Home HEI: University of Edinburgh
Host Institution: Universität zu Köln (University of Cologne)
Duration of Engagement Fund Research Project: Six weeks
PhD Project Title: Pleasure, Pain, and Emotion in Ancient Greek Philosophy
The last summer found me in the ‘fragrant’ city of Cologne, where I participated in the ‘German for Students of Classicals Studies’ programme (GSCS). The first day felt surreal—landing at the Cologne Bonn Airport, taking the train to the city centre, and then trying to figure out how to travel from the city centre to my temporary home. Having an inexplicable aversion to public transport, I decided—irrationally, as I realised in hindsight —to walk all the way to my new home in the night rain. Upon arriving forty minutes later I took notice of the name of the street: Nietzschestraße. From that moment on, when asked about my new address I had to suppress a newfound fear of butchering the philosopher’s name by amusingly mispronouncing the street name as ‘Schnitzelstraße’.
Speaking of Schnitzel, the local cuisine was not only decent but also surpassed my expectations. Apart from Schnitzel itself, during my stay one of my favourites was ‘Erdbeerplunder’, a type of sweet pastry whose main ingredient is fresh whole strawberries. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were the freshest strawberries I’d ever tasted.
Another product that stood out is ‘Spinatstrudel’, a light savoury pastry that lovers of spinach are just going to adore. As far as the university canteen is concerned, the German take on the Moroccan chickpea stew was otherworldly to say the least. Beyond the food quality, travelling from the UK to the Eurozone meant that nearly everything was noticeably cheaper. While Germany boasts the strongest economy in the whole of Europe, it has maintained proportionally reasonable prices.
One of the many surprises of my time in Cologne was discovering how warm it can get there in the summer. The weather remained consistently hot and sunny throughout my stay, with daily temperatures often reaching (and occasionally exceeding) 30 degrees Celsius. Up to then I foolishly thought that Germany couldn’t have a proper summer, even competing with the Mediterranean climate I grew up in and was familiar with. Expecting a milder climate, I brought almost no summer clothes, and the absence of air-conditioning in most buildings only made matters worse. How the Germans survive entire summers under such conditions remains a mystery to me.
The six-week summer course at the University of Cologne offered a combination of intensive German language classes, Classics research seminars as well as a number of tours and trips to important Roman archaeological sites in and around Cologne.
The academic programme included in particular a guided tour of the University’s papyrus collection, a guided tour through Roman Cologne, a day trip to the city of Trier (where because of my perpetual refusal to carry an umbrella I became soaking wet), a visit to Cologne’s Diocesan Library, an excursion to the city of Ahrweiler, and a visit to the Roman Burial Chamber in Weiden. Unfortunately, the planned trip to the hill of Drachenfels was ultimately cancelled due to poor weather conditions.
While in Germany I kept ties with SGSAH, attending the SGSAH Summer School remotely and participating in the SGSAH Year 2 Symposium with a prerecorded talk (Phantasia-based vs. Belief-based Accounts of Aristotelian Emotions). At Cologne we were also expected to deliver academic presentations in spoken German. Convinced that I lacked the capability to present in the German language, my instructors were determined to prove otherwise, ‘forcing’ us to give not one but two talks. My first presentation was titled “Gemischte Gefühle bei Platon und Aristoteles” and explored an aspect of my doctoral research which focuses on the role of pleasure and pain in emotion. The second had as its subject the videogame Age of Mythology (Ensemble Studios, 2002), marking a return to one of my secondary research interests, the reception of classical antiquity in classically-themed videogames.
As the GSCS programme drew to a close, the burden of saying goodbye increased. On the last day our class gifted our language teacher a potted plant accompanied by personal messages written on the wrapping paper. Despite her characteristic German stoicism, she accepted the present without being able to hide her emotions completely. The programme concluded with a farewell barbeque and the presentation of our participation certificates.
Auf Wiedersehen!
CONNECT WITH ANTONIS (he/him)
Email: antonios.stamiris@ed.ac.uk