This program is provisional and subject to change in accord with the specific needs of the students.

Course overview

This class has three general goals: first, practicing Latin through listening, speaking, reading and writing activities; second, developing an unique sensitivity towards the Latin language which only comes through extensive and continuous use of the target language; and third, developing the awareness that Latin literature is not restricted to the so called Roman Classical Period, but rather embraces all texts produced over two and a half millennia.
Participants in this course will get the skills that enable them to use Latin actively. In a daily basis we will be reading and discussing a great variety of authors, such as Cicero, Pliny the Younger, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, Peter Abelard, and Erasmus of Rotterdam.

Materials and class format

In the first week of classes, students will receive a course-pack with all the texts that will be discussed in the course.
We will meet every day for four hours, with a break in between. In the first half of each class, we will work with vocabulary and structures which are related to the text discussed in the second part of the class. Depending on the selected text, in this first part, we may cover subjects as broad as clothing or food. In the second part of the class we will discuss a previously assigned text, which students will read and prepare at home. In class students will first discuss the text divided in small groups, and then we will open up the discussion to the whole group. This format will occasionally change.

Grading system and certificate

Students may miss two classes with no detriment to their evaluation. Assignments, as short readings and related activities, will be requested in a daily basis. Grades will be given according to student’s assistance, daily assignments and progressive performance in class. The successful participants will receive a graded certificate at the end of the course.

Grade:
A: Excellence: 96 - 100%
B: Above the average standard: 86 - 95%
C: Average standard: 76 - 85%
D: Below the average standard: 66 - 75%
E: Minimum criteria to pass: 60 - 65%
E: Fail: 0 - 59%