Telepaideia Courses Spring III 2020

Telepaideia classes are taught online in small groups. Our third spring term, Maymester 2020, runs for five weeks: from the week of May 3rd through June 6th. Each class meeting lasts one hour. To enroll, please fill out the form linked at the bottom of the page and pay by credit card. Information about Google Meet technology and instructions on how to join the classes will be emailed in the week before the start of the class.

Continuing Education Units (CEU's) are available for Telepaideia courses. Students interested in taking the course for CEU credit should indicate this on their enrollment form and will be asked to submit a short (1/2-page) written reflection at the end of the course.

Reading Courses

Texts in these classes are read in Latin or Greek and discussed in English. 

Greek and Latin: Ancient Pandemics - FULL

Course Description: Plagues and epidemics have appeared in literary works since the time of Homer. In fact, the Iliad starts with a plague sent by Apollo, which sows discord in the Achaean camp. Starting with the Homeric episode, this course will go on to examine other Greek and Roman literary depictions of plague outbreaks and their socio-political effects, focusing on Sophocles, Thucydides, Lucretius, Celsus, Galen, and Procopius. How do ancient poets, historians, and physicians deal with the deadly outbreak of a mysterious disease? Are there common thematic threads in Greek and Roman plague narratives? These and related questions will also be an opportunity to address the history of diseases and medical practices in the ancient world more generally. NB: Texts can be read in the original language or in English translation. During class time, we shall comment on the text in English and discuss any subject of interest to the group. This course will also introduce students to the use of digital tools for the semantic analysis of ancient texts.
Level: This course is open to students at all levels. No prior knowledge of Latin or Ancient Greek is required.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Wednesdays at 12:00 pm EDT
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Instructor: Marco Romani Mistretta
Sections capped at: 5 students. This course is now full.

Latin: Vergil - "Raising Acheron: Books 7-12 of The Aeneid"

“And if the heavens cannot be moved, I will raise hell instead!” With this vow of vengeance, Juno sets the tone for the dire world presented in the second half of the Aeneid. Rage, despair, and insatiable violence will characterize the Trojan ‘homecoming’ into Italy. The prophecies of the coming Roman age are fulfilled, but should the founding of the city be seen as a blessing or a curse for the world it is destined to rule? In this course, we will translate selected short passages across books 7-12, as well as read these books in their entirety in English. One day each week will be devoted to translation, and the other day to interpretive discussions. 

Level: This course is intended for students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Latin
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Tuesdays and Fridays 3pm EDT 
Instructor: George Saad
Tuition: $200 (ten meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students. 

Latin: Late Antique Poetry - Full

In this course we will survey 5 Latin poets of Late Antiquity, focusing on one per session: Ausonius, Prudentius, Claudian, Rutilius, and Sidonius. In session we'll focus on particular sections of a work by each author in Latin, reading at sight, but the entirety of the work will be presented in English beforehand, to be read in anticipation of each session. This way we will approach each session with an idea of a work's content, but will focus with fresh eyes on the Latin and have an immediate experience with it. The goal is to sample the poetic style of each author and consider their place in the wider world of the eventful 4th and 5th centuries.
Level: This course is intended for students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Latin
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Tuesdays at 6:00pm EDT 
Instructor: David Hewett
Tuition: $200 (five meetings total--two hours each)
Sections capped at: 5 students. This course is now full.

Beginning-Intermediate Conversational Greek: Classical and Biblical Proverbs - FULL

Course Description: This class will help those new or relatively new to speaking Ancient Greek acquire more fluency in speaking and reading comprehension. Participants will discuss several pagan and Biblical proverbs in each session with a view to paraphrasing with synonyms and equivalent constructions, as well as using the vocabulary and idioms of each assignment as a springboard for personalized conversations about their lives. The amount of authentic text read each session may be small, but the benefits of hovering or "circling" around the limited vocabulary, idioms, and grammatical structures of a few similar proverbs will become clear as participants internalize what they encounter and use it for open-ended conversation. Participants will encounter at least one essential idiomatic expression and grammatical construction per session. The class aims to be a joyous and low stress experience that builds confidence and will be tailored a great deal to the needs and desires of the particular participants.

Level: This course is intended for students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Ancient Greek but perhaps only limited experience speaking Ancient Greek.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00pm EDT (Section 1) and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00pm EDT (Section 2).
Instructor: David Ring
Tuition: $200
Sections capped at: 5 students. Both sections are now full.

Intermediate-Advanced Conversational Greek: Septuagint: The Book of Ruth

Course Description: "[these] brief chapters outline the two principal archetypes of Western narrative, the Abrahamic myth of definitive rupture and the Odysseian myth of ultimate return, the journey home." (Herbert Marks) Among the "greatest hits" of the Bible, The Book of Ruth is sui generis. In it we find a peaceful, harmonious world of neighborly "small town" values, where landowner and field worker respect each other, where strong women of character take center stage, where the valor of the heroines and heroes requires no swords, where there are no villains, and where inclusivity triumphs over ancestral animosities. This charming and beloved text investigates the nature of love, family, friendship, loyalty, trust, community, redemption, and inclusion. It raises provocative questions: What is home? How can one "go back (home)" to a place one has never been? Is this book a subversive dissent concerning the status of the Moabites? Does it turn the martial ideal of a "mighty (man) of worth" on its head? But why is the last word of the text "David"? This enchanting literary masterpiece raises these and many other questions in fewer than 100 lines/4 chapters. In this class participants will read closely and discuss the Septuagint translation, as well as read for context (in whatever language) several crucial passages from the Torah, Ezra and Nehemiah, the beginning of 1 Samuel, etc. The instructor will provide minimal notes on names, translation issues, etc., as well as several reading and discussion questions for each assigned reading. Despite very short weekly readings, thoughtful preparation will be essential in order to have rich and efficient seminar discussions. Participants must agree to adhere to the instructor's ground rules concerning the nature of a Great Books seminar, in particular with regard to the use of secondary sources. For example, in one later session the homework will be to re-read the book carefully and write a proposed outline of the artistic structure of the whole. The intent of that assignment is that participants grapple with the text and think for themselves rather than look at any pre-existing compositional outline from secondary literature.

Level: This course is intended for students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Greek and at least intermediate proficiency in speaking Ancient Greek.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials (and audio recordings, if requested).
Schedule: Fridays at 2:00pm EDT 
Instructor: David Ring
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students.

Intermediate-Advanced Conversational Greek: Lucian's Funniest Dialogues

Course Description: The love-life of redneck, independent country singer, Polyphemus; philosophers, dictators, and gold-diggers in the underworld; a dinner seating chart showdown between Mr. Toxic Masculinity Himself, Hercules, and Asclepius, the alternative medicine provider; the kleptomaniacal Baby Hermes; the version of the Judgment of Paris you definitely can't act out with high school students; the xenophobic god, Momus, trying to "Make Olympus Great Again": the funniest of Lucian's satirical dialogues are quite funny.  They are also teeming with fantastic idioms for speaking Ancient Greek.  When the instructor of this course read over 100 dialogues from Lucian's collections (Dialogues of the Gods, Dialogues of the Sea Gods, Dialogues of the Dead, and Dialogues of the Courtesans) and several longer stand-alone dialogues, these are the ones he marked as funniest.  This, of course, is not exactly objective but participants are likely to be quite pleased with these selections.  Participants will not only read, paraphrase, and savor the text together, but also use the vocabulary and idioms in it to have personalized conversation about their lives, passions, likes, dislikes, opinions, etc. 

Level: This course is intended for students with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Greek and at least intermediate proficiency in speaking Ancient Greek.
Textbook:  We will use the Nimis and Hayes editions, which have copious notes in English.  They are all available as free pdfs.  The instructor will provide the specific, shorter dialogues from these pdfs (since they come from several collections), as well as Rouse's edition with notes written in Ancient Greek. 
Schedule:  Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1:00pm EST.
Instructor: David Ring
Tuition: $200 (ten meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students.

INTENSIVE COURSES

These intensive Latin and Hebrew courses are offered for complete beginners.  They cover half the material our usual intensive courses do Telepaideia intensive courses use both traditional presentation of grammar in English and spoken teaching techniques. The May courses are a continuation of our April courses. New intensives will be offered ab initio in June. 

Intensive Latin - part two (five week)

Course Description: This course is a continuation of part one from the April term. This course is an intensive introduction to the Latin language. It covers half of the material that our usual semester course covers. (for section 2: chapters 21-40 of Wheelock's.)
Textbook: Section 1: Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, Pars I: Familia Romana. Instructor will provide grammatical supplements. Section 2: Wheelock's Latin (be sure to purchase the 7th edition) and Thirty-Eight Latin Stories. Recommended:1) Wheelock Workbook, 2) Lingua Latina per se Illustrata, Pars I: Familia Romana.
Schedule: Section 1: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 2pm EDT. Section 2: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3pm EDT. 
Instructor: Section 1: Michael Sweet; Section 2:Marcello Lippiello
Tuition: $500
Sections capped at: 5 students. 

Intensive Biblical Hebrew - part two (five week) - FULL

Course Description: This course is an intensive introduction to Biblical Hebrew. Level: This course is intended for beginners. It will begin where the Intensive Hebrew 1 (Five Week) course ended.
Textbook: Weingreen, Joseph, A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew, 2nd Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959). ISBN 0-19-815422-4
Schedule: Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 9pm EDT.
Instructor: W. David Nelson
Tuition: $500 
Sections capped at: 5 students. This course is now full.

MODERN LANGUAGE COURSES FOR CLASSICISTS

These language courses, taught by French, German, Italian, and Greek classicists, allow participants to read and discuss great works of French, German, Italian, and Modern Greek in the target language.

Literature as Contagion: An Introduction to the Decameron - FULL

Course Description: A crash course in Boccaccio’s Decameron. We will begin by reading the Author’s “Proemio” and “Introduction” to the first day of storytelling: containing, respectively, a recollection of past lovesickness, and the most famous account of the 1348 plague in Florence. From there, we will sample a selection of tales and frame-moments from across the Decameron, observing how the logic of the pathogen continues to work as a literary device once the plague is (seemingly) pushed into the margins of storytelling. We will conclude, appropriately, with the Author’s “Conclusion” as a final meditation on paradigms of infection and “salute” (health; salvation), here reconfigured as relationships between readers and authors.
Level: Ability to read the Italian is ideal, but not required. Sessions will be conducted in English, though I hope to engage with Boccaccio’s text in the original Italian as much as possible.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Thursdays at 6:00pm EDT
Instructor: Kristen Hook
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students. This course is now full.

MODERN GREEK READING COURSE: MODERN GREEK AESTHETICISM: GOD IN EXILE, HOMEWARD BOUND

Course Description: This course focuses on the late 19th century Greek Aesthetes. Like their British contemporaries (such as Oscar Wilde, who we will also read in translation), the Aesthetes of Athens tried to reformulate the idea of classicism into a radical ideal. The prose of Episkopopoulos, Rodokanakis, and, above all, Giannopoulos transformed the study of Classical Greece into a productive mode of art. 
Level: This course is intended for those with some experience in Classical and Modern Greek, though English translations will be provided.
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Thursdays 10am EDT
Instructor: Ilias Kolokouris
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students

MODERN GREEK READING COURSE: WOMEN OF HOMER BY OSCAR WILDE

Course Description: A classicist well influenced by Plato and Aristotle’s Ethics on his major work The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde studied classics at Magdalen College, Oxford. As an undergraduate there, he decided to write a long essay surveying the chapter “Women of Homer” from John Addington Symonds’s Studies of the Greek Poets. But young Wilde’s project became bigger than he expected. It was August 1876, an inspiring vacation in Ireland, and he ended up writing an unfinished idiosyncratic introduction to the major of Homer’s heroines. First published by the Oscar Wilde Society and edited by Thomas Wright and Donald Mead, Women of Homer is Oscar Wilde’s earliest surviving prose work, his first attempt at reviewing, with all the later elements of Aesthetic Philosophy that define him in his work The critic as artist. Together we will read a modern greek translation of the text, along with the original.
Level: This is a course of advanced Modern Greek translation.  
Textbook: Instructor will provide materials.
Schedule: Sundays at 1pm EDT
Instructor: Ilias Kolokouris
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students 

FOR TEACHERS

SPECIAL OFFERINGS

Greek: Songs for Ancient Greek Learners and Lovers

Course Description: Eager to spice up your Ancient Greek coursework? In these workshops, participants will explore, read, and sing songs written in–or at least translated into–Ancient Greek. From Seikilos to Abba, songs are a fantastic way to connect, relax, and enjoy the fruits of one’s study. Materials will be provided by the instructor, but participants are encouraged to share their mnemonics and favorite hits. The goal is to disseminate the hard work of our predecessors and contemporaries, and to support a community of shared artifacts.
Level: Intermediate or advanced knowledge of Greek.
Textbook: Materials will be provided by the instructor.
Schedule: Tuesdays at 6:00pm EDT
Instructor: R.J. Parsons-McCrackin
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students

Latin: Scansion Bootcamp

Course Description: In this group, participants will explore the rhythms of Latin poetry across the millennia, while decoding riddles, playing word games, and mastering the art of scansion painlessly. No prior experience in Latin poetry is assumed. This course is ideal for intermediate and advanced Latin students with limited exposure to classical poetry, and for Latin instructors who are looking to add new tools and activities to their pedagogical toolkits.
Level: Intermediate or advanced knowledge of Latin
Textbook: Materials will be provided by the instructor.
Schedule: Thursdays at 6:00pm EDT
Instructor: R.J. Parsons-McCrackin
Tuition: $100 (five meetings total)
Sections capped at: 5 students

Enroll

To register for a Telepaideia course, please fill out this enrollment form and pay by credit card. There are no refunds for Telepaideia courses, but tuition credit can be applied to a future semester. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

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