Bonnie A. Catto, PhD

Biography: Bonnie A. Catto is professor of classics at Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she teaches Latin, Greek, classics in translation, and Roman history. She has also taught at Clark University; Middlebury College; Mount Holyoke College; the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and the University of Pennsylvania. Catto received her BA from Mount Holyoke College and her MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. Her primary academic interests are Lucretius, Vergil, and Greek tragedy. She particularly likes to relate classical material to later writers, artists, philosophers, and composers. In her courses on Greek tragedy and comedy students enjoy viewing and discussing various film interpretations of the plays. Catto also appreciates her role as the Faculty Advisor to the Classics Club, which takes trips to plays and to the classical collections of area museums, holds authentic Roman dinners, makes togas, and in general makes the classics come alive. Her other interests include many performances on the cello as well as piano-playing for her own amusement. She is also a believer in Juvenal's phrase mens sana in corpore sano and enjoys swimming and extensive participation in golf tournaments. Catto is the author of Latina Mythica (Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2006), Lucretius: Selections from De Rerum Natura (Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 1998), and numerous scholarly and pedagogical articles in professional journals and newsletters.