Laura Samponaro

As a classical philologist who works on stylistics, the transmission of classical republicanism, and the relationship between oratory and politics, I analyze how details of a speaker’s grammar and syntax connect a speaker’s style with his or her respective politics. The use of a particular rhetorical figure or sentence pattern is not only a stylistic matter but also evidence of a speaker’s socio-political thought. Whether comparing the style of Cicero to John Adams’ or Barack Obama’s, my work aims to create a better understanding of the symbiotic relationship between speechmaking and statesmanship in the ancient world and today. In the classroom, I likewise treat substance and style as unified rather than separate entities, and my students and I examine not only what a particular argument is but also how that argument is presented. Whether it be a spirited dispute about the validity of Edmund Burke’s patriotic admonition that a country ought to be made lovely in order to be loved or a conversation about why there are duties but no rights in the ancient world, my core curriculum classes not only challenge students to examine their beliefs and their own conceptions of self but also create a dialogue between the students themselves in which they share different viewpoints respectfully. If never knowing what came before you is forever remaining a child, as Cicero once noted, then relating the past to the present ensures that my students will meet current events and issues with keen eyes.