College of William and Mary
09/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/04/2024 07:44
W&M professor and former provost authors open access book on Greek play
W&M professor and former provost authors open access book on Greek play
The play follows Admetus who is granted the postponement of his death by Apollo.
Published September 4, 2024
The following story was originally published on the W&M Libraries website. - Ed.
William & Mary Libraries recently published its second open access publication, which explores the meanings of life and death in the Greek play, "Alcestis."
The book, "Euripides' Alcestis: Introduction, Translation, Notes, and Essay," was authored by former W&M Provost and Classical Studies Professor Michael R. Halleran.
Halleran has been a part of the W&M community as a professor, provost and parent of a W&M student. He specializes in Greek language, intellectual history and literature with a focus on Greek tragedy. He has been interested in the play "Alcestis" since graduate school.
"I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but my first publication when I was in grad school was about this play. I taught it a number of times," Halleran said. "I got sucked into the world of administration for a long, long time here and before I got here. This is one of the things I wanted to work on when I got back into the real world of teaching and research."
Professor Michael R. Halleran (Courtesy photo)
The play follows Admetus who is granted the postponement of his death by Apollo. However, a loved one must be willing to die in his place. His wife, Alcestis, dies on his behalf at the opening of the play. The story reflects on morality and how humans find meaning in the finiteness of life.
Halleran heard that his colleague Larry Leemis, W&M professor of mathematics, was in the process of publishing an open access textbook with W&M Libraries. Halleran was working on a modern translation and analysis of "Alcestis" that could be useful to anyone from scholars to students to someone that knew nothing about Greek literature. He believed that his project would also be well-suited as an open educational resource. After mentioning this idea to Dean of University Libraries Carrie Cooper, Halleran connected with Rosie Liljenquist, W&M's publishing & open access librarian.
Liljenquist started her position at W&M Libraries toward the end of Leemis' publishing process, but she oversaw Halleran's publication from start to finish. She has been a driving force in establishing digital, open access publications at W&M Libraries. She envisions that open access resources in the digital landscape supports the transmission of knowledge in ways that aren't static. Digital open access means that anyone can read this book on any device like a computer or tablet without barriers such as paywalls or logins.
"Rosie is terrific. She is ferocious. She's expert. She's patient. I had a lot of questions," Halleran said. "She's encouraging and made the process go very easy."
Halleran has published several works, but this is his first open access project. Working with W&M Libraries helped him discover the opportunities that digital publishing provides including accessibility, the ability to add on in the future, and allowing for more creative and productive uses of space that hard copy cannot permit.
Open access licensing allows works to be distributed to students, faculty and anyone else for free and protects Halleran's copyright ownership. Publishing as open access releases the financial burden attached to academic work and takes advantage of the innovations of a digital learning & research landscape.
Liljenquist is hoping to expand the collection of open access works that W&M Libraries publishes to cover a variety of topics. She says that more faculty are asking for help to fill in gaps in their teaching when they see that a resource is missing.
"Halleran taught in the classics department and wanted a good translation with good notes of this particular play, 'Alcestis.' There are good translations and good essays out there, (but few are) just a standalone play," Liljenquist explained. "A lot of times Greek plays are put into anthologies. … You can't always get one tale."
Although Liljenquist and Halleran had plenty of experience publishing in the past, they had to remind themselves to remain open to the challenges and possibilities that come with reimagining a traditional print book into a digital publication. For example, Halleran didn't need to worry about losing page space because of footnotes. His citation notes could be linked to a separate page, which left room for thoughtful content and less clutter on each page. For Liljenquist, her biggest challenges were coding Greek letters and inserting line numbers of the play. Both learned how to be more intentional about the ways information was presented for a digital structure.
Liljenquist says that W&M Libraries is excited about the opportunities to collaborate with more faculty on open access publications. Leemis' and Halleran's publications show how these collaborations can make learning materials more affordable and accessible to all.
Read Halleran's book on Pressbooks.