OTTO CHRISTOPH STEINMAYER

Personal particulars

Education

• Ph.D., 1985, Classical Languages and Literature.  Dissertation A Glossary of Terms Referring to Music in Greek Literature Before 400 B.C. Supervisor, Prof. John Herington. Abstract

• M.Phil., 1983 M.A., 1982

Amherst College, B.A., 1978.  Awarded combined senior Latin and Greek prizes.

The Hotchkiss School, 1971-1974. Awarded combined senior Latin, Greek, and Music prizes.

Indian Mountain School 1969-1971.  [Here is where I started Latin. ]
 

Professional Interests 

• The preservation and transmission of Latin and ancient Greek languages and literature, with the aim of helping full enjoyment of them.
• Ancient Greek music.
  
• General philology, literature and language, and comparative ethnography as a way to understand literature and life. 
  
• Sanskrit, for itself and as an essential for understanding ancient Greek.
  
• 17th and 18th c. English literature.
• Borneo (esp. Iban) language, literature, culture.
  

Teaching Experience

• Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Research Fellow, 1997 to 2003.
• Universiti Malaya, lecturer, English Department, Dec. 1988 to April 1996. Particulars
• Yale University , lecturer, Aug 1987 to June 1988.
• Vassar College , visiting ass't professor, Oct to Dec 1986.
• Yale University , teaching assistant, fall 1983 to fall 1985.The Hotchkiss School , Master of Violin, Sept 1979 to Dec 1980.

Publications

Books, and also in Arion,  Borneo Research Bulletin,  Bryn Mawr Classical Review, Classical Bulletin, Journal of Music Theory, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Malaysian Branch, New Straits Times, Sarawak Gazette, Sarawak Museum Journal, Times Literary Supplement.

[I have also acted as scribe and typed up many texts, otherwise hard to get, (e.g. Maximianus) and posted them on the Internet, on the Philological Museum website, the Latin Library, as well as on my own Ikanlundu.]

For complete list of publications, please  click on this link.

Talks

• "The Myth of Orpheus." The British Council, Kuala Lumpur, 29 January 2007.  In connection with the performance of the audience-interactive play Don't Look Back by Tristan Sharp.
  
• "The Nature of Greek Myth," Omicron Learning Circle,  Kuala Lumpur, 17 June 2003  [See notice at http://thefreemedia.com/index.php/articles/2979]
  
• "Montaigne" Sarawak State Library,  August 2001
• "The English Language," lecture/seminar in Betong, Sarawak sponsored by the Sarawak State Department of Education.  July 2001.
  
• "The Unfashionable Iban: the Sebuyau Iban of Lundu." Institute of East Asian Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, colloquium, 18 "Classic Problems, Classic Solutions" Malaysian Area Commonwealth Language and Literature Society (MACLALS), Universiti Malaya, December 1997.
  
• "Poetry in English Teaching and Learning" talk to the Curriculum Development Board, Malaysian Ministry of Education, Kuala Lumpur. 1992.
  
• Universiti Malaya English department colloquia on rasa theory, music and poetry in 18th century England, and other subjects, 1989-1996.
  
• "Ancient Greek Music, an Overview" University of Pennsylvania Music Dept. colloquium, April 1988.
• "The Spirit of Tragedy from the Rebirth of Music" Yale University Classics Department Symposium, March 1988.
  

Ministry of Education, Malaysia

• Preparation of questions for Sijil Tinggi Periksaan Malaysia (STPM Higher Malaysian Examination Certificate, equivalent to British "A" levels) English literature papers and marking of the same, 1989 to 1995.

Internet work

My æsthetic side

• Studied violin from the age of eight to 23, and specialized in Baroque violin when the Early Music first got started.  Attended the first Aston Magna Academy and enjoyed a few lessons with the distinguished baroque violinist Jaap Schröder at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Switzerland), 1978.  Later, got as far as semi-pro level, and played with the Castle Hill Festival, the Five-College Baroque Festival, and the Yale Collegium Musicum.  Other performances here and there (including in Malaysia) too many to mention.  Have also composed a good deal of music in Baroque style.  One of my suites (handed around in MS) was mistaken for an 18th century composition and performed at the 1988 Santa Cruz Baroque Festival.
  
• In Connecticut was a menber of the Wesleyan University Javanese Gamelan, and at Yale I was a founder-member of the Balinese gamelan Sekar Kembar, Michael Tenzer, director.
• Music Director, New York Greek Drama Company, 1984-85.
• Winner of the Yale Classics Dept. Reading Contest, 1983, for which I wrote and sang music for poems of Anacreon and Sappho, accompanying myself on a lyre I made.
• Lundu is a small town, and I have my one musical outlet in playing the organ at Christ Church (founded 1855).
  
• Have published poems and translations in Yale student literary magazines and elsewhere (one poem in the Yale Daily News).  Enjoy writing verse and prose in Latin and Greek. 
  
• Performed in Sophocles' Ajax and Antigone , in ancient Greek and directed by Rachel Kitzinger, at Amherst College, 1976 and 1977.
• Directed music (including composing original music) for two productions of Shakespeare (The Tempest , and The Merchant of Venice ) Amherst College, 1976 and 1977.

Languages

• Proficient at professional level in Latin and ancient Greek.  Able to write prose and verse in Latin and Greek.
• Good grasp of Sanskrit; studied with Alexander Lehrmann and Stanley Insler at Yale after doctorate.
  
• Speak Iban (a tribal language of Sarawak) fluently.  Read French easily, speak it haltingly. Read German with dictionary and speak very little.  I read Malay, especially official Malay.  Good practical acquaintance with other European and Asian languages.  I can use the Chinese dictionary.  English is very dear to me, and I am profoudly concerned about its use and abuse.

Referee

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