This summer, we learned about building databases while working on the AIMS (Antiquity in Media Studies) tagged source database with Classics Professor Anastasia Pantazopoulou. AIMS is an organization of scholars interested in modern representations of the ancient world. Their website has news, events, publications, and the developing database that we helped build this summer. The current form of the database is a searchable Zotero library of secondary scholarship on classical reception, providing resources for anyone interested in the portrayal and reception of the ancient world in modern media. It was interesting to see what was done with previous entries, and it was rewarding to continue building the database with new sources.
During each week of the 4-week project, we focused on a different topic related to classical reception. The topics were (1) classical reception in practice, which was a great way to lay the groundwork of the project, (2) concepts of home in modern epics, (3) reception of tabletop and video games, and (4) theorizing identity in classical reception. Each week, we were assigned to read secondary sources related to classical reception in media, including film, TV, books, and video games. We would also have meetings with Anastasia and mini-lectures relevant to that week’s topics given by various guest speakers. These presentations were very engaging, and we enjoyed learning about current projects in the field that were related to our work. They were also helpful for providing context for the sources, further enhancing our understanding of classical reception theory and how it can be applied to the study of the presence of the ancient world in different media.
Our role in the project was to read the secondary sources, come up with tags for them, write abstracts if they did not have one, and enter them into a Zotero library. The tags identified important information from the source that could be helpful to someone looking for specific aspects of it, such as historical/mythological figures, locations, modern creators, media type, ancient source, and time periods. Our strategy for identifying tags was taking notes on the themes, ancient sources, modern sources, characters, and things we found interesting while reading the sources. After we were done reading the source, we would then look for themes in our notes and come up with tag ideas. It was helpful to look back through the source and our notes to see how relevant the tags were throughout the source. During our meetings, we would discuss interesting themes in the readings, term conventions in the tags, and Anastasia’s notes on our abstracts. After the meeting, we would enter the source, tags, and abstracts into the AIMS Zotero library.
Skills we developed and enhanced through working on the database were being able to identify the important themes in academic writing, come up with concise tags, and write abstracts. Another thing we appreciated learning about during this project was the capabilities of Zotero, especially in regards to tags and organization. Over the course of this project, we learned a lot about classical reception theory and the ways it is applied in various works of scholarship. The first few meetings and background readings were helpful to lay down the groundwork for understanding the field. Then, taking what we discussed and read about and applying it, or seeing how it was used in the sources, was beneficial to the reading and tagging process. We especially enjoyed learning about the different ways of looking at classical reception studies and the many other little fields within it. We learned a lot about reception studies in general and feel confident that we could also apply the theory and knowledge to fields outside classics.