Since its founding in 1924, the officers of The Philadelphia Classical Society have been offering opportunities for developing pedagogy, strategies, and creative ways of promoting the study of Classical Languages and the Classics.
On Saturday, November 23, at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, starting at 9:00am, the efforts and contributions of various Classicists were showcased in the Anne Frank Library.
For Fall Professional Day or PCS information, please contact Mary Brown ( mbrown@sju.edu )
Pennsauken High School is hiring for a full time Latin teacher beginning September 4, 2018. Courses are Latin I, Latin II Honors, Latin III Honors, and AP Latin IV. The textbook used is Latin for the New Millennium. This is a thriving Latin program in an urban/suburban Pre-K to 12th grade school district of approximately 5,000 students located in Camden County, New Jersey (near Philadelphia, PA). The school has very active Junior Classical League and Latin Honor Society chapters.
JOB ID 918 – Latin Teacher
Candidates are encouraged to apply online by visiting www.pennsauken.net. For information, contact:
Norma Rosario-Muñoz
Director of Human Resources
856-662-8505, extension 6508
E-mail: norma.rosario@pennsauken.net
In the weeks leading up to the one-year anniversary of the January 10th death of David Bowie, Robert Drake and others of WXPN radio characterized Bowie’s artistry and music as “cross-dimensional.”
The events, highlights, and interviews of Philadelphia Loves Bowie Week, January 6th-14th, illustrated the various ways in which Bowie crossed dimensions through his dynamism, creativity, and innovation.
As a longtime fan-from-afar of Bowie, I am prompted to apply the concept of cross-dimensionality to my passion for Classical Latin, its richness, and its access to the phenomenal accomplishments of the ancient Romans.
This epiphany comes as the 78th annual arts and literary contests sponsored by the Philadelphia Classical Society get underway this month.
It should come as no surprise to readers that nearly every secondary school in the Main Line has a thriving Latin program, with many students engaging in the PCS Latin Week contests.
Traditionally, the study of Latin has been ancillary to building an excellent foundation in English language vocabulary acquisition, grammar understanding, and creative composition.
In addition, the Philadelphia Classical Society arts and literary contests, combined with a rigorous competitive exam, offer cross-dimensionality comparable to Bowie’s lifetime output.
Currently, Latin students from Friends Central to Radnor High School are developing original projects in sketches, paintings, mosaics, costumes, jewelry, military costumes, architectural models, artifacts, and storyboards – all illustrating ancient Latin, and Greek, themes and connections to ancient Mediterranean cultures.
These contests also include many other schools in contiguous counties, Philadelphia, and New Jersey.
Additionally, students are encouraged to compose original prose and poetry in English and Latin, even following ancient meters and illustrating figures of speech.
For students who are eager to demonstrate facility in philology, the competitive exam for advanced students presents various questions based on two sight-unseen original Latin passages in prose and poetry from ancient Classical authors.
In other words, there is something for everyone, a testament to the polyvalency of the Classics.
Take a step back seventy-eight years ago and imagine the remarkable foresight of the PCS officers who planned the first week of contests.
Surely, cross-dimensional was not a commonly-held term, yet those teachers were making provisions for student projects based on what we now term a diversity of learners.
This collaboration between philology and material culture produces a fabulous, on-the-edge, array of student work which would elicit awe in the Thin White Duke, David Bowie, the man and the artist.
For information about the Philadelphia Classical Society 2017 Latin Week contests, go to philadelphiaclassicalsociety, or email Mary Brown, PCS President, mary.brown@sju.edu. Students may also register independently of their schools for a fee of $5. The Baldwin School will host the judging day on Saturday, February 25.
The Philadelphia Classical Society’s Fall Professional Day held on Saturday, November 19 at The Baldwin School. Celebrating the life and accomplishments of Dr. Rudy Masciantonio: (pictured left to right) Dr. Andrew Fenton, The Haverford School and PCS 2nd Vice-President; Kerry Horleman, Haddonfield HS and Program Committee Member of The Classical Association of the Atlantic States; Professor Patrick McGovern, Bio-Molecular Archaeologist at Penn Museum and developer of the ancient recipe for MIDAS TOUCH; Dr. Henry Bender, Saint Joseph’s University, Merion Mercy Academy, and CAAS Officer-at-Large.
Midas Touch and Modernity. Enjoying a tasting in honor of Rudy Masciantonio: Karin Suzadail, CAAS President; Dr. Valentina DeNardis, Chair of Classics, Villanova University and PCS Webmaster; Mary Brown, PCS President and CAAS Executive Director; Dr. Patrick McGovern, Penn Museum, developer of ancient brews with Dogfish Head, DE.
The Delaware Classical Association will be hosting another of our popular Latin Workshops on Saturday, November 9, from 9 AM to 1 PM, at the Embassy Suites on South College St. in Newark, across from the Delaware Stadium on Route 896. The Workshop is open to Latin teachers at all levels, advanced students, and interested members of the community. We look forward to a lively morning of workshops, discussions, networking, and good food and fellowship. Thanks to a generous grant from CAAS, there is no charge to attend.
Click here for more information. For questions or to register, please contact DCA President Lynn Sawlivich at lsaw@udel.edu
NYU’s Center for Ancient Studies is planning the Rose-Marie Lewent Memorial Lecture for April 3, 2013. Professor Alessandro Barchiesi (University of Siena at Arezzo and Stanford University) will speak on the topic: Vergil’s Aeneid and the Destiny of Italy. The event is co-sponsored by the NYU Center for Ancient Studies, the Office of the Dean for Humanities, and the Department of Classics. For more details click here.
You are invited to “Ancient Approaches to Poetry”, a colloquium on ancient literary criticism hosted by the Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies at Penn State and co-sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature. The colloquium will take place on Friday, March 15th, 2013 in 102 Weaver. A full program is available on the event page on the CAAS calendar.