Classics' Lee Burnett Successfully Defends Doctoral Dissertation 'Satur(n-alic-i)a Regna'

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to congratulate Lee Burnett of Greek, Latin, and Classical Studies for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation on December 5^th. His dissertation, Satur(n-alic-i)a Regna: The Neronian Grotesque and the Satires of Seneca, Persius, and Petronius, takes a look at the satires written in Latin during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (1^st century CE) through the lens of Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque. Lee's scholarship is a departure from prevailing opinion on Roman satire, suggesting that contemporary satirists of this era were full-fledged and enthusiastic participants in Nero's new approach to the arts. This leads to new readings of the satirists as more festive and as celebrating a rebirth in literature under Nero. Congratulations Lee!