I am currently a Visiting Instructor for 2011–12 in the Classical Studies Program of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Arkansas.
Please use the links at the left to find information about my research and teaching.
My work, in broad terms, examines the use of myth in Latin poetry. I demonstrate different ways in which Roman poets' engagement with material drawn from a flexible tradition, composed of competing and sometimes contradictory versions of myth, can illuminate their poetic purpose. Combining close reading with both focused and synoptic views of mythology, my methods present an approach to mythological poetry that comes squarely to terms with mythic variation as a significant textual strategy. The result is a version of intertextuality where the "text" at issue is, in effect, the complete body of myth.
My current main project is a monograph on Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica that considers the implications of the multiple structural and thematic forms of doubling which pervade the Argonautica.
If you have any questions or are interested in materials that I do not have online, please feel free to e-mail me at dakrasne(at)uark(dot)edu, replacing (at) with @ and (dot) with a period.
Office Hours, Spring 2012 (in KIMP 509)
Mondays 3:30–4:20
Wednesdays 1:30–2:20
and by appointment
Click here if you're curious about my non-academic interests.