Lingua Latina Legenda

Lingua Latina Legenda is a project dedicated to rethinking student experience in introductory Latin. The goal in this curricular redesign is to do more than just introduce students to the fundamentals of the Latin language. Rather, the SIA Classics faculty hope to help the students explore how engaging with Latin as a historical language can offer new perspectives on the ancient world, the way we view ourselves and our society, and the construction of structures of power over time. To accomplish this end, Holy Cross students take part in a community-based learning curriculum in which they teach mythology to elementary and middle school students in Worcester and Marlborough. In these meetings, our students take part in creative collaborative projects that probe the meaning of mythology and its value in the modern world. The aim of these efforts is to challenge the exclusionist history of the discipline of Classics and offer a new pathway forward for the field in the coming years. For coverage of the early stages of this project, read this 2019 HC News article. Learn more about the partnership with Shelly McCormick's middle school Latin classes at Whitcomb middle school by watching the youtube video below.