Born and raised in Plantation, FL, Brenda earned her BA in Classics summa cum laude with a minor in English from the University of Florida in 2005. While earning her BA, she spent a summer in Greece, where she studied with Christos Doumas at Akrotiri during a College Year in Athens summer program. In 2007, she earned her MA in Latin also from the University of Florida. In her thesis, Sallust’s Bellum Iugurthinum: Reading Jugurtha as the Other, Brenda examined how Sallust’s narrative constructs Jugurtha as the Other and presents Roman identity as the opposite of Jugurthine identity. This study involved the integration of narrative theories and the careful application of modern theories on nationalism. Drs. Lewis Sussman, Victoria Pagán, and Timothy Johnson served on her committee. Brenda is currently working on her PhD at the University of Florida and is focusing her research on Latin historiography. Her other interests include Juvenal, Catullus, Thucydides, and invective.
