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>> Classical Studies Program
Brings Ancient Languages to Life
Emily Zocchi, Classical Languages Teacher Latin and Ancient Greek are thriving at Masters, thanks to an innovative Classical Studies Program developed and implemented by language teacher Emily Zocchi and her colleagues, Keith Kitchen and Jonathan Karpinos. Integrating art into Ancient Greek and Latin classes, teaching calligraphy and bookbinding, and inspiring students with trips to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The New York Botanical Garden have fostered a vibrant learning environment that engages students in all grades in a steadily expanding selection of courses.
but quite distinct from Classical Latin. Students also try their hand at several scientific illustration techniques, make their own paper from botanical specimens, and produce handbound books to showcase their writing and drawings. • Students of Advanced Topics, Advanced Placement and Latin Seminars learn about the transmission of manuscripts firsthand as they transcribe their favorite lines of Latin poetry using pen and nib to execute calligraphy techniques from the Middle Ages. • In Ancient Greek, the imagery and designs of ancient Greek pottery are studied at The Met, which informs an annual shadow puppet play. Students in Greek I and II write script, construct puppets and perform a show. “Puppets are designed after the figures and images painted on authentic ancient Greek vessels in the Metropolitan’s collection,” she explained.
Hands-on projects help reinforce the deep learning that takes place in Latin and Ancient Greek classes. Students learn from the past and apply that knowledge to current coursework.
The program cuts across the curriculum, linking language study with a wide array of subjects. For example: • In the Seminars Classical Mythology in Art and Literature, students translate myths from Latin and then explore how these same myths manifest in later art and literature. The first semester culminates in a show of original, myth-inspired student artwork in the Claudia Boettcher Theatre Lobby. • In the Seminars unit Latin & Botany, students delve into the history of science, translating Pliny’s first century Historia Naturalis as well as the Latin writings of 18th century botanist Carolus Linnaeus. The recording and organization of scientific data are compared across millennia, and students go into the field, recording (in Latin) their own observations of plants and trees. The Latin and Greek roots of scientific nomenclature are illuminated along with Botanical Latin, a language based on,
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Imagery and designs from ancient Greek pottery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art are studied in preparation for the annual shadow puppet play.
So what does the future hold for Ancient Greek and Latin? Drama & Satire, a new Latin Seminars course developed and taught by Latin teacher and playwright Jonathan Karpinos, will be offered for the first time this fall. For 2014-2015, the School is adding Classical Studies Major/Minor to meet the growing interest among students. Looking forward, the department hopes to develop Latin & Botany from a three-month unit to a year-long course in 2015-2016.