When classics faculty from around the state gather at Ohio University this weekend, their agenda melds some classical scholarly discussions with some modern techniques—a swimming pool, QR codes, online teaching, and undergraduate student research.
The Department of Classics and World Religions hosts the 2013 meeting of the Ohio Classical Conference on Oct. 4-5. Friday evening features a night at the theater.
It’s not the Roman baths. It’s Ovid’s Metamorphoses, or rather Mary Zimmerman’s interpretation of Ovid’s six mythological stories about change acted out in a swimming pool by the Ohio University School of Theater. Director Rebecca verNooy will discuss Zimmerman’s adaptation of Ovid’s work with the conference participants on Saturday.
Rachel Thomas, an Honors Tutorial College student studying Classics, hosts a panel on undergraduate research that includes students from Oberlin College and the University of Pittsburgh. Thomas, who blogged about her study abroad experience in Rome this summer, talks about Friendship as Teacher: Pliny, Tacitus, and the Art of Friendship.”
Dr. James Andrews, Associate Professor of Classics and World Religions, discusses “Studying the Greek Poets on Two Campuses through Videoconferencing” with other participants. Andrews is co-teaching the course using online video technology with a colleague at Miami University. The two-campus course allows the classics departments to share expertise and bring students together online with a critical mass for discussions.
The speakers also include K.C. Kless of Indian Hill Middle School on “The Surprising Power of QR Codes in the Latin Classroom.”
Ohio University College of Arts & Sciences presenters are:
- Dr. William Owens, Associate Professor and Chair of Classics and World Religions, on “Catullus, Cicero, and Otium: a topical reading of c. 51.”
- Dr. Thomas Carpenter, the Charles J. Ping Professor of Classics, on “A Word on The Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities.”
- Dr. Neil Bernstein, Associate Professor of Classics and World Religions, on “Using Tesserae in your Latin Language Class.”
- Dr. Lynne Lancaster, Professor of Classics and World Religions, on “How to Read the Colosseum.”
The Ohio Classical Conference is a professional organization of College and University Professors and Secondary Teachers of the Classics in the State of Ohio. Its purpose is to promote classical language learning at all educational levels in the state of Ohio. The Ohio Classical Conference seeks to promote the common professional interests of all its members, and each year holds its annual meeting at one or another of several venues in the state. The Ohio Classical Conference publishes its own journal, Humanitas, and seeks to promote cooperation and communication between college and university professors and secondary school teachers of the classics.
The OCC maintains an affiliation with Ohio Foreign Language Association, the largest foreign language association in the state of Ohio. Through this connection, the OCC can voice concerns affecting Classics programs at the Secondary Level to the Ohio Department of Education. The OCC will take the appropriate action if any Secondary Program in the state of Ohio is threatened with elimination.
The annual meeting provides presentations and workshops, an opportunity to present their own ideas and research, discussion with colleagues. The OCC also presents a variety of student scholarships, teacher stipends and awards, and institutional recognitions each year.
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