Languages, Literatures, and Cultures’ Latin classes and the classical studies program at Illinois State University are flourishing, renewing interest in all things ancient through medieval.
In Latin 111, instructor Kay Neal approaches learning the language from a less traditional perspective. Instead of flashcards and grammar drills, she encourages students to picture vocabulary in their heads. In one recent class, one of Neal’s students drew pictures of the text in real-time as they discussed it.
In Dr. Kathryn Jasper’s fall 2022 Latin 115 class, they read stories in Latin with timeless themes. In a recent class, students practiced pronunciation while enthusiastically reading a story about betrayal, questions of paternity, and disputes over inheritance. They then translated each paragraph into English, discussing vocabulary. At one point, Jasper translated gradus as “steps.” “Is gradus like Gradoli?” one student asked, who had participated in the ISU summer study abroad in Gradoli, Italy, a small town up on a hill.
Jasper continues to create opportunities for classical studies minors to travel, conduct original research, and use their Latin skills in the field. This past summer several students from Latin 112 and 115 participated in Dr. Lea Cline and Jasper’s faculty-led summer program which included taking part in an archaeological dig of those mentioned above as first-century Roman sites in Gradoli. While they mainly were digging, students also took time to visit local medieval archives to decipher and translate documents (some 800 or more years old) about agricultural production in the region.
Latin club is thriving this semester in new ways. Inspired by the club’s first president at Illinois State, Katherine E. Carver, a beloved teacher and Latinist who established traditions in the 1920s that had been lost. Current students seek to revive banquets serving ancient Roman dishes, scavenger hunts in Latin, and other activities from 100 years ago at Illinois State. Latin club invites not just students of Latin but all students enthusiastic about the ancient and medieval Mediterranean.
