Samantha Masters is an acclaimed academic and classicist who challenges the supposed dichotomy between study and play. She spoke to SMF News’ Reid Donson about her love of the ancient world, her passion for teaching, and how she became a member of the Brick Classicists Empire.
Samantha Masters sits at her desk with two books she has been involved in writing. On the left is South Africa, Greece, Rome, edited by Grant Parker, which Samantha contributed to. On the right is (u)Mzantsi Classics, which she co-edited. The latter book is a collection of dialogues engaging with the reception of the classics (i.e., Graeco-Roman antiquity) in Southern Africa, according to the blurb. PHOTO: Reid Donson
There is an ancient world on the corner of Ryneveld Street and Merriman Avenue in Stellenbosch. Just enter Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Arts and Social Sciences building. Step into the elevator and press 3. Then walk to the end of the corridor, through the doors of the Ancient Studies department. You will travel back in time.
You will find ancient statues lining the walls. The heads of Roman emperors. A replica of the Peplos Kore from Athens. Walk a little further, though, and you will find an office just as fascinating, and every bit as curious. Inside sits Dr Samantha Masters (53), the head of the Department of Ancient Studies, and an expert in classics.
“My office doesn’t normally look like this,” she says.
An assortment of crafted items fills the table at the front of the office. From handcrafted vases to intricately painted figures, each object looks like a combination between past and present, ancient and modern.
Samantha lifts one of the figures from a box on the table. It is a statuette of a woman in a dress and ancient warrior’s helmet, with an owl on her arm. It is painted with vibrant colours and with great precision.
“Isn’t it magnificent? It’s Athena,” says Samantha. “It’s really exquisite. And it’s painted and the student has a rationale for why she’s dressed like this… you wouldn’t find ancient Athena scantily dressed like this.”
A modern interpretation of the ancient Greek Goddess Athena, created by one of Samantha Masters’ students as part of an assignment. Samantha notes that Athena is quite exposed here, whereas in ancient Greece she would not be depicted this way. “You wouldn’t find ancient Athena scantily dressed like this,” says Samatha, explaining that in the ancient world, a woman’s body had to be fully covered. PHOTO: Reid Donson
The statuette, along with the other objects on the table, are projects created by her students. The assignment, which forms part of Samantha’s Greek Art module for second and third-year undergraduate students, is for “students to create an artwork which combines modern perceptions with ancient Greek artistic conventions”, says Dr Renate van Dijk-Coombes, one of Samantha’s colleagues.
“It’s a departmental highlight to see what the students produce,” says Renate. “The artworks that the students produce are often witty, insightful, clever, and fun.”
It’s a bit of a cabinet of curiosities.
“They’re not allowed to make pure replicas,” says Samantha. “No replicas, because that’s boring. They have to engage meaningfully with the ancient artwork or concept and produce something new and interesting.”
Samantha’s aversion to boring is evident in the layout of her office. All around, there are figurines, vases, toys, many of which are students’ past projects.
Samantha Masters’ bookshelves are lined with books about the ancient world, as well as trinkets, toys, and minifigures. In the centre of this image are two statuettes that seem to reflect the ancient Graeco-Roman style of sculpture. PHOTO: Reid Donson
“It’s a bit of a cabinet of curiosities […] like, almost a museum,” she says. “So, you see, it makes me happy because then I can remember the student, I can remember the concept, and it shows me that people are thinking in other ways about the material.”
‘I love this stuff’
Samantha has been interested in the ancient world since she was a child, when her grandmother would bring her photographs from her travels in Italy and Greece.
“She and my grandfather visited Vesuvius,” she says. “There are photographs of them standing around the crater… and actually going inside the crater! You can’t do that now.”
Her voice is still full of the awe she felt as a child.
“I remember being absolutely fascinated.”
However, when Samantha went to study at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN), she was initially on a different trajectory.
But the call of teaching… I think that was one of the things I really missed.
“I went to university thinking I wanted to study law, and, at that time, Latin was a prerequisite for law,” she says. “Through doing Latin, I got to know the classics department.”
She recalls enjoying Latin, Greek, and Ancient Cultures far more than her law modules.
“I was like, ‘I love this stuff’,” she says. “And my legal studies subjects, I found such a slog. And I just couldn’t imagine myself continuing in that way.”
Samantha Masters keeps some of her two sons’ old toys on her office bookshelf. “I’ve still got some of these figurines that I bought for my sons when I travelled to Europe for research trips,” she says. “They’re actually very useful props… but they were toys! They were my kids’ toys. And now they’re older […] and I couldn’t let go of these. I was like, ‘These are coming to my office’.” Among the toys are a gladiator, a minotaur, a gryphon, and a centaur. PHOTO: Reid Donson
The call of teaching
Samantha has led many lives before joining the SU Department of Ancient Studies. After completing her masters, she travelled for a while around Europe, before coming back to South Africa and teaching at UKZN for a time.
“I then worked as a writer and an editor for a company that produced magazines and different kinds of materials,” she says. “But the call of teaching… I think that was one of the things I really missed.”
A table full of objects created by Samantha Masters’ students as part of an assignment for her Greek Art module. Among these items are vases, goblets, and pillars. “Dr Masters has always been a popular lecturer amongst students,” says Dr Renate van Dijk-Coombes, one of Samantha’s colleagues. PHOTO: Reid Donson
“Dr Masters always tries to make things interesting,” says Akira Coetzee-Grivas, who is currently completing her PhD in Ancient Cultures at SU and was taught by Samantha during her undergraduate studies. “She always tries to add a creative aspect to the assessments.”
Akira remembers how, in her third year, her class had to recreate an ancient statue with household items.
“I still have the photos I took,” says Akira.
“She makes the ancient world come alive for the students,” says Renate about Samantha. “They are deeply fond of the subject and of her. She really has been an inspiration in my own approach to teaching.”
Brick classicist
Samantha stands from her chair and walks to the bookshelf against the wall. A combination of books and trinkets line the shelves. She picks a LEGO figure from one of the shelves and brings it to her desk.
“Here’s LEGO me,” she says.
The LEGO version of Samantha Masters, created by Liam D. Jensen as part of the Brick Classicists Empire (BCE). “The LEGO figurines [draw] attention to particular individuals and the work that they do,” says Samantha, who is currently the only African member of the BCE. “I hope [Liam] can extend the pantheon,” she says. PHOTO: Reid Donson
Samantha is a member of a community called the Brick Classicists Empire (BCE). Liam D. Jensen, an independent historical archivist based in Australia, started the BCE project in 2016, creating minifigures of classicists from around the world using LEGO bricks, in an attempt “to connect everyone with a love of ancient history together and share that joy through celebration and serious play”, according to the BCE website.
Samantha first met Liam at a conference in Australia, and he later approached her about making a LEGO figure of her. In 2020, she became the first brick classicist from Africa.
“[Liam] has done a lot to promote classics, but in a playful way,” says Samantha. “And as you can see from my office, playfulness is part of what I enjoy in teaching, and in general in the department.”
A few of the members of the Brick Classicists Empire (BCE). There are currently 140 members, who are divided into the categories ‘Brick Classicist’, ‘Honorary Brick Classicist’, ‘Honourable Mention Brick Classicist’, and ‘Historical Brick Classicist’, according to the BCE website. INFOGRAPHIC: Reid Donson
‘A real academic’
“I am, I hope, a serious academic,” says Samantha. “But I also enjoy just looking at things through a different lens.”
Samantha mentions that she has been speaking to a life coach that the university makes available to department heads.
“One of the first questions I asked her was: do you think I need to edit my office? Like, do I need to take all the toys away?” she says. “Should I tone down my office and look more professional, like a real academic?”
The coach responded by asking Samantha what ‘real academic’ she was thinking of.
“And I said, ‘I’m not thinking of a particular person’. She said: ‘It’s a vision in your mind. It’s a fiction. You’ve made that up […] everybody’s different. There’s no kind of model of what a ‘serious academic’ looks like’.”
Samantha Masters holding LEGO Samantha Masters. “I think that there’s definitely the need for the serious side of academia, and the real rigorous work,” she says. “On the other hand, I think that one can counterbalance it with some fun or creativity, and that has always been my personality as well.” PHOTO: Reid Donson
Currently, Samantha is researching “classical reception in contemporary African art”, looking at how African artists challenge and subvert ideas from classical antiquity.
“[The artists are] decolonising, taking these previously, kind of, very important works and playing around with them,” she says. “And asking these questions like, ‘what makes that the canon?’ And looking at the history of that and where these Western influences come from.”
Like her office, Samantha herself is the intersection between play and study – living proof that being a serious academic does not mean being boring.
“It’s not about dumbing down anything,” she says. “It’s about having curiosity and enjoying the quirky side of academia.”