Kal. Nov. MMIIII In Aula Classica Universitatis Viridis Montis The VCLA/UVM Annual Fall Newsletter(Mark Usher, UVM, reporting) On the web at: http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/VCLA Salvete Omnes! NOTE: If you’re reading this via email and know someone who might be interested, please feel free to forward this annual update on the activities of the Vermont Classical Languages Association and the UVM Department of Classics. This year’s VCLA Meeting was held October 22, 2004 at Burlington High School and hosted by Nora Cartier, this year’s President. It was wonderful to see such a range of interests and ages represented at this very well-attended meeting: there were undergraduates, graduate students, seasoned H.S. teachers, new H.S. teachers, retired H.S. teachers, aspiring H.S. teachers, middle school teachers, teachers and classicists at large, and UVM faculty. Myriad thanks to Nora and Karen Budde for organizing this year’s meeting, and to Cliff Timpson for providing additional, delectable edibles. Present at this Annual Meeting (in no particular order): Zack Hicks (undergrad at UVM),Travis Puller (UVM, M.A. ‘03), Priscilla Throop (Latinist at large), Mary Ann Chaffee (Essex Jct HS), Nora Cartier (BHS), Karen Budde (Danville School), Martha Dalton (St. Albans), Jessica Evans (Missisquoi Union HS), Marge Drexler (Middlebury Union HS), Leanne Goulette (CVU), Meg Holland (UVM grad student and intern at Montpelier HS), Karl Ritual (Mt. Abe), Cliff Timpson (BFA, St. Albans), Ben Eldredge (undergrad UVM), Tami Munford (Harwood Union HS), Lydia Batten and Bob Slayton(MMUHS), Sherley Blood (middle school teacher and classicist at large), Brian Glenney and Don Buck (Hanover HS), Barbara and Robert Rodgers, Brian Walsh, Mark Usher (all UVM faculty), Nora Cartier (BHS), Cory Elliott and Sarah Boyer (grad students at UVM), Mark Southern (Middlebury College). A warm welcome to new H.S. Latin teachers in our midst: Karl Ritval, new at Mt. Abe, Jessica Evans, a UVM graduate who began teaching at Missisquoi this year, Lydia Batten, new at Mount Mansfield, and Meg Holland, another UVMer who’s interning at Montpelier. Pleasure before business: The Program this year consisted of two invigorating talks and a “Latin Swap Shop” of teaching tricks and materials: In the morning, Mary Ann Chaffee reflected on the joys and rewards of teaching High School Latin for the last 38 years. Mary Ann retires this year from Essex Junction, but you wouldn’t know it: her energy is as infectious as ever. She spoke with authority and conviction about the enthusiam, sincerity, and professionalism that new teachers must bring to the job and she highlighted the many resources and organizastions that new High School Latin teachers can avail themselves of to keep their skills and spirits honed (e.g., VCLA, CANE, the CANE Summer Institute, the Virgilian Society, etc. Notate bene!). Later that afternoon, Mark Southern, a recently-arrived assistant professor of German, Linguistics and Classics at Middlebury College, gave a talk entitled “From epea pteroenta to patrii sermonis egestas: Greek and Latin and How They Got That Way.” Armed with an eight-page, single-spaced handout, Mark took us on a spellbinding tour of Indo-European roots that are preserved in Greek and Latin, underscoring along the way the linguistic and sociological pressures that cause words to change and develop over time. It was a magisterial presentation that prompted about an hour of questions and discussion afterward. Many in the audience reported how happy they were to be reminded of the fact that they knew some Greek! (Mark has asked me to thank everyone present at the meeting for an invigorating afternoon.) The Latin Swap Shop, now a traditional part of every VCLA meeting, was a chance to compare notes on teaching materials and techniques.Informal presentations by Leanne Goulette, Lydia Batton, Jessie Evans, Tami Munford, Cliff Timpson and Nora Cartier introduced us to (or reaquainted us with) the many tricks of our trade. Thanks to all of them for sharing their ideas! Business Meeting: Nora Cartier reported that Donna Merriam (absent from this year’s meeting) will be retiring this year from Lamoille (aspiring Latin teachers take note). Also, after a brief discussion, it was agreed to raise the annual VCLA dues from $10 to $15 beginning next year. (Student membership fees, however, will remain at $10.) The following officers were elected and/or reappointed: Financial Report: Treasurer Barbara Rodgers reported a healthy balance in the VCLA fiscus and urged payment of dues ($10 this year, but $15 for regular members, $10 for students in 2005). If you have not paid your dues for the current year, please send them to: Prof. Barbara Saylor Rodgers, The Univeristy of Vermont, Department of Classics, 481 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405. An additional reminder: the VCLA Directory of Members is available online at http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/VCLA/directory.html <!--[if !supportNestedAnchors]--> <!--[endif]--> . Please send any changes, corrections or additions to this Directory to Ms. Jeanne Valley, 802-656-3210, or email to jpvalley@uvm.edu (NOTE: current and correct email addresses are especially important to have for the VCLA Listserv; please notify Jeanne of any changes.)
CANE News: The CANE Student Writing Contest: The topic for 2004-05 is “Warriors and Peacemakers in the Ancient World.” See the August issue of the NECJ or the CANE webpage for guidelines. Note: Cash prizes of $50, $30, and $20 are awarded by the VCLA to the best three submissions from Vermont. The deadline for submission of entries is December 15. Please send submissions to Leanne Goulette, Champlain Valley Union High School, 369 CVU Road, Hinesburg, Vermont 05461 (Leanne@cvuhs.org).
The 29th Annual Vermont Latin Day: Punning on the Latin and German terms used to describe the case system (and with a wink and a nod to Edward Gibbon as well), this year’s Latin Day theme integrates grammatical concepts with stories of “decline and fall” more broadly defined. Here’s how it will work: In January, participating schools will be invited to choose—on a first-come, first-served basis—from a list of grammatical topics (topics TBA, but things like Third Conjugation, Ablative Absolute, Passive Periphrastic, Dative of Disadvantage, etc., etc.), whereupon students will have to incorporate their school’s grammatical topic into a skit on any theme that involves some sort of “decline and fall.” Schools may draw on myths (e.g., the story of Daedalus and Icarus, the myth of the Golden Age, Dido’s demise, etc., etc.), or historical vignettes (e.g., Pliny the Elder’s death on Vesuvius, low moments in the reign of Nero, the story of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia and the origin of the Tarpeian Rock, the sack of Rome by Alaric, etc., etc.). Common Latin readings that touch upon this theme (again, broadly defined) will be provided as usual in the Latin Day Packet. More information will be available after the Planning Meeting (see below). Planning Meeting for Latin Day 2005: Saturday, December 11, 2004, 10 am-12 noon, at the Department of Classics, UVM, Burlington, 481 Main Street, Room 207 (Telephone 802-656-3210). Please come! Bagels, cream cheese, coffee and tea provided. (You may park behind the building.) The Vermont Sight Translation Contest, generously sponsored by Professors Robert Rodgers and Barbara Saylor Rodgers, is open to all Vermont students of Latin from public or private schools. The Contest pays cash prizes for sight translation of Latin texts at two levels: the Junior Level, for students with one or two years of Latin, and the Senior Level, for students with three or four years of Latin. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes may be awarded at each Level, of $100, $75, and $50 respectively. Teachers should let the Rodgers know by mid-January if anyone in their school is interested in taking these exams. Packets with texts and instructions will be sent out to participating schools by February 1st. Exams are to be completed and returned by the first week in March. Winners will be honored at Latin Day. News from the Department of Classics at UVM: News from and about UVM Students (and recent alums) Here follows a list of the undergraduate students enrolled in courses in Greek and Latin. Some of them were yours, and for them we thank you: Greek 001: Elementary (Robert Rodgers) Greek 051: Intermediate (Mark Usher) Greek 206: Greek Epic (Mark Usher) Latin 001A: Elementary (Brian Walsh) Latin 001B (Cory Elliott) Latin 003: Self-Paced (Sarah Boyer) Lat 051: Intermediate (Bran Walsh) Latin 101: Survey of Latin Lit (Barbara Saylor-Rodgers) Lat 111: Prose Comp (Barbara Saylor-Rodgers) Latin 203: Republican Prose (Brian Walsh) |