Laurel Bowman

Dr. Laurel Bowman’s area of interest lies specifically in Greek tragedy, a genre she says has inspired countless other works of literature, right up to modern day film and television.

Dr. Bowman persistently highlights the roles of women in these texts, or lack thereof, the construction of gender, and the significance of that construction in any text she looks at.

Some of her research focuses on a recent translation of Homer’s The Iliad by poet Alice Oswald. The poem concentrates only on the death scenes and the similes. Dr. Bowman argues that the translation highlights the depths of human sacrifice, torment, and loss suffered by the foot soldiers, their families. and their communities as a result of the Trojan War.

Another research project focuses on the myth of the sacrificial virgin and its presence in pop culture, specifically the works of writer/director Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

She brings her research on Antigone or Electra into the classroom, where her enthusiasm for the subject matter is palpable.