Summer Latin Institute - DAY 27

Day 27 was yesterday, July 18, 2012.

Sections 7-12 of Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline in the morning, an optional review of genitive and dative noun syntax at lunch time, a few chapters of Sallust's Conspiracy of Catiline in the afternoon, along with a lecture on the Indo-European background of Latin, and an optional sight reading of some Caesar.

Now don't think I was teaching all of that stuff. I'd be in a coma right now if I had. No, the Latin Institute is a team-taught affair. I share teaching responsibilities with my two illustrious colleagues, Patrick Gaulthier and Akiva Saunders. The instructional day is divided into seven "hours" (ranging in actual length from 30 minutes to 80 minutes). Students and teachers move around the building throughout the day, with classes being held in five different rooms, both to meet our various instructional needs and to keep us from going stir crazy. So, as a student, you might be in one room on the third floor of the Graduate Center with Michael at 10:40, and in another room on the sixth floor with Patrick at 1:20, and so on.

Of course, the whole thing is possible because of the tireless efforts of Rita Fleischer, the Latin/Greek Institute administrator, and Laila Pedro, our fearless and tireless administrative assistant.

To remind us that the Romans were not the only players in classical antiquity, we share our program with the Summer Greek Institute students, and their incomparable faculty, Hardy Hansen, Bill Pagonis, and Aramis Lopez.

Right now, the Greeks are preparing for the Hoplite Challenge Cup, an annual Greek verb morphology bee in which a student team competes with a faculty team. Our own intrepid Patrick Gaulthier is serving as a judge (I love my Greek verb morphology, but I'm nowhere near ready to touch that particular opportunity for shame and humiliation this summer!).

Does all of this sound too good to be true? Tell your friends. Tell your students. Just think—You could be doing this next summer!

More soon...

Note: The opinions expressed in this blog entry are those of the blogger, and do not represent the opinions of the CUNY Latin/Greek Institute, its students, faculty, or administration.