Eastern Illinois University :: Medieval Studies Faculty & Staff

General Information

Contact Us

Medieval Studies Acting Chair
Francine McGregor
Coleman Hall - 3355
fmcgregor@eiu.edu

Faculty and Staff

Lee E. Patterson

Associate Professor

Office: 3781 - Coleman Hall
Phone: 217-581-3310
Email: lepatterson2@eiu.edu
http://www.eiu.edu/~history/faculty_patterson.php

Lee Patterson's Vita

In my history classes I want my students to encounter the treasures of the past and learn the lessons of human experience, to think critically and creatively about history, and to develop a sense of curiosity that they will carry with them into their own futures. Whatever their major, whatever their goals in life, I encourage my students to let the humanities guide their journey. History and its related fields allow us to experience the world in its wondrous variety and leave us with an inquisitiveness that lifts us above the banalities of an existence that knows only career objectives and materialistic goals. I try to promote a love of learning that not only can make students' future careers successful by whatever measure their chosen industries apply but can make their journey through life enriched and fulfilling.

Frequently Taught Courses

Click on any of the following to see a syllabus.

Education

University of Missouri-Columbia, Ph.D. in Classical Studies (2003)

Research

Two distinct fields compete for my scholarly time: political uses of myth in the Greek world (and related issues involving perceptions of myth by Strabo, Pausanias, Herodotus, etc.) and Roman Armenia (and related issues involving the Parthians, the Sasanians, Roman frontier studies, etc.). My first book Kinship Myth in Ancient Greece (reviewed in BMCR) examined communities (and sometimes kings like Alexander the Great) that invoked shared putative ancestors to justify a diplomatic venture. On authors’ attitudes toward myth I have published articles in various journals, with a new study on Strabo forthcoming in Writing Myth: Mythography in the Ancient World, edited by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma. Another study on Strabo is in progress. On the Roman side, I am currently writing a book on Roman Armenia. In support of this project I have been invited by the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University to be a Visiting Scholar in the summers of 2012 and 2013. My interest in this topic has yielded entries on Armenia, Parthia, and the Caucasus for the Virgil Encyclopedia, to be published by Wiley-Blackwell, and an article, "Caracalla's Armenia," that is forthcoming in Syllecta Classica. I am also at work on other short projects involving ancient Armenia.