Advancing our community
LAS influence
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is filled with accomplished, thoughtful, and dedicated faculty, staff, students, and alumni whose work influences many advancements throughout our community. LAS strives to address the world’s fundamental problems and grand challenges through indispensable research, innovative courses, and an ingrained focus on diversity.
Read on to learn how the College of LAS is advancing our community in Urbana-Champaign and beyond.
How does the film ‘The Odyssey’ compare with Homer’s epic poem?
Classics professor Eduardo García-Molina discusses how “The Odyssey” film compares with Homer’s epic poem and the story’s relevance today
Filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film “The Odyssey” opened July 17, and the nearly three-hour-long interpretation of Homer’s epic poem was the top movie viewed that weekend. Nolan’s film garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews and already is projected to be an Oscar favorite. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign classics professor Eduardo García-Molina is an ancient historian specializing in the Greek’s Seleucid Empire, and he teaches more broadly on ancient Greek culture, law and political history. He spoke with News Bureau arts and humanities editor Jodi Heckel about “The Odyssey.”
How does the film compare with Homer’s poem and the portrayal of Odysseus?
Nolan’s translation of the ancient poem into the modern medium of movies captures the epic feel and spectacle of the text. Today, we primarily read “Odyssey.” In antiquity, however, the text we have is the product of a long history of oral performances by bards. You have to imagine them making grand gestures, changing their voices to match the tone, the inherent musicality of the poem itself resounding in halls. Nolan’s cinematography and sound design tap into this history of performances with sweeping shots and impressive practical effects.
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He also pulls from various sources beyond Homer’s “Odyssey,” like the Roman author Vergil’s “Aeneid” for various story beats and art pieces like Francisco Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son” for his design of the cyclops Polyphemus, so we are watching the product of a much longer tradition of the reception of antiquity. While the film may not be a word-by-word translation, it certainly taps into the meta history of the poem and feeling of “Odyssey” as an evolving performance. We are gathering in theaters like the ancient Greeks would meet in taverns or hearths to listen to these tales.
940 Feet series
Join LAS professors and students for a stroll on the Quad, and learn more about the influential people advancing our community.
Finding could reduce effort required for time-consuming and critical task
A new study led by Illinois professor Joseph Trujillo-Falcón documents how the National Weather Service is using artificial intelligence to develop a comprehensive translation program that delivers life-saving forecasts and alerts in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Samoan, French and other languages.
Alumna shares the artistic journey that brought her from Arizona to Paris
“TORNADO” by U of I alum Jennifer Haare (BA, ‘13, English; BA, ‘13, creative writing) and Jackie Furtado is a chronophotographic artwork following a horse running through the desert.
What does the weather mean to you?
As a PhD student in mathematics who focuses on climate-related risk, Yasintorn Wongwoottisaroch thinks about the weather not just in terms of his outfit or commute. To Yasintorn, the weather is a commodity.
Faculty research
The College of LAS has more than 600 faculty experts working on the world’s fundamental problems and grand challenges. Learn about their work.
