Mary Pittas-Herschbach
Mary Pittas-Herschbach (mph@umd.edu) received her B.A. from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research interests are in the classical theatre of Greece and its influence upon French classicism, the classical tradition in Modern Greek literature, and the history of open-air performances of ancient drama in modern Greece.
Pittas-Herschbach has published on the classical theatre of France and Greece and on contemporary Greek drama based on ancient myth. Her book, Time and Space in Euripides and Racine: The Hippolytos of Euripides and Racine's Phèdre, was published by Peter Lang in 1990. Her paper "The Woman who Would Not Remain Silent" was included in the volume Autonomy in Logos: Anatomies of Silence, edited by Anne Cacoullos (Athens University, 1998). Pittas-Herschbach's most recent publications include: “The Status of Modern Greek Studies in Higher Education: A Case Study on the East Coast” (Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Volume 24, 2006); "Identity and Difference in the Iphigeneia of Petros Katsaitis"(Journal of Modern Greek Studies, May 2002); and "Transformations of Mythical Space: The Case of Kambanellis in Greek Drama" (Text and Presentation, 22/01).
Mary Pittas-Herschbach is a long-standing member of the Modern Greek Studies Association and has presented at the biennial conferences of the Association. She has also presented papers at the Comparative Drama Conference of the State University of Ohio, and more recently, at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (2006). Professor Pittas-Herschbach is faculty director for Greece: the Living Legacy, a three-week study abroad program offered through the Classics Department and taught on location in Greece during the month of June.
Pittas-Herschbach teaches Modern Greek language and culture courses, as well as courses on the classical tradition and Modern Greek literature, theatre, and film. Professor Pittas began her teaching career as a French instructor at the University of Maryland, where she taught for many years. She also taught at Loyola College and American University before taking up her current position with the Classics Department in 1993. In addition to teaching Modern Greek language and literature, Professor Pittas has organized public events and lectures which have highlighted aspects of Greek culture and letters, and brought together university faculty and students and the Greek-American community of the greater Washington metropolitan area.
