Latin Play lures Gallagher from environmental studies to classics

August 10, 2011

“My favorite thing about Cornell is the student-faculty relationships that develop during your undergraduate career. After you have taken a few classes with a professor, spent time with them in extracurricular activities, and perhaps even done research with them, they start to become less like your teacher and more like your peer or friend. In the summer of my junior year, I conducted research for Classics Professor John Gruber-Miller, contributing to his ancient Greek textbook. He and my other professors transformed my college experience and my career goals.”

Phil Gallagher’s Highlights

Hometown: Yorkville, Ill.
Majors: Classical Studies and Biology
Favorite Course:
“I came to Cornell gung ho to be a scientist. But in my sophomore year, I took Latin 205 where we did a bilingual production of Terrance’s “The Eunuch.” In 18 days we built a set, learned lines, and read Latin. It made Latin more than words on a page to me. And it changed my future.”
Studied abroad in Greece and Rome
Learned Latin and ancient Greek languages while at Cornell. “The immersive nature of OCAAT is great when you are learning languages, and you want to practice them every day.”
Created a Classical Studies student club called The Olympians
Conducted research on the reproductive ecology of the ornate box turtle with Biology Professor Andy McCollum. “Every night, we monitored the location of 20 turtles. It was an amazing experience, and because of OCAAT we got to be in the field and see the turtles first-hand.”
Conducted a biology independent study on molecular phylogenetics, which deals with the relatedness of plants.
Took two courses in the Minnesota Boundary Waters: Ecology and Entomology. “The amazing thing was that my Entomology class only had two students! Talk about one-on-one interactions with your professor.”
President of Cornell’s fencing club for three years
Goal: to pursue a Ph.D. and teach classics