Completing the Revolution: The Philosophy behind Disce Latinam!

Kenneth F. Kitchell, Jr. (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

This paper will outline the origins and operating philosophy behind the new book. The new textbook attempts to combine the best features of both the reading method and the grammar first method while avoiding the perceived flaws in each method. It will also touch on the special problems that are attendant on producing a college level textbook, e.g. target audience, number of contact hours, curricular design. The narrative flow of the book will be discussed as will its grammatical scope and sequence which is based, to the greatest extent possible, on the actual frequency of occurrence of forms and usage in the Latin language.

Three papers will follow. Each presenter will have two tasks. The first will be a 15 minute exposition of the presenter’s experience with existing Latin textbooks and her/his beliefs for what should exist in a future textbook.