Ann Morgan (Parish Episcopal School)
Five years ago, I had the opportunity to redesign the entire Latin curriculum for my independent high school. My overriding mission was to create courses that engaged students meaningfully and taught skills that applied beyond the Latin classroom. Currently, I am concluding the first iteration of our Latin 5 course launched this school year. Its curriculum has been informed by those working to combat the abuse and misuse of Classics both within academia and the broader public. The course is organized in three parts: Identity, Education, Activism. Students read ancient sources concerning Roman identity, such as Vergil’s Aeneid and Tacitus’ version of Claudius’ speech admitting the Gauls to the Roman Senate, alongside inscriptions and archaeological evidence. Our discussions expand into current conversations that reference Rome, often inaccurately by politicians or hate groups, to defend or criticize policies around citizenship and immigration. The course then shifts focus to the development of Classics as a discipline and its entangled history promoting slavery, racism, imperialism, and oppression. Students study this connection in overt writings and images, conducting research on how marginalized groups have historically interacted with the Classics to gain access to restricted places, affirm their own cultural identities, or subvert standard narratives. Students next employ Systemic Functional Linguistics to analyze how depictions of slavery in introductory Latin textbooks, such as their own previous 7th and 8th grade textbook, Ecce Romani, contribute to the perpetuation of racist ideations and problematic understandings of the Roman world. Finally, students are introduced to the myriad of organizations striving to make Classics more accessible today; students have researched organizations developing LGBTQ-inclusive teaching resources, supporting people of color and marginalized communities, connecting imprisoned individuals with Classical education, and offering guidance for teaching student with disabilities. Students finish the course by developing their own activities and promotional materials for Middle Schoolers who are considering enrolling in Latin; the topic of each activity is selected by the student, but its implementation and presentation is wholly informed by the research and readings we have done throughout the year.
In all of this work, the students are developing their skills beyond the traditional Latin classroom, implementing independent research, critical media studies, and elements of universal design in their presentations. Through their own personal reflections, students have appreciated how the structure of the course has motivated their engagement with current events and encouraged a safe environment for personal reflection on their educational growth over the past five years. By creating a course that provides them the space to criticize their own experiences in learning, but also one that emphasizes the influence of education and educational materials, especially in Middle School and High School, these students are leaving for college as conscientious, aware, and savvy young adults prepared to impact their future communities for the better.