Greetings one and all! 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 Annual VCLA Meeting was held, October 24, 2003 amidst delicious Roman goodies at Burlington High School and graciously hosted by our BHS colleague Vice-President Noralee Cartier, who with President Cliff Timpson put together a delectable and varied program for the day, a veritable pedagogical lanx satura.
Present at this meeting were Karen Budde (Danville H.S.), Noralee Cartier (Burlington H.S.), Mary Ann Chaffee (Essex H.S.), Karen Couillard (South Burlington H.S.), Leanne Goulette (Champlain Valley Union H.S.), Susan Essex-Luce (Rice H. S., Burlington), Donna Merriam (Lamoille Union H.S.), Alice O'Hearn (Chester H.S.), Mary Ann Redmond (Montpelier H.S.), Cliff Timpson (Bellows Free Academy, St. Albans), Priscilla Throop (Home-school teacher, Charlotte); also Philip Ambrose, Jacques Bailly, Barbara Saylor Rodgers, Robert Rodgers, Brian Walsh (UVM Classics Department) and Sarah Boyer, Cory Elliott, Jessica Ann Evans, Erik Kenyon, and Travis Puller (all graduate students at UVM).
New faces among the above: Sarah Boyer and Cory Elliott (graduate students at UVM).
Minutes of the Business Meeting:
Report of the VCLA Representative to the CANE Executive Committee, Leanne
Goulette:
1) Submissions for the CANE Writing Contest should be sent to her by
December 15.
The topic for 2003-04: Animals in the literature, art, and myths of
ancient Greek and Rome (see below).
2) Everyone should peruse the list of scholarships available to
teachers, students, and future teachers on the CANE
webpage
3) The experimental long-weekend format for the CANE Summer Institute
was successful, but in the coming year there will be a return to the
traditional 5-day program.
4) The CANE Summer Institute 2004 will be from July 6-10. The cost is
$435. The theme will be "The Course of Empire: Modern Perspectives on the
Literature, Art, and History of Ancient Empires." A superb faculty has
been lined up. There will be special efforts this year to recruit
multidisciplinary teams of teachers in history, government, English, art,
as well as classical languages.
5) Martha (Marty) G. Abbott, a Latin teacher of Fairfax, Virginia, has
become President of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages. ACTFL's URL is http://www.actfl.org.
6) There is some danger that for lack of applicants Latin may be
deleted from the languages covered in the National Board Certification
program. National certification cost about $2,000, but has many
advantages.
7) CANE is interested in the activities of the State organizations and
will exchange membership lists with them.
The following officers were elected:
President and Co-Program Chair: Noralee Cartier (nuala@hotmail.com)
Vice President and Co-Program Chair: Karen Budde (latin@sover.net)
Treasurer: Barbara Saylor Rodgers (Barbara.Rodgers@uvm.edu)
Representative to CANE: Leanne Goulette Leanne@cvuhs.org)
Treasurer Donna Merriam reported a healthy balance of $550 in the VCLA account. Upon a motion by the President, the annual dues were raised to $10, the first raise in dues in the recorded history of VCLA.
There was continued discussion about the roles of each of the officers of VCLA: The President should carry out all the necessary mailings and emailing, co-ordinate planning for the Annual Meeting, and explain to the other officers their duties. The Vice-President works with the President on the Program for the Annual Meeting in the Spring and Summer, but preliminary information about the Program must be forwarded to the VNEA by July 1 (use Registered Mail, to assure receipt). The Treasurer gets necessary forms from the VNEA for the Annual Meeting, reports the number of dues-paying members of VCLA (12 paying members of VCLA netted us $160 from VNEA to support the Annual Meeting), and before Latin Day in the spring write a check for $100 to the Kent Fund to cover the prizes for the three Vermont winners in the CANE Writing Contest.
Latin Day planning ensued. It was agreed that for 2004 the theme would be "Greek Tragedy from the Roman Perspective." The theme for 2005 would be "Works of Art, Literature, and Music Inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses"; for 2006, "De Re Agricultura."
Date of Latin Day will be Friday, April 2, 2004 and the date for the planning session will be Saturday, December 6, at 10:00 a.m. at UVM's Department of Classics, 481 Main Street. See below for more particulars.
There was then a discussion about the need for new teachers of Latin. There are currently 250 Latin positions open in the nation.
The final part of the Business Meeting was a meditation on the life and work of Brady Gilleland, whose academic interests had inspired the subject of this year's VCLA Program and in whose honor the entire day was dedicated. Philip Ambrose read the following brief remarks:
Prof. Brady Blackford Gilleland was a member of the Department of Classics at the University of Vermont from 1957 until his death on February 15. I have brought a copy of the Memorial read at the Annual Meeting of CANE last Spring for those of you who have not seen it to peruse. Today, my intention is somewhat different. Indeed, I will strive today to demonstrate that Brady's spirit continues to serve the cause of classics in Vermont.
Defensio vitae post mortem opus non parvum est, Gillelando quidem excepto. The proofs: 1) living and practising teachers of Latin in the schools of Vermont; 2) a faculty at UVM who continue Brady's dedication both to students and to the highest standards in the teaching of Latin and Greek, and, lest this be too solemn, a faculty that would consider stressing the second syllable of satura a capital offense. 3) a legacy of savory irony reflected in the VCLA program today and in continued interest among the faculty and students at UVM in the literary satire.
I wish to move, therefore, in the context of this business part of the Annual meeting of the Vermont Classical Language Association that this year's meeting be dedicated formally to Brady Blackford Gilleland, our cherished and enduring colleague.[This motion was duly seconded and approved unanimously by those present.]
How shall we further mark our affection and respect? Brady Gilleland, when he came to UVM in 1957, brought with him an etymology course for which he and previous colleagues had prepared a text. This text has been revised several times under the names of Ambrose, Gilleland, and Schlunk, but the burden of that text was Brady's. Over the years all income from sales of these texts has been deposited into the Kent Memorial Fund, a private, non-profit fund for students, curated by members of the Department of Classics at UVM. Donations to the Kent Fund are tax-deductible. In Brady's honor I suggest that we all consider making contributions to this fund. Or to the Gift Account of the Department of Classics at UVM.
The Program: Roman Food for Thought
Prof. Robert H. Rodgers of UVM first offered fascinating reading with line-by-line commentary of Juvenal's Satire 11. 56-81 and 134.144. The group then discussed how this text could be used as a teaching unit to meet the five goals of the Standards for Classical Language Learning. There was such enthusiastic response that it was tentatively agreed to meet again in May at UVM for a Saturday morning reading of Juvenal.
Our thoughts having turned at length to later Roman food, we sought same at Cannon's Italian Restaurant. Though we tarried there longer than expected, most of us returned to BHS for the afternoon Latin Swap. The return was more than rewarded.
Cliff Timpson explained how he presents the Pluperfect Tense as a Standards-based Unit.
He also talked about how he and his students put together a Roman Cooking Show (Spectaculum Coquendi) and gave us a handout of luscious recipes, including inter alia Patina de Rosis and Anguillae Coctae in Aqua Calida. The vocabulary and idioms for cooking accompanying the recipes would clearly help students understand some of the most important functions of the Latin verb. He also gave us a good overview of the principal scholarly works on Roman cooking, gave us a list of ancient texts on Roman dining and directed us to Ps.-Vergil's Moretum. Susan Essex-Luce talked about her students' comparison of Roman rituals with those of Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Poland and the United States.
Noralee Cartier presented a packet of graffiti from Pompeii, including a very handy table of the scripts found there, a wonderful collection of materials to enliven interest in writing and language.
Brian Walsh provided copies of several useful guides to grammar and syntax.
Alice O'Hearn showed us examples of free Latin composition done by her students, proof that Latin really can be a working language. Cliff Timpson added that he encourages free composition by asking students to describe in Latin what they see in pictures.
Barbara Saylor Rodgers handed out a very useful guide showing how to translate every form of the Latin verb cano.
This was a splendid program. Everyone left edified in one way or another. To our hosts and program planners and all the presenters, heartfelt thanks!
For those who could not attend the meeting and to all who wish to continue the lively exchange of that day, remember that you can communicate easily with your colleagues online. The VCLA Directory of Members is available online.
Please send any changes, corrections or additions to Ms. Jeanne Valley, 802-656-3210, or email to jpvalley@zoo.uvm.edu (NOTE: email addresses are especially important to have for the VCLA Listserv)
The CANE Student Writing Contest: The topic for 2003-04 is "Animals in the literature, art, and myths of ancient Greek and Rome." See 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, 2003. Please send submissions to Leanne Goulette, Champlain Valley Union High School, 369 CVU Road, Hinesburg, Vermont 05461 (Leanne@cvuhs.org).
Date: Friday, April 2, 2004
Place: Patrick Gymnasium, UVM, Burlington
Theme: Greek Tragedy in Roman Perspective. Participating schools will choose a play on a first-come, first-serve basis, from a list of English of well-known tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, or those of Seneca or of the early Roman tragedians. Titles might include Agamemnon, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Ajax, Prometheus Bound, Medea, Hippolytus, Hecuba, Trojan Women, The Women of Thrace, Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, The Children of Herakles, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus. Latin summaries of some of these plays will also be included as the common readings for the Probatio and Certamen. More information will be forthcoming after the Planning Meeting (see below). Philip Ambrose will be Magister this year.
Planning Meeting for Latin Day 2004: Saturday, December 6, 2003 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 on April 2nd.
Jacques Bailly has been recommended by the Department for promotion with tenure. Last spring he was promoted to Pronouncer for the national Spelling Bee. His commentary on the Euthyphro and Cleitophon of Plato has just been published by Focus Press. He has a contract with Georg Olms for the exhaustive commentary on Plato's Theages. He and Leslyn are expecting a new baby in December.
Robert Rodgers has completed his critical edition and commentary of Sextus Iulius Frontinus, De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2003). See information at CUP's website. Check out Robert's wonderful online translation of Frontinus, On the Water-Management of the City of Rome (De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae), based on the new edition.
Robert also has a contract with Oxford University Press for a new critical edition of Columella in the OCT series, planned for publication in 2008. He has been invited by the Deutsche Wasserhistorische Gesellschaft to speak at their conference in Ephesus in October 2004.
Robert is also directing the M.A. thesis of Erik Kenyon on the De Trinitate of Boethius.
Barbara Saylor Rodgers is teaching two exciting new courses this year, History 13 Ideas in the Western Tradition in the Integrated Humanities Program and Classics/History 222, a Seminar in the high and late Roman empire. Jessie Evans is writing her MA thesis with her on Mithridates VI of Pontus, the king who made so much trouble for the Romans for so many decades. The thesis treats the complaints of Mithridates and the Greek cities from their point of view and their perennial appeal for liberation.
Mark Usher has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. He is on sabbatical, finishing a commentary on some of Seneca's letters and essays for University of Oklahoma Press (forthcoming in 2004). He is also writing an opera libretto based on the Iliad for the composer John Peel and working on an article on the poetics of quotation in Longinus. A short article is forthcoming on the "oral tradition as reception" in a special volume of the journal Oral Tradition.
Watch for Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates, to be published in Fall 2004 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, a children's book, illustrated by the New Yorker cartoonist William Bramhall.
Z. Philip Ambrose, Chairman of the Department, has been teaching a new seminar for first-year students, Classics 95 Changing Forms, for which the principal text is a pre-publication version of his new translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
He is also directing the ever-growing M.A. thesis of Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer (who is now in Austin, TX with her husband), on birds in the Metamorphoses. Travis Puller is also working with him on his M.A. thesis on Euripides.
More News from Students at UVM:
Andrew Siebengartner, graduating Summa cum laude, with a stunning College Honors thesis on the Cicero's translations from Greek literature, received the Hanna Howard Prize as the head of the graduating class of 2003 in the Commencement Ceremonies of the College of Arts and Sciences in May 2003. Andrew completed all his work at UVM in three years. He is now working on an M.A. degree at the University of London.
Alexis Ressler, another graduating senior of 2003, majoring in Classics with College Honors, was chosen Woman Athlete of the Year. She has returned this year for graduate study in the College of Education.
Four students, Amy Christensen (current President of the Goodrich Classical Club), Jessie Evans, Erik Kenyon, and Andrew Siebengartner spent time in Italy last summer: Amy was in Sicily and Rome, Erik in Rome, Jessie and Andrew in Rome studying Latin with Father Foster and Italian.
Special News Flash!!!
Graham Stiles Newell, teacher of Latin at St. Johnsbury Academy, is the first winner the Vermont Humanities Council teaching award. Graham was featured with a splendid piece in Sunday, November 2, 2003 edition of the Burlington Free Press. Two of Graham's students are majoring in Classics at UVM: Carolyn Heywood and William Baslock. Gratulamur tibi omnes, magister! 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: