The following Round Table Discussions will take place on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 12:15-12:45.
Title: National Latin Exam
Leader: Linda Montross (National Latin Exam)
Description: Linda Montross, Co-Chair of the NLE, welcomes all to a discussion of the 2015 exam. If you did not have your students take the exam, come by and learn some stratagems on ways to incorporate the exam into your teaching. If you are a college Latin instructor, come to the roundtable to hear how the exam is being used at the collegiate level. Take a peek at our publications Forum Romanum and Discitur Legendo, and learn how you can use these in your classroom.
Title: Websites and Online Exercises for Elementary Greek
Leader: Pamela Gordon (University of Kansas)
Description: Participants are welcome to discuss the following questions, or to propose related queries: Where can one find the best online accompaniments to Elementary Greek textbooks? If voice recordings are included, which pronunciation system do they follow (e.g. restored, Modern Greek, hybrid)? Can you recommend particular types of interactive exercises? Have you had success with creating your own online exercises (e.g. on a system such as Blackboard)? If so, do you have examples to share? If online exercises are required for your courses, do you monitor student use? Do interactive exercises help students learn Greek?
Title: Classics and Publicly Engaged Scholarship
Leader: Michael S. Overholt (University of Iowa)
Website: https://camws2015publicengagement.wordpress.com/
Description: ImaginingAmerica.org defines Publicly Engaged Scholarship, in part, “by partnerships of university knowledge and resources with those of the public and private sectors to prepare educated, engaged citizens [and] strengthen democratic values.”[1] Classicists have a unique voice. We claim to study the origins of the university and democracy, using that claim to establish our importance at our various academies. Yet, our departments are among the first cuts when budgets shrink. This round table discussion considers how publicly engaged scholarship could strengthen our voice by establishing our relevance to other university departments and local communities.
Title: The Electronic Latin Teachers' Lounge: Why, How, Where?
Leaders: Caroline S. Kelly (Mitchell Community College) and Kenneth F. Kitchell, Jr. (University of Massachuesetts Amherst)
Description: The discussion will seek ideas for establishing a virtual teachers’ room to accompany the beginning Latin textbook, Disce!. Many Latin teachers have few Latin teachers as colleagues and others teach primarily online. New teachers and teaching assistants can feel overwhelmed and isolated. Impromptu meetings in a teachers’ room are the ideal, but today there is a need for an online community where one can seek help and share handouts, tips, or techniques. Discussion will address the practical questions -- where to house it, what should it be able to do, who will moderate it and how? Outcomes will be applicable to any textbook. Come join the discussion.
Title: The Tirones Project: An Update
Leader: Mary L.B. Pendergraft (Wake Forest University)
Description: The National Committee for Latin and Greek has undertaken a long-term project to support new Latin teachers and thus to make it more likely they'll stay in the classroom. Nationally from 20-30 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years. One factor that reliably encourages retention is good mentoring. Our panel at this meeting presented reports on some successful programs. What more can we do? What more is planned? Come share your experiences and your hopes and dreams.
Title: Incorporating Cinematic and Televisual Texts into Your Classics Courses
Leaders: Meredith E. Safran (Trinity College) and Mike Lippman (University of Nebraska--Lincoln)
Description: As scholars in Classics have come to acknowledge the place of films and television series in the corpus of texts that constitute the classical tradition, so too many of us have begun to experiment with building these new texts into our curricula. This round discussion table will focus on strategies for teaching students how to engage with such texts critically, rather than simply as entertainment. Topics will include combining methodologies from Classics and Media Studies, how to frame discussion of cinematic and televisual texts for various types of courses at the college and high school levels, and using the concept of reception as a practice to link cultural production within antiquity to contemporary representations of the ancient world.
The following Round Table Discussions will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 12:45-1:45.
Title: Tabula Latina
Leader: Timothy F. Smith (Ridgeview Classical Schools)
Description: Participes ad tabulam Latinam ut de aliquo quidlibet colloquant invitati sunt. Dux erit Timotheus Smith, magister linguarum antiquarum ab Castis Collensibus (Ft. Collins).
Title: A Seal of Classical Biliteracy: Where do we start?
Leader: Keely K. Lake (Wayland Academy)
Description: Across the country, states and school districts have begun to issue Seals of Biliteracy for high school graduates who achieve a certain level of proficiency in more than one language. A clearinghouse, sealofbiliteracy.org, outlines goals for such programs, some consistent with our own goals and others less important, such as encouraging language study (yes!) and providing evidence of language skills for employers (not so much...). Some but not all certificates recognize achievement in Latin. A Seal of Classical Biliteracy, developed and administered by our professional organizations, would honor achievement in Latin or Greek in any school situation. So where do we start?
Title: Graduate Student Issues Committee
Leader: Sarah C. Teets (University of Virginia)
Description: The mission of the Graduate Student Issues Committee, made up of graduate students from across the CAMWS region, is to assist CAMWS in best serving the needs of graduate students. We invite all interested graduate students to discuss the issues most important to them, and how GSIC can help make CAMWS (already known for its friendliness toward graduate students) more accessible, productive, and welcoming to graduate students. We welcome discussion of topics of interest for future workshops and panels, suggestions for new avenues of outreach to students, and questions about the committee itself from anyone interested in joining.
Title: The State of Greek Pedagogy K-20
Leader: Wilfred E. Major and Albert T.Watanabe (Louisiana State University)
Description: This roundtable will have information available on the many resources that have been developed in recent years for the teaching of Greek at all levels, including the National Greek Exams and the College Greek Exam. The organizers also hope to foster discussion about areas of greatest need and interest for the future of the development of new materials.
Title: The CAMWS Latin Exam - Next Steps?
Leader: Robert T. White (Shaker Heights High School)
Description: The Latin Translation Contest has been one of the most effective ways for CAMWS to make itself known beyond the realm of higher education. Last year, the School Awards Subcommittee decided to expand the scope of the exam in order to increase the pool of eligible students by adding an Intermediate Level Exam and by allowing post-secondary students to participate.The Subcommittee invites you to participate in a discussion about how these changes in the Latin Translation Contest have either helped or hurt the Exam, and what can be done to make it a more useful pedagogical tool for teachers.
Title: #Classics: The Potential of Social Media in Classical Studies
Leader: Bartolo A. Natoli (Randolph-Macon College)
Description: In a 21st century environment in which the smartphone, tablet, and other mobile platforms are ubiquitous, social media has become a field of growing importance. As a result, classicists have begun to consider potential uses of social media to enhance research, pedagogy, and intradisciplinary networking. In this roundtable, we will discuss both the potential advantages and drawbacks of social media in the field of Classics. Specific attention will be paid to classroom practices involving social media, the use of social media as means of sharing research, and avenues for professional networking and development.