Classics, the study of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as their wider Mediterranean context, is a wide-ranging discipline. It incorporates elements of history, archaeology, art, religion, mythology, philosophy, gender and queer studies, and numerous other disciplines. At its heart are the two main languages of the ancient Mediterranean world, Greek and Latin, and the literature written in those languages by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Tradition

The study of Greece and Rome is central to Gonzaga's identity as a Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic university. Ever since Ignatius of Loyola decided, as an adult, to take Latin with young children, the study of the ancient Greeks and Romans has been central to the Jesuit identity. The Jesuit respect for Classical Antiquity is part of the broader tradition in the West, where for millennia the study of the Classics was synonymous with education. Cicero, Virgil, Plato, and the other Classical authors have provided the primary texts through which countless people have come to know themselves, understand their world, and develop empathy for their fellow human beings. Latin and Greek remain essential languages for understanding the Catholic Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers. The humanist scholars of the Renaissance and Enlightenment were deeply inspired by the writings and deeds of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Students who take courses in the Classical Civilizations Department therefore place themselves in all of these traditions. They come to know more about the world of the ancients, their own world, and themselves.

Know yourself

This was one of the great maxims handed down by the Oracle of Delphi: γνῶθι σαυτόν, “know yourself.” The ancient Greeks were some of the earliest peoples to write down their stories and their thoughts. They developed a long tradition of grappling with the grand questions of human existence: life, death, love, the nature of the world and the soul. They’re the ones who coined the term “philosophy,” after all. Studying the Classics involves grappling with all of these questions and more. Students engage with some of the greatest thinkers and artists in history and thereby come to know themselves.

Know your world

We cannot understand the present without understanding the past. The impact of the ancient Greeks and Romans on our modern world cannot be overstated. Greece and Rome shaped the history of three continents: Europe, the Middle East, and north Africa. The example of Rome in particular drove later Europeans to extend empires across the globe. The men and women who founded the United States took their primary inspiration from the ancient Romans and Athenians and modern Americans continue to look to Rome, with its geographically immense and culturally diverse population, for lessons in good and bad governance.

The same can be said of Greek and Roman literature and art. The Greeks and Romans invented nearly every literary genre that exists today and their legacy is still felt. Because the Classics were so central to education for so many centuries, later authors and artists are deeply indebted to the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Latin and Greek pepper the novels of writers as diverse as Austen and Tolstoy. Artists still strive to match the standard set by the sculptors, potters, painters, and other artisans of antiquity. The museums of the world are filled with art depicting the myths of Greece and Rome. Knowledge of the Classics deepens one’s understanding of the literature and art that surround us today.

Know beauty and joy

As Keats says in his classically-themed poem Endymion, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.” Students still read these millennia-old texts in part because they are important, but also because they are beautiful. Likewise, Greek pottery, Roman architecture, and the other arts can be studied for the pure joy that their beauty, craft, and precision create.

Why study Latin or Greek?

If Robert Frost is correct in saying, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” then an ability to read works in the original language restores poetry to literature. It removes all obstacles between the reader and the author. A student who knows Latin or Greek can read the exact words that Homer, Plato, Sappho, Caesar, or Virgil wrote themselves. Each language has its own beauty as well, one that can only be appreciated with study.

There are many other benefits. Some are very practical. English is full of words derived from Greek and Latin. A knowledge of either language greatly increases a student’s vocabulary, understanding, and command of English. In 2002 Latin students scored, on average, 20% better than the mean on the Verbal SAT.

Because Greek and Latin are complex languages with very different syntax and grammar from English, the traditional methods of Classical language instruction stress the fundamentals concepts of grammar and syntax in ways that few modern languages do. Students therefore learn a great deal about the principles of linguistics, principles that serve them well both in English and in any other language that they choose to learn. A Latin student in particular has an easy time learning any of the languages derived directly from Latin, such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, or Italian.

Furthermore, both languages are also passports to worlds other than ancient Greece and Rome. Greek is the language of the New Testaments and Latin remained the language of religion, art, culture, and science in western Europe for centuries. Students study Greek and Latin because of interests in theology, philosophy, law, medicine, political science, Biblical studies, patristics, the Byzantine empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, art, linguistics, rhetoric, music, literature, the humanities, the history of science, et cetera, et cetera.

Skills developed in studying the Classics

You can expect to develop the following capacities:

- The ability to read closely, carefully, and with deep understanding.
- The ability to think deeply and critically about the great questions of human existence.
- The ability to formulate research questions and seek out the answers.
- An enhanced ability to communicate, both orally and in writing.

More outcomes from studying the Classics:

- A sense of community, connection, and understanding with earlier generations stretching back millennia.
- An understanding of the Classical legacy that has shaped Europe, the world, and the United States in particular.
- A deeper appreciation of art and literature, both ancient and modern.

Links about why to study the classics

Why an Undergraduate Degree in Classics?

Branding and Marketing the Classics Major

Classics Majors Find Their Future in the Past

Why Studying the Classics Gives Students an Edge

Why study Latin and Greek and the Classical Humanities?

Some Leading Benefits of Latin (and Classical) Studies

College Admissions: The Benefits of Taking Latin in High School

Posted by Calder Classics on 3/17/14 9:26 AM

(From: http://goo.gl/yRVYBO)

Want to know how can Cicero get you into college? Read on.

Today, we offer the first of two guest posts from our good friends at Calder Classics on why learning a "dead language" might be the very thing that gives you the edge you need in college admissions. Based in New York, Calder Classics is an elite educational company committed to helping students prosper by giving them the chance to learn the classics in the very places they were created: Rome, Florence, and Pompeii.

Getting into college. It’s something high school students and parents both dread and seek, in large part because the process is so opaque. We can never know for sure if an application will be successful. In fact, the only thing we know is: it’s difficult. In 2014, Harvard accepted just 6.9% of its applicants. Dartmouth, 11.5%. UCLA accepted 20.43% and Boston University accepted 36.22% of applications in 2013. Students looking to get into good schools have their work cut out for them and often end up asking, “what is the secret?”

Spoiler alert: there is no secret. But there are specific things you can pursue to make your application to your dream school as strong as possible. At Calder Classics we suggest challenging yourself to take Latin and ancient Greek in high school. “Latin?” You may ask, “isn’t that a dead language?” Why yes, good student, it is. In this first of two posts on the benefits of taking Latin and ancient Greek, I outline three reasons why Latin can help increase your chances for “getting in.”

1. Make Your College Application Stand Out

How can a high school student distinguish herself from the rest of the crowd? How can you make your application sing? Have Latin on your transcripts.

“Because so few students these days master Latin, it can help an applicant,” said William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, in this Bloomberg article. “We certainly do take notice,” Fitzsimmons noted, explaining that Latin would have excited an admissions officer 38 years ago when he began his career, and “such a student today would be even a greater rarity, standing out even more,” he said. “It can end up tipping the student into the class.”

Studying Latin can help even if you don’t have top test scores and grades. Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College said, “I was particularly impressed by a student with average test scores and grades who had taken Latin throughout middle and high school. We ended up offering the student admission, and I think it is fair to say that it was his commitment to Latin that tipped the scales.”

Learning Latin requires abstract thinking and hard work. Colleges know this. When asked what he thinks when he sees Latin on a high school transcript, Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment at University of Chicago, said, “This student is likely to be disciplined, have a strong basis for further learning, [and] be a little more creative toward intellectual pursuits than most.” You’ve chosen Latin. You’re different.

2. Boost your SAT Score

Did you know that Latin words form the roots of many English words? You should. For example: “He is so perfidious.” Perfidious, one of the 100 most common words to appear on the SAT (link) and meaning treacherous or deceitful, comes from the Latin perfidiosus, for faithless or dishonest. Learning Latin in high school automatically gives you a leg up on your verbal SAT. “Vocabulary and grammar of the English language can be mightily improved through the study of Latin,” reported Kathy Lindsey, Associate Director of Admissions, Middlebury College. Andrea Thomas agrees: “A background in Latin provides students with a stronger English vocabulary. Open any SAT prep book and you will see a crash course in Latin in the vocab section.”

Why spend extra time memorizing mountains of flashcards for the SAT when you can use the language you learn in class to identify roots and score highly.

3. Latin and Roman Culture are a Foundation of Western Civilization

Perhaps most importantly, taking Latin and learning about ancient Roman culture provides you with a strong foundation from which to explore other areas of study. Echoes from ancient Rome continue to be heard in our culture today. “The study of Roman culture which typically accompanies Latin study informs the study of any Western literature, art, or culture as well. [. . .] If Latin were dead, every Western culture and language would be also bereft of life,” said Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor at University of Notre Dame. It’s true. The modern Romance Languages? Came from Latin. Our form of government here in the United States? Heavily influenced by that of ancient Rome. Like Shakespeare? Want to study Law? All owe a debt to ancient Rome and Latin.

Where can you learn Latin? Want to add it to your transcript? Want to add a study abroad experience to your resume as well? At Calder Classics, we offer summer programs for high school students in Florence, Rome, and Pompeii that combine Latin with either the art treasures of Florence, the ancient history of Rome, or archaeological adventures in the area of Pompeii.

Our 2014 summer programs are almost full! Learn more and reserve your spot today here.

Sources cited in this blog post:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-24/lingua-latina-introitum-in-vniversitatem-harvard-multo-faciliorem-reddit.html

https://www.camws.org/cpl/educators/TCAsurvey2.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/04/15/education/thechoice-2013-acceptance-rates.html/

http://theivycoach.com/2014-ivy-league-admissions-statistics/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/eduadv/kaplan/kart_ug_sat100.html

http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/adm_fr/Frosh_Prof13.htm

College Admissions: The Benefits of Ancient Greek in High School

Posted by Calder Classics on 3/19/14 9:17 AM

(From: http://goo.gl/yAv2wq)

This is how colleges see applicants who have studied ancient Greek.

Today, we offer the second of two guest posts from our good friends at Calder Classicson why learning a "dead language" might be the very thing that gives you the edge you need in college admissions (see the first one here). Based in New York, Calder Classics is an elite educational company committed to helping students prosper by giving them the chance to learn the classics in the very places they were created: Rome, Florence, and Pompeii.

In the first of these two posts on the benefits of Latin and ancient Greek in getting into college, I noted that getting in to a good university, let alone your dream school, is tough. It still is. And there still isn’t a special google-algorithmic-magic-recipe for getting in to the college of your choice. I also suggested taking Latin as a way to differentiate yourself from other applicants, improve your verbal SAT score, and show that you have the ideal foundation for any scholastic pursuit (major). I have something else to recommend to increase your collegiate chances: Take ancient Greek. “Ancient Greek?” You ask. “How is that going to help me get into, succeed at, and find friends at college?” Below are four reasons why ancient Greek is an optimal pre-college course.

1. Stand Out Even More on College Applications

Taking a course in ancient Greek, whether in or outside your school, will make your application stand out from the crowd. In my previous post, I quoted William Fitzsimmons, Harvard’s dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, saying that “because so few students these days master Latin, it can help an applicant.” Ancient Greek is the next step. Not only will you distinguish yourself from other general applicants, but you’ll have gone above and beyond, taking your interest in ancient languages to the top level. It’s this--pursuing something to the highest level possible--that colleges (and later on, employers) like to see.

Describing the ideal education, Winston Churchill wrote, “I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honor, and Greek as a treat.” Learning ancient Greek, perhaps even more so than Latin, requires curiosity, abstract thinking, and discipline. It’s an entirely new alphabet, for goodness sake! Colleges recognize this. They also know that the top high schools in the country offer courses in ancient Greek. Trinity School, one of the top private schools in Manhattan, offers two electives in Latin and one in Greek, and in the past has sent over 37% of its graduating classes to “Ivy League Plus” universities. Be competitive with those students. Take an ancient Greek course either in or outside your school.

2. Repeat after me: SAT, SAT, SAT

Knowing the Greek roots of English words can be just as helpful as knowing the Latin ones. For example: “The philanthropist gave all her money to charity.” The word philanthropist comes from the Greek words “philo” to love, and “anthropos,” mankind, and thus means someone who loves mankind, or in modern parlance, someone who performs charitable or benevolent actions. Being able to identify these roots by learning ancient Greek in high school will help you excel on your verbal SAT without rotely memorizing definitions.

3. The Ancient Greek Language and Culture are the Foundation of Western Civilization

Just as with Latin--if not more so--perhaps the most important aspect of studying ancient Greek and learning about ancient Greek culture is that it provides you with a strong foundation from which to explore other areas of study. The accomplishments of the ancient Greeks can still be seen in our culture today. Want to major in Government? Democracy was an ancient Greek invention. Philosophy? That was too. Like James Joyce? Want to study physics? Both owe a debt to ancient Greece and the Greek language.

4. Fraternities and Sororities!

I’m joking. But knowing the Greek alphabet could possibly help you on the social scene. Do you want to be a Kappa Kappa Gamma? Do you want to avoid guys in Alpha Chi? Keep it all straight by learning your Greek alphabet.

Where can you learn ancient Greek? Want to add it to your transcript? This summer at Calder Classics, we’re offering an Introduction to Ancient Greek Course and Intermediate / Advanced Reading Course for high school Latin students in Brooklyn, New York from June 16 to July 18.

Learn more and reserve your spot today here.

Sources cited in this blog post:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-24/lingua-latina-introitum-in-vniversitatem-harvard-multo-faciliorem-reddit.html

http://www.browndailyherald.com/2011/04/27/top-high-schools-find-admissions-success/

Winston Churchill, My Early Life: A Roving Commission,http://archive.org/stream/rovingcommissino001321mbp/rovingcommissino001321mbp_djvu.txt

Why We Should All Learn to Speak Latin

Learn a dead language? Yes!

BY JEFF HADEN Contributing editor, Inc.@jeff_haden

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I took four years of Spanish in high school. Today, I’m only good for “Hola!” and, “Dónde está el baño?” (At least I’m covered where friendliness and a very basic human need are concerned.)

And that’s why I was intrigued by the idea that learning a language, especially a dead language, could make you a better founder, a better CEO...really a better anything.

So here’s a guest post from Michael Ortner, the CEO and co-founder of Capterra, a website dedicated to helping people find the right software for their business.

Here’s Michael:

For centuries, Latin represented one of the core subjects of a quality education. In fact, knowledge of Latin may once have been the single best indicator of whether you were educated. As William Wallace's uncle Argyle points out in the 1995 hit movie Braveheart, "You don't speak Latin? Well that's something we shall have to remedy, isn't it."

What happened to Latin? Most schools don't even offer it anymore, and the ones that do usually make it an elective. It was cut from core curriculums because it was presumably not viewed as practical in an age in which modern education has become all about utility. If the benefits are not immediately visible (i.e., there's no direct connection to getting into college and landing a career), then most students (and, unfortunately, also their parents) have no interest.

Instead, as such thinking goes, if you want to succeed in the business or technology world, why not focus your energies on something more practical, like accounting or marketing? Or Javascript or Ruby, for that matter? But Latin? Could studying a dead language really be time better spent?

What if Latin was the ultimate building block, the intellectual equivalent of cauliflower and carrots? What if studying Latin has very few direct, visible, short-term benefits but is the key ingredient to helping all of us think more logically, exercise better judgment, be less prone to deception, understand language more fully, and even be more virtuous? What if the study of Latin, more than any of the more practical fields of study like business, computer science, education, or biology, is the key to success for future business leaders, engineers, teachers, and doctors?

I think it is. Here's why:

Ability

Our intelligence is not fixed at birth. Studying Latin will make you smarter.

The frequent deductive reasoning required to learn and understand this highly inflected language serves to foster clear, logical thinking. Mastery of logic is essential in business (and science, engineering, medicine, etc.). It enables you to exercise sound judgment, think critically, and creatively problem-solve. It not only allows you to bridge the gap between two seemingly unrelated ideas but to distill data down to a core meaning, identify patterns, and think of solutions.

Logical thinking also enhances your ability to plan, consider the consequences of your options, and recognize your own biases. (Most of us would agree that our society is suffering through a logic drought at the moment.)

Anything we can do to train the mind to think in a more deliberate and systematic fashion will help us achieve our fullest potential, regardless of our chosen profession. Learning Latin may very well be the best exercise for accomplishing this.

Acumen

The original works of some of history's greatest philosophers and writers--think Virgil, Cicero, and Augustine--are all in Latin. While English-language versions of these works exist, the quantity of different Latin-English translations are an indicator that translation is more of an art than an exact science, and one that loses a significant amount of meaning in the process.

Knowing Latin allows you to bypass the interpretation barrier and gain a perspective closer to the source text. The wisdom held in these texts is as valuable today as it was thousands of years ago. It will lead you to consider what it means to live a good life and to question fundamental notions about knowledge, virtue, and truth.

This is not something most of us do in our day-to-day lives, but there are many benefits to philosophical inquiry. To start, studying these texts will strengthen your ability to exercise good judgment. Exploring the classics affords you the opportunity to grapple with some of life's greatest questions and consider the perspectives of some of history's greatest minds.

These lessons will buttress you against deceit or distraction--by competitors, co-workers, the media, politicians, and so-called experts--from what matters. They will also instill a valuable sense of perspective and an internal compass for right and wrong, which provides guidance on both a sweeping and an intimate scale.

These ideas will inform the direction you take in your business, as well as the way you treat your employees, customers, and partners. And who couldn't use more help in these areas?

Appetite

Reading some of history's greatest works in Latin is challenging but also comes with a sense of accomplishment. And your desire for continued growth and improvement will only increase. Once you encounter some of the classics that have endured the test of time, taking on the works of other great writers throughout history will not seem so daunting.

And reading, studying, and appreciating Plato, Shakespeare, and Homer will only continue to open your mind to new ideas and questions that you had not considered before, better arming you to handle the daily challenges that you will face in your career.

Keep in mind I’m not denigrating other fields of study. Engineering, science, medicine, and business are all awesome pursuits, and worthy of study. But without first developing the ability to think clearly and logically, our industry leaders in these fields will fail to live up their full potential.

I'd much rather hire a great thinker who has never studied business than a business major who never learned to think well.

Latin will stimulate your appetite to learn the great ideas of the world in a way that few other courses of study can. Moreover, it will inspire you to think through your own ideas about "truth," "goodness," and "beauty," which will open up whole new avenues for exploration.

This appetite will seep into your business life. It will awaken your desire to make a mark and contribute in some way to humanity, which is really what entrepreneurship boils down to--the desire to have an impact on the world around us.

Latin will inspire you to aim higher, and make the challenges you face seem eminently surmountable. It will cultivate your perseverance, humility, curiosity, problem solving, creativity, empathy, and decision making.

I only wish I'd started studying it sooner.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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(Above article from: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-we-should-all-learn-to-speak-latin.html)

How Many Years Of A Foreign Language Do I Need For College?

Counselors are often asked the following questions regarding the study of a foreign language in high school. Below each question, are the comments and opinions of various high school/ college counselors and college administration officers with whom we have interacted:

How many years of foreign language do colleges want to see?
- More depth is always better than dabbling. Colleges want continuity and depth in foreign languages. They are also looking for the ability to read the foreign language at the most elevated level.
How many years of foreign language are recommended by competitive colleges?
- To selective colleges, it means nothing to meet the "minimum" requirement. They are also looking for students who enthusiastically exceed the minimum. For most selective schools, the "minimum" will leave a student at a distinct disadvantage in competition with those who strive to go beyond every expectation.
  - Students aiming for the most competitive colleges should have a minimum of four years of the same foreign language.
Is it better to take two years each of two different languages or four years of the same language?
- One should focus more on the outcome she/he wants from the study of a foreign language and less on satisfying a requirement. Colleges prefer four years of a foreign language because one needs four years in order to become conversant in the language and fully appreciate the literature.
What about three years of one language and one of another?
- For purposes of college admissions, taking only one year of a foreign language is almost worthless.
  - Dropping a foreign language in one's senior year is heavily discouraged. If it is offered in one's high school, colleges will want to see it on the transcript. The most competitive colleges view sincere interest in the language and devotion to study as the best plan.
Is is sufficient to take the two years of foreign language required for a high school diploma?
- Three to four years of one foreign language is preferable to two years each of two languages. The true benefits and rewards of language study do no evidence themselves until the third year of study. (From http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/woottonhs/counseling/foreignlang.aspx)

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