The Crake Endowment supports a number of opportunities and activities at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Allison.
Dr. John Ernest Alexander Crake was a professor of classics at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Allison University from 1946 to 1976.
Seven years before his death in 1983 he founded the Crake Institute which began a program of support for projects which reflected his concern for the humanities (particularly classics), scholarship, ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Allison, and the Anglican Church.
The continues and builds upon the work undertaken by the Institute. For example, in March 2023 it funded a bus trip for students to visit the Boston Museum of Fine Arts where they saw an exhibition of ancient Greek and Roman art.
The Crake Lectureship in Classical Studies
The Department of Classics and the Crake Foundation annually invite a distinguished scholar to give a public lecture on a subject drawn from the cultures of Greece and Rome.
This year, the 47th annual Crake Lectures were given by Dr. Berenice Verhelst from the University of Amsterdam.
Greek mythology for Christians and an epic style Gospel. Nonnus of Panopolis at the crossroads of Classical and Christian culture.
On Monday, February 12th at 4:30 pm in the Windsor Grand Room.
From Penelope and Nausicaa to Eve and Mary. Female perspectives in the Christian cento poetry of Empress Eudocia.
On Tuesday, February 13th at 4:30pm in the Crabtree Auditorium.
Berenice Verhelst is assistant professor of Ancient Greek at the University of Amsterdam. She was trained (MA 2009, PhD 2014) at the University of Ghent, where she was also active from 2015 to 2021 as a postdoctoral research fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO Vlaanderen).
Her research focusses on the greco-roman epic tradition. She particularly specialises in Late Antiquity and more specifically the Greek epics of Nonnus of Panopolis (5th c. AD) and the epyllia and ecphrastic poems of the so-called Nonnian poets. She works with the methods and terminology of narratology, genre studies and ancient rhetoric. As one of the coördinators of the DICES project () she is particularly interested in combining narratology and digital methods and quantifying the striking differences regarding style and structure of Late Antique (secular and Christian) versus Archaic and Classical epic poetry. She is currently preparing a new Digital Humanities project on Homeric and Vergilian cento poetry (patchwork or citation poetry). Other research interests are translation theory and practice and the history of translating the Classics.
The Crake Doctoral Fellowship in Classics
This fellowship is awarded annually to a graduate student who can reasonably be expected to finish their doctorate in classics during the year of tenure. The holder is asked to teach the equivalent of six credits and give a public lecture.
Our Crake Doctoral Fellow in Classics for 2024-25 is Cristalle Watson from the University of British Columbia.
Matthew Ludwig from the University of Toronto was our 2023-24 fellow. On Monday, March 18th at 4:30pm in the Owens Art Gallery he presented his lecture titled, "'Where am I in the Action?': Narrative Closure and Sophoclean Tragedy." Pictured below following the lecture are (L-R) Dr. Bruce Robertson, Dr. Chris Forstall and Dr. Matt Ludwig.
Past Crake Doctoral Fellows
Year Fellow (PhD school)
2023-24 Matt Ludwig (Toronto)
2022-23 Drew Davis (Toronto)
2021-22 Cassandra Tran (McMaster)
2020-21 Fae Amiro (McMaster)
2019-20 David Wallace-Hare (Toronto)
2018-19 John Fabiano (Toronto)
2017-18 Simeon Ehrlich (Stanford)
2016-17 Chelsea Gardner (UBC)
2015-16 Jonathan Vickers (Western)
2014-15 Chris Dawson (York)
2013-14 Peter Miller (Western)
2012-13 Tyson Sukava (UBC)
2011-12 Laura Mawhinney (Toronto)
2010-11 Scott Gallimore (SUNY Buffalo)
2009-10 Katherine A. Liong (Edinburgh)
2008-09 Jody M. Gordon (Cincinnati)
2007-08 Milo Nikolic (Victoria)
2006-07 Allison Surtees (Johns Hopkins)
2005-06 Aven McMaster (Toronto)
2004-05 Andrew Faulkner (Oxford (Merton Collage))
2003-04 Rachel Levine (Toronto)
2002-03 Carol J. King (Brown)
2001-02 Brad Levett (Washington (Seattle))
2000-01 Myles McCallum (SUNY Buffalo)
1999-00 Kelly MacFarlane (Alberta)
1998-99 Leslie Shumka (Victoria)
1997-98 Paul Chénier (Stanford)
1996-97 John Harris (Illinois (Urbana-Champaign))
1995-96 Gordon Nixon (Toronto)
1994-95 Rebecca Nagel (Harvard)
1993-94 Angela Kalinowski (Toronto)
1992-93 Christopher Marshall (Edinburgh)
1991-92 Frances A. Skoczylas (Toronto)
1990-91 Thomas Goud (Toronto)
1989-90 Riemer A. Faber (Toronto)
1988-89 Carol Gordon (McMaster)
1987-88 Sarah M. Bonnycastle (Michigan)
1986-87 Hans Vanderleest (Toronto)
1985-86 William G. Kerr (Princeton)
The Crake Traveling Scholarship For Summer Study in Greece or Italy
This scholarship is awarded annually to a second or third year student in classics at ÃÛÌÒÊÓƵ Allison. The award has an approximate value of $6,000 and covers the cost of return airfare, room and board, and tuition for a summer program recognized by the Department of Classics. Qualified students should consult the head of the Department before the end of the fall term.
To apply for the scholarship:
Fill out this form in your browser, print it, and sign it.
Email the completed form to athibodeau@mta.ca.
The deadline for this year's competition has ended.