Living Latin, Living History in Rome

Living Latin, Living History in Rome

Summer Course

June 12 – July 1, 2013
Instructor: Prof. Nancy E. Llewellyn

Learn to Speak Latin in Rome

Latin was the language of the two empires that formed Europe and remains the cornerstone of the Romance languages. Latin literature remains fundamental to the study of Western civilization from its Classical roots to the United States' formation. As a spoken language, Latin was cultivated extensively in universities from the Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution, and it still persists in select academic enclaves. In Vatican City, Latin is even today the language of formal discourse. And Latin is alive and well outside the Vatican walls, in modern Rome, for it lives on in inscriptions spanning more than 20 centuries which are found throughout the city. Students here find ideal conditions for an active experience studying language and culture together, because the sights, sounds, and history of Rome are the subject matter for thousands of Latin poems and prose writings whose impact on subsequent Western history cannot be overstated. In no other place can a student get classroom teaching, access extraordinary scholarly collections in libraries and museums, and read Latin on location in the city's center--all in a single day. 

Studying, reading, and discussing the works of ancient authors on location--in the places where they were composed, and in Latin--the language in which they were composed, raises the student's experience of Roman culture to a level unmatched by any ordinary classroom exercise.

Why Study at AIRC?
Study at AIRC and you’ll get an academic and cultural experience that’s not possible at any other institute or organization in Rome. We offer an unmatched institutional track record, proven instructor excellence, exclusive access to cultural heritage sites in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Culture, and dedication to students’ success during their stay in Rome. Come study with us and you’ll take away much more from the experience than you ever thought possible.

The AIRC difference - what sets our program apart from other Rome-based spoken Latin programs

• 4 units of academic credit provided by CSUF, included in tuition price
• more than 10 years of year-round heritage activities (projects, academic programs)
  
• more than 10 years of recognized 501©3 non-profit status
  
• PhD professor as lead instructor (Nancy Llewellyn, PhD UCLA, founder of SALVI.org)

Preliminary Program Description
Living Latin is an intensive immersion program that brings students into contact with Rome's layers of history on a daily basis. Classroom instruction is expertly conducted by Ph.D. faculty who are familiar with the city and its history. Instructors teach Latin in Latin, guiding students through grammar, vocabulary, and coordinated readings from various periods in Rome's history. Students make Latin their own, aided by the best in modern-language teaching techniques.

Mornings feature walks through the city reading ancient authors in the locations where history happened, as well as reading inscriptions in their original locations. Afternoons are devoted to classroom instruction.

In addition to classes and city site-visits, students will enjoy outings outside the city with related readings. Locations may include: Sperlonga (Museum, Grotto of Tiberius), Hadrian's Villa (imperial residence, Tivoli), Lago di Bracciano (volcanic lake north of Rome), and “Horace's” Sabine Villa (Licenza, Sabine Hills).

Visits to sites in Rome may include the following:
Roman Forum

Colosseum
Imperial Fora and Fora Museum
Ara Pacis

Palazzo Massimo
Campus Martius
Forum Boarium
Via Appia

Park of the Aqueducts
Ostia Antica
Catacombs

Also included in the program cost:
All class-related museum and site entrances, welcome and farewell dinners, and 1 course credit (4 academic units/credit hours) with transcript issued by California State University, Fresno.

Instructor biography
Dr. Nancy E. Llewellyn, Associate Professor of Latin at Wyoming Catholic College, has developed and heads AIRC's "Living Latin, Living History" program
. Dr. Llewellyn has taught Latin conversation to teachers and students for 15 years. A native of California, she earned her bachelor’s degree at Bryn Mawr College and went on to Rome to study with noted Vatican Latinist Fr. Reginald Foster. There she earned a Licenza (MA) in Christian and Classical Letters at the Pontifical Salesian University under the directorship of Msgr. Cletus Pavanetto, then President of the Vatican’s Latinitas Foundation. Dr. Llewellyn completed her Ph.D. at UCLA in 2006 under the direction of Prof. Bernard Frischer. While still a doctoral student, she created SALVI, a non-profit educational corporation dedicated to promoting the speaking of Latin, and was honored by UCLA with a Luckman Fellowship for Distinguished Teaching. Dr. Llewellyn has taught Latin and Classics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and conducted research in digital library resources at the University of Virginia's Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. She was part of the founding faculty of Wyoming Catholic College at its inception in 2007, and created the College's Latin program, in which Latin is the language of instruction. Under the aegis of SALVI, she conducts Rusticatio Virginiana, an annual spoken-Latin workshop in the greater Washington DC area which attracts teachers and students from around the country.

To learn more about this program, click on the links below:

• a PDF description of the program
• a video description of the program
• a video interview with Prof. Llewellyn
• a recent article in the National Catholic Register featuring Prof. Llewellyn's work

Program Dates: June 12 – July 1, 2013

Program Cost: $2000

Application Deadline: April 15, 2013

Prerequisites
At least an intermediate level knowledge of Latin grammar, i.e., at least one year of university-level Latin or two years of high-school Latin. Applications showing preparation significantly different from the above will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Facilities and housing
AIRC class meetings are held mainly on-site at various points throughout the city, to give students a real-world, hands-on learning experience. Program courses that require in-class seminars are led by AIRC faculty in classrooms at a partner study abroad center within convenient distance of student housing. The center has a student computer lab and a quiet study space, as well as wi-fi access throughout the facility.

To apply for this program, click here to access the online application form.

For more information please contact
studyabroad[at]romanculture.org
Phone: 512.772.1844

California State University, Fresno’s Division of Continuing and Global Education is the official school of record and transcripting body for AIRC programs.