Engaging History: Living Latin, Living History in Rome

Engaging History: Living Latin, Living History in Rome

Summer Course

June 11 – July 6, 2012
Instructor: Prof. Nancy E. Llewellyn

Why Learn to Speak Latin in Rome?

Click here for information on the world's first Tweetup in Latin with special guest tweeter and course instructor Prof. Nancy Llewellyn.

Latin was the language of the two empires that formed Europe and remains the cornerstone language of the Romance languages. Today it is still the official language of the Vatican, and it is spoken in a few, small academic enclaves throughout the world. Latin texts remain fundamental to the study of western civilization from its Classical roots to the United States' formation. Latin is alive and well in Rome. 

Indeed, it is in Rome that students find ideal conditions for an active experience learning Latin because it is the official language of a country (Vatican City) and because it is present throughout the city in innumerable inscriptions. In no other context can one study in the classroom, get access to extraordinary scholarly collections in libraries and museums, and study Latin on location throughout the city's center, for Latin is found everywhere-- in archaeological parks and buildings spanning ancient times through the medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Fascist periods, up until the rise of contemporary culture. 

Studying, reading, and discussing in Latin the texts of the ancients in the locations where 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.

Preliminary Program Description (Subject to updates based on initial student interest January 2012)
Living Latin is an intensive program that brings students into contact with Rome's layers of history on a daily basis. Classroom instruction is expertly conducted by Ph.D. professors who are familiar with the city and its history. Instructors teach Latin-- grammar, syntax, and vocabulary-- through related readings (poetry and prose) from various periods in Rome's history. They also help students make Latin their own by using the best of modern-language teaching techniques.

Morning classroom teaching is followed with afternoon walks through the city reading ancient authors in the locations where history happened, as well as reading inscriptions in their original locations.

Each Saturday will include a day trip 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).

Sundays are free for travel, leisure, and time to explore.

Visits to sites in Rome may include the following:
Epigraphic collections of Rome (Terme Museum, Capitoline Museums)

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:

Opening reception at the American Academy, all class-related museum and site entrances and special guest lectures, welcome and farewell dinners, and ground transportation to and from Rome's international airport.

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 14 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. She earned a Licenza (MA) in Christian and Classical Letters at the Pontifical Salesian University of Rome under the directorship of Msgr. Cletus Pavanetto, then President of the Vatican’s Latinitas Foundation. She completed her Ph.D. at UCLA in 2006 under the direction of Prof. Bernard Frischer. While still a doctoral student, Dr. Llewellyn 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.

Click here to read a recent article featuring Prof. Llewellyn's work in the National Catholic Register.

Program Dates: June 11 – July 6, 2012

Sessions: The program can be taken either as a single 2-week session (Session I: June 11-22, Session 2: June 25-July 6), or for the full 4 weeks.

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.

Facilities and housing: AIRC is housed in the beautiful Palazzo Banco S. Spirito in ACCENT International’s Rome study center to provide all of the on-site services necessary for students to be successful in their program.

Click here to download a PDF description of this program.

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