deal with the Greek legal system during the Hellenistic period without speaking Greek.

His work allows him to view popular portrayals of ancient times with greater perspective than most. In considering the 2000 film “Gladiator,” for example, Molina-García explained that while much of the film seems absurdist there are bits of truth within it that most people would never recognize.

“Everyone focuses on the man riding the rhino in the new Gladiator II trailer, as it is ridiculous,” García-Molina pointed out. “But one of the other wild elements is the colosseum being filled with water for naval battles. That actually happened, they were called naumachias.”

García-Molina believes that exploring ancient history, and creating discussions about it, including the darker parts, can create a greater understanding for the modern world.

“It’s often levied against people who bring these subjects up about antiquity that this comes from some sort of hatred for the past, that we raise these issues out of bitterness,” Eduardo said. “However, conversations about these more sobering topics not only bring us closer to what the past may have looked like for a broader spectrum of people beyond the literary evidence primarily stemming from societal elites, but can also be used to start conversations about the modern world. U of I’s commitment to having serious conversations about these topics and its initiatives that seek to break down the artificial barriers between universities and their surrounding communities means that these conversations about antiquity can happen and can hopefully lead to more engagement with antiquity.”

García-Molina is delighted to have time to explore his research interests surrounded by colleagues who inspire him.

“It was ultimately the people in the Department of Classics itself that sealed my decision to join it and the broader U of I community,” he said. “My colleagues are not only well-respected in their individual fields, but are also approachable and affable. I have discussions about ‘Warhammer’ and ‘Magic: The Gathering’ with them, and the department just feels lively. This extends to the graduates and undergraduates I’ve met as well. There’s a network of collegial support.”

Editor's note: A version of this story first appeared on the College of LAS website.