New Faculty: Cat Lambert

Cat Lambert

Assistant Professor, Classics

Academic focus:

Greek and Latin literature, gender/sexuality studies, queer studies, book history

Current research project: 

I am writing a book about the cultural category of the “bad reader” in Greek and Latin literature from the first two centuries C.E. The project explores how élite male authors theorized the relationship between reading, books and the body (in particular bodies that deviate from or disrupt conventions of gender, sexuality, social status, etc.). It also challenges the hierarchies and values that underpin our own notions of how one ought to read classical literature today.

 Previous positions:

• Provost New Faculty Fellow, Classics, Cornell University, 2022-23

Academic background:

• Ph.D., Classics, Columbia University, 2022
• M.Phil., Classics, Columbia University, 2020
• M.A., Classics, Columbia University, 2017
• B.A., Classics, Princeton University, 2015

Last book read:

“Confessions of the Fox” by Jordy Rosenberg

In your own time/when not working:

Cooking elaborate meals, gardening, spending time in the woods, shooting hoops

Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:

This fall, I’m excited to offer Queer Classics (CLASS 3635), where students will explore what queer studies can teach us about ancient Greek and Latin literature/culture/society, and in turn what the classical past can teach us about more recent histories of gender/sexuality/queerness. In the spring, I look forward to teaching a course that introduces students to ancient Greek drama (tragedy and comedy).

What most excites you about Cornell:

The students! Cross-disciplinary collaborations! The Dairy Bar!