معرفی
Marianina D Olcott is an Associate Professor in the Humanities Department at San José State University (SJSU), serving as Program Coordinator for the Humanities Honors Program. She teaches Latin and Greek in the Foreign Languages Department and has held roles in curriculum development and interdisciplinary education. Her primary affiliation is with the College of Humanities and the Arts. Olcott earned a Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University (1974) following a B.A. (1965) and M.A. (1972) from New York University and Stanford respectively.
Her research focuses on ancient intellectual property concepts, Greek religious cults, and classical etymology. Notable projects include studies on plagiarism in Classical Greece, rituals associated with goddess cults like Ge and Styx, and the linguistic origins of 'electron' (amber). Recent scholarly activity includes a sabbatical book project on the Greek goddess Styx, co-curated photographic exhibitions on 19th-century Rome, and collaborative research with Baltic mythology experts.
Her publications bridge classical antiquity with modern legal and cultural studies, addressing topics like Tacitus' ethnographies of the Aestii, Ezra Pound's metric translations, and the medieval reinterpretation of classical traditions. She has lectured widely at institutions including UC Irvine, Case Western Reserve, and Leeds University, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to ancient texts and artifacts.
Olcott's current projects include completing a book manuscript on early Greek cults of Styx under review by the Greek Ministry of Education, and finalizing etymological studies submitted to Berkeley's Indo-Iranian Studies department. She has been on medical leave since 2010 but remains active in academic discourse through her extensive publication record and service roles.
