I am a lecturer at Philosophy department of Zhejiang University. I give lectures on ancient Greek, Greek civilization, and Aristotelianism. In my opinion, western classics are important in two ways. I often tell my students, if you try to know ancient western culture like classical studies and ancient philosophy, it will offer you the key to better understand the artistic works in traditional western culture like novels, poetry, news, movies, TV series which we now frequently come into contact with. If you have the background knowledge on western classics, you can grasp their meanings more easily. One the other hand, nowadays, there are lots of communications between Chinese and western culture but also many misunderstandings. If we can get to know more western culture from its origin, then it is less likely for misunderstanding to occur. In this way, cultural communication can be more effective. Chinese scholars and students both need this digital resource. Personally, I would like to see this project digitize rare materials like papyri, so we can have more direct access to them. On the other hand, as a Chinese scholar, I am using my mother tongue, Chinese, in teaching and research. I am eager to see Chinese translations of western classics and ancient philosophy be part of this digital project.
Wei Chen
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Zhejiang University
Officers
Betty Gage Holland Professor of Roman History, Emory University, Distinguished Guest Professor at Shanghai Normal University
Advisory Board
Helen A. Regenstein Distinguished Service Professor of Classics, University of Chicago
Dickason Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Classics and History, Stanford University
Editorial Board
Professor of Classics, Northeast Normal University, Director, Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations
Associate Professor, Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations Northeast Normal University