Long surviving the fall of Rome, Latin was the privileged mode of intra-European political and intellectual communication. And even now, an aura of authority—and a dream of universality—attaches to Latin vocabulary. What can the study of Latin teach us: about the Roman world in which it developed; and the post-Roman “Western” cultural world that it fashions? How, reading from canonical texts such as Vergil’s Aeneid or Ovid’s Metamorphoses, can we understand Latin rhetoric and poetics, and the aesthetic, political, and moral sensibilities that shaped them? How do Latin’s rhythms continue to influence contemporary writing and speech—and contemporary ears?
In Critical Latin, students will undertake the acquisition of Classical Latin, beginning with the alphabet and basic morphology and progressing to more complicated grammar and syntax, culminating in the translation of carefully selected passages from well-known texts. Throughout the course, we will incorporate discussions about history, philosophy, critical theory, and the reception and appropriation of Roman texts and ideals. We will take into consideration the ways in which texts have been transmitted over time, critique the concept of authorship, and rethink what it means for a text to be considered authentic. And we will think, throughout, about the shadow Latin continues to cast on Western conceptions of knowledge, meaning, and power. What is the history of Latin—and what is its future?
Critical Latin is organized across three, 12-week trimesters: Winter (February 11th-April 29th), Summer (May 27th-August 12th), and Fall (September 2nd-November 18th). Students may enroll in the program in its entirety or on a trimester-by-trimester basis. In addition to weekly 2-hour class meetings, students may elect to attend an additional “homework hour,” a time set aside for further practice and horizontal learning. Our textbook will be Keller and Russell’s Learn to Read Latin, 2nd edition (2015). This will be supplemented throughout by readings from Roman philosophical, epic, and poetic writers, and by material objects such as coins and inscriptions. The class size is capped at 12 students.
