Peter Anderson Distinguished Visiting Scholar of Humanities

Peter Anderson

Programs

Bio

Ph.D., Greek and Latin Philology, University of Cincinnati
M.A., Classical Studies/Études anciennes, University of Ottawa (Canada)
B.A., (Hons.) Classical Studies/Études anciennes, University of Ottawa (Canada)

Courses I Teach

CL 118
All Latin and Ancient Greek
PHI 103

Areas of Expertise

Ancient Greek and Latin, Stoicism, Language Acquisition, Contemplative Pedagogy, Roman Imperial Literature (especially Martial, Seneca, Pliny Minor, and Marcus Aurelius)

After over twenty years teaching at Ohio University and Grand Valley State University, Peter Anderson left academia to build a consulting firm Inner Citadel Consulting focused on using ancient Stoicism and modern understandings of neuroscience, Emotional Intelligence and mindfulness to support individuals and teams through leadership coaching and professional development. He still loves to teach undergraduates, especially in their first years of college.

Anderson is a nationally awarded teacher and has spoken nationally and internationally on language acquisition strategies and contemplative pedagogy. He has published on these topics as well as on the Roman poet Martial and the politician and Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger. He is best known for his translations of Catullus and Seneca.

Anderson is an avid pickleball player, has had a long practice in an old temple style of tai chi, and is a devoted advocate of everyday mindfulness. If he’s not doing one of these things or working, he’s probably looking for people to play boardgames or RPGs with, trying to grow vegetables, walking his dog, or reading a book.

Current Research

Peter’s current research projects are focused on the early modern (late 16th century) Latin translations of the then recently discovered ancient Greek Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, a Greek philosopher and Emperor of the Roman Empire. This multifaceted project includes textual work in Digital Humanities and Rhetorical Structure Theory, for which he was an NEH participant in two international programs.

Awards, Recognitions, Memberships

  • Participant, NEH Office of Digital Humanities, “Digital Editions in Practice”, Tufts University 2019.
  • Participant, NEH Institute for Advanced Topics in Digital Humanities, “Digital Editions, Digital Corpora and New Possibilities for Humanities in the Academy and Beyond” Tufts University July 16-27, 2018.
  • Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Inductee, 2016
  • Grand Valley State University Nominee for the Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year Award, Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan (2013).
  • Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Collegiate Level, American Philological Association (2010)
  • Faculty of Distinction, GVSU Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society (2011).
  • Pew FTLC Teaching Excellence Award, GVSU (2009)

Recent News

  • “Comprehensible Output, Form-Focused Recasts, and the New Standards” The Classical Outlook 94.2 (2019).
  • “Catullus Selections” in Latin Lyric and Elegiac Poetry: An anthology of new translations, 2nd edition revised, Routledge (2018).
  • “Backward Mapping with the New Standards” Teaching Classical Languages 9.1, 74-94 (2019).
  • “Heracles’ Choice: Thoughts on the Virtues of Print and Digital Commentary” (invited chapter) in Classical Commentaries, C.A Stray and C. Straus (eds.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
  • Seneca: Selected Dialogues and Consolations. Cambridge, MA: Hackett Publishing, 2015.
  • “On Providence” (excerpts) in Introductory Readings in Greek and Roman Philosophy, 2nd edition. P.L. Miller and C.D.C. Reeve. Cambridge, MA: Hackett Publishing, 2015.