Living Latin in Rome High School

Course Description

Living Latin in Rome High School offers a holistic immersion experience in the Latin language and in the city of Rome and Bay of Naples that is specifically designed for high school students. The program brings Latin to life both by reading ancient texts at the historical sites where they happened and through games, skits, informal conversation, and a wide range of activities in Latin. Readings are drawn from the entire history of the Latin language and therefore include medieval and Renaissance Latin, to which students are rarely exposed in typical high school curricula.

The program lasts for two weeks in July. The first week will be in Rome, while the second week will be in the Bay of Naples, including a visit to Pompeii. Most days, we spend some time engaging with texts in classrooms, before heading out to visit museums, archaeological sites, and monuments, where students continue learning and exploring through tailored interactive activities and tours delivered by our faculty. We also include several full-day trips in our program, where all learning happens on-site.

Prerequisites

Students who have studied Latin for at least one year are encouraged to apply. The program will also be challenging and interesting for students who have studied Latin for many years. Students of all grade levels, including graduating seniors, are encouraged to apply. Students without formal Latin training who have completed Paideia’s self-paced online Living Latin course are eligible to apply.

Classrooms and Housing

For the duration of the program, students and teachers live together in one facility. The first week of the program takes place in Rome, the second in the Bay of Naples. Classes take place in modern classrooms in or near the housing facility, as well as in situ at archaeological sites, museums, and other monuments and locations of cultural significance. Students eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together daily, either at the housing facility or at local restaurants.

Teachers

Jessica Glueck

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LLiRHS instructor

Jessica Glueck

Jessi is a Classics teacher at University College School in London and a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, where she researches eighteenth-century British receptions of classical antiquity. A proud Paideia alumna (2016), she has taught spoken Latin with the Oxford Latinitas Project and helped to run spoken Latin days at the Harrow School and the Harrodian School in London. Jessi is a book lover, a Kansan, and sometimes a poet.

Laurie Duncan

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Living Latin in Rome High School Teacher

Laurie Duncan

Laurie Duncan received a book about Pompeii in the fourth grade and became fascinated by the Romans. After her Bachelor's in Classics at the University of Virginia, she has worked for sixteen years as a classroom teacher, private tutor, and consultant. Laurie studied twice with Fr. Reginald Foster and has attended multiple conventicula. Recently she obtained a Master's in Education, focused on language pedagogy. Her interests include conversational Latin use, Roman epitaphs, ancient portraiture, the history of education, and Gregorian chant. 

Sage Watkins

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Student Life Consultant

Sage Watkins

Sage Watkins has a Masters degree in Counseling, is a Nationally Certified Counselor, and you can generally find her in her natural habitat supporting middle school students in Franklin, Massachusetts. Some of her favorite activities include making her own herbal teas, going for nature walks, meditating, and daydreaming about homesteading. She loves to read, write, sew, hoard musical instruments, and collect new hobbies. Sage is passionate about learning new things herself, and encouraging a love of learning in others!

Despite her later calling to work in mental health, Sage’s undergraduate degree was in Classical Languages (with an emphasis in Ancient Greek) with a certificate in Archaeological Sciences–and her love of Classics never went away. Her favorite topics within the field of Classics include the study of Ancient Greek and Roman religion, cults, magic, funerary traditions, and music (she built and plays a reconstructed Ancient Greek lyre!).

Nicholas Uram

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Assistant Fellowship Manager

Nicholas Uram

Nicholas attended Living Latin in Rome with the Paideia Institute
the summer of 2019, and participated in Latin immersion program
Conventiculum Dickinsoniense the year before. He
graduated from Hillsdale College in 2020 where he received a B.A.
in Latin, and has since been teaching Latin at the middle and high
school levels at Highlands Latin School in Louisville, Kentucky.
Nicholas’ primary area of interest in classics include the poetry of
Homer, Vergil, and Ovid, as well as prose and verse composition.

John Scurfield

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Living Latin in Rome High School Head Teacher

John Scurfield

L.J. Scurfield is the lead Latin teacher at Westtown School, a Quaker boarding school in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he also supervises a dormitory and coaches golf.   L.J. earned his M.A. in Classics at the University of Kentucky in their spoken Latin program and holds a B.A. in Classical Languages from Hamilton College, where he wrote a thesis on the role of Aethiopia in the ancient world. He is an alumnus of Living Latin in Rome '14, taught on the Living Latin in Rome (High School) program from 2015-2019, led Living Latin Online (High School) from 2020-2022, and was also a Site Coordinator for Aequora's Kentucky program.  He enjoys the poetry of Horace and finding unusual Latin inscriptions around Rome.  

Joe Watkins

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Living Latin in Rome High School Teacher

Joe Watkins

Joe Watkins is a PhD Candidate at Boston University, currently working on his dissertation which examines ethnographic representations of Celtic peoples in both Ancient Greek and Latin. He earned his BA at the University of Georgia (2014) and attended a year of Post-Baccalaureate Studies at the University of Pennsylvania (2014-15) before teaching high school Latin in Tucker, GA for three years where he developed a strong interest in language pedagogy. He completed a Masters in Classics at the University of Kentucky (2020), earning a certificate in Latin (Language) studies there at the Institutum Studiis Latinis Provehendis. He is particularly interested in historiography, both Greek and Latin, but enjoys reading widely, both in terms of genre and time period.

AnnMarie Patterson

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Living Latin in Rome High School Teacher

AnnMarie Patterson

AnnMarie Patterson is a Ph.D student in Classics the University of Southern California focusing on epic poetry and Roman art. She has taught for the institute’s Telepaideia and Living Latin Online HS programs, as well as other Latin classes. An alum of Paideia’s Living Latin in Rome and Living Greek in Greece programs, she loves spoken Latin, the architecture of Rome, and a good cappuccino.

Brendan McGlone

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Director of Student Life, LLiRHS

Brendan McGlone

Brendan McGlone was born and raised in Boonton, NJ. He studied the humanities with a focus on Latin and medieval studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and spent two summers living and studying in Rome with the Paideia Institute. After writing an honors thesis on a late medieval manuscript collection of Latin sermons, he moved to Rome as a fellow for Paideia, studying Italian, Latin, and the history of the city before leading tours and teaching Latin courses to American high school students. After his year in Rome, he moved back to New Jersey to teach English and Latin and coaching the swim team at the Catholic high school he attended, Seton Hall Prep. Brendan is now back in Rome pursuing a degree in ancient and medieval church history and culture at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In addition to teaching, he enjoys playing music and ultimate frisbee with his family and friends.

 

Laurie Hutcheson

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Living Latin in Rome High School Head Teacher

Laurie Hutcheson

Laurie Glenn Hutcheson is the Head Teacher at Living Latin in Rome High School. She made her first visit to Rome when she was in high school, and she has been going back ever since. She discovered the magic of reading (and singing) Latin in Rome with Reginald Foster in the summers of 2004 and 2006. After teaching Latin and Greek at Boston University Academy for 8 years, she began teaching in LLiR(HS) in 2014. She completed her PhD at Boston University in 2018 with a dissertation on the Iliad. She loves good stories and playing games with language.

Photos

Transportation

The Institute will provide a chaperone on a group flight from New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport to and from Rome. Students may book a ticket on this flight, or travel directly to Rome, where they will be met at the airport by Paideia staff.

Tuition and Fees

The cost of Living Latin in Rome High School is $5500. This amount includes tuition, housing, meals, site visits, course materials, and transportation to and from Rome's Fiumicino airport. Airfare is not included, and must be booked by students individually.

Online Option for 2025

The Paideia Institute will also be running an online intensive summer Latin program for high school students called Living Latin Online High School. This is a separate program from the in-person program in Rome and follows a different curriculum. Details of the online summer program will be announced in January 2025.

Scholarships

The Paideia Institute is able to offer a number of full and partial scholarships to participants with demonstrated financial need. Please visit our scholarships page to learn more. Scholarship applications must be received by the priority application deadline for the program (March 1, 2025).

Request an Application

Please submit your completed application, which includes a submitted teacher recommendation form by March 1, 2025. Applications received after March 1 will be considered on a rolling basis while space is available.

Request an application

What People Are Saying

“I came to Paideia to improve my Latin and quench my existing curiosity about various aspects of classical antiquity. Though it certainly succeeded in both these respects, the greatest academic contribution of my Paideia experience was learning just how many other aspects of the ancient world there are to be curious about and marvel at, just how many other fascinating questions can be asked, whether that be about the development of Western visual art, poetry, public spectacles, or politics, to name a few examples. Fourteen days in Rome have also opened up my eyes to the beauty of ancient Greek and Roman art and the works it inspired. On a social level, I can honestly say that I've never made closer friends in two weeks than I have during LLiRHS, and the morning runs and evening meals out are such fond memories. In this way, a fortnite with the Paideia Institute enriched my mind, body, and soul far more than I ever anticipated, exceeding even my lofty expectations.” -Paul Mackay ‘24

“Looking back, I think most students—myself included—were convinced that this was one) an intensive Latin class where they also taught you to pronounce words or two) a vacation in Rome. But LLiRHS is somehow the best combination of both. Whether it’s bonding between students, or late night gelato runs, or field trips in the afternoon heat to sites that you learn about each morning, Paideia has some of the best memories in my life. And there is so much Latin all around you—from fluent conversations that even students can have by the end of the program to early century dig sites beneath a random restaurant with mind blowing carbonara. LLiRHS truly helped me expand my vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence in Latin while immersed in a setting and culture so deeply rooted in ancient history. It’s so great to meet new friends with shared passions and Paideia is an experience like no other!!” -Sharon Lin ‘23

“The program is phenomenal - you are immersed in Latin while visiting major historically significant sites directly relating to the curriculum. The program is fast paced and well organized and the teachers are engaging - anyone who has a passion for Latin must experience this program.” -Karolina E. Fic ‘23

“Living Latin In Rome was an action-packed rigorous program that allowed me to explore many parts of Italy, while connecting back to Ancient times. The teachers were incredible, and the activities aligned with what we learn. I thought it was going to be more awkward socially, however I met some incredible people here!” -Anthony Durán ‘23

“If you are worried about acceptance of diversity here, don't be! It's very safe! This has been one of the best trips of my life. Every teacher here is so kind and wants to help you discover more about the culture, language and history of the Italian peninsula.” -Phoebe Tausig ‘23

“The Paideia Institute has helped me see Rome/Italy through a historical critical lens while also helping enrich all of my future Latin endeavors with new knowledge. The program was able to encompass everything I enjoy about learning Latin (the myths, the lore, the ingenious grammar) along with the highlight of a theatrical aspect. The people I have met here have charged me with a new a passion for classics but are also the once in a lifetime friends I will cherish forever. Thank you Paideia.” -Kathlynn Yao ‘23