Adam Zanin is a first-year student in the Classical Studies Ph.D. program. His research interests include ancient drama and its receptions, with a particular focus on performance, embodiment, aesthetics, and sensation. He holds a B.A. in Classics from McGill University (First Class Honours with Distinction, 2025).
Adam’s undergraduate research centered on the performance and reception of Senecan tragedy. He has presented papers on Stoic cosmology, orality, and performance at Le Colloque d'Études Classiques du Québec, and his translations have been published in Montréal literary journals. As a recipient of the Arts Research Internship Award, he worked with Dr. Lynn Kozak on a project exploring the intersections of Greek tragedy and contemporary horror media, which they presented at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens.
Performance is both the subject and method of Adam’s scholarship. In addition to his academic work, he has translated and directed several Greco-Roman tragedies, most recently reconstructing Sophocles’ fragmentary Tereus in collaboration with a contemporary dance troupe in Montréal. As a scholar-practitioner, he is guided by the belief that ancient literature must be performed as well as studied in order to be fully understood. His ultimate goal as a graduate student is to advance a pedagogy that emphasizes the dynamic and performative aspects of ancient literature to sustain its vitality and relevance today.