Building the Accessible Classroom

Building an accessible Latin program begins with creating a space where all students belong, where they know that they are seen and valued just as they are, and where they feel like they are part of something exciting. Community and connection are values of many Classics educators; in fact, many of us have likely chosen this career path because of the sense of community we experienced in our high school Latin class, or in Latin Club, or by attending meals at our professors’ homes during our undergrad or graduate years.

Latin is required for 7th- and 8th-grade students at X School, where I teach. However,

"Is classics truly for everyone? If the study of classics is defined as “learning the Latin or ancient Greek languages,” what about students who have trouble reading? What about students who are learning English? What about students who have behavioral conditions that make sustained study of a language challenging? What about students whose school system doesn’t allow them the opportunity to study a second language? Many of the students in these categories come from economically disadvantaged communities.

Students transferring to four-year institutions from two-year colleges (the “new traditional” adult student) face distinct challenges: they are expected, in a time that for many is an intense and sometimes alienating social experience, to be able to do research and write at a high level, often facing a type of research assignment they have never seen before. I will discuss some strategies for using low-stakes assignments to help model, at small scale, the process of writing academic papers.

            Carey Perloff, classicist and artistic director emerita of the American Conservatory Theatre, relates that “…[i]t worries me that we’re losing classical theater in this country because people think that it’s old white men…5th Century Athens was not white, or all white, there were Egyptians, there were Persians—we are naïve that way in the judgements that we make.”

A colleague recently told me ‘the problem with Classics is that too many people who teach it think that if they got in a time machine and went back to ancient Rome they would be a senator.’ This association with the aristocratic, male gaze is problematic as we try to diversify Classics and make it accessible to students from all backgrounds. The question for instructors at all levels then becomes how we enable students to break free from this gaze and engage with the diverse reality of the ancient world.