SUMMER 2025 UPDATE: The 2025 Latin Workshop will be offered in-person at the University of California, Berkeley. There will be no remote or hybrid options for the course. If you have any questions, please contact the director, Emily Mullin, at emily.mullin@berkeley.edu.
The UC Berkeley Intensive Summer Latin Workshop (Latin 15) is an intensive introduction to Latin for students with little or no knowledge of the language. We welcome students of all ages and from all stages of academic life, including high-school students, undergraduates, graduate students, and adults simply seeking to learn a new and exciting language.
The Latin Workshop lasts for ten weeks (from June 9th, 2025 to August 15, 2025) and counts for ten units (the equivalent of two and a half semesters of Latin courses during the academic year at Berkeley). The first six weeks of the course offer a comprehensive introduction to Latin by going through Keller and Russell's Learn to Read Latin. During the last four weeks, students read two different works of Latin literature in the original.
Students will spend six hours per day in class, split into a morning session (9am-12pm) and an afternoon session (1pm-4pm). Students will be expected to spend additional time outside of class completing homework and studying on their own. Given the amount of material covered over the ten weeks, it generally proves extremely difficult to have any additional obligations (e.g. a part-time job) while enrolled in the Latin Workshop.
On Friday afternoons throughout the summer, world-class scholars deliver lectures for students in the Greek and Latin Workshops on topics related to Greek and Roman studies. Attendance at these lectures is optional, but most students find them enjoyable and engaging. After these lectures, students can enjoy a symposium in the courtyard with their classmates and with students of the Greek Workshop.
After completing the Latin Workshop, students will be prepared for a third-semester college Latin course, which usually read a work of Cicero's oratory and a work of Caesar, or, in many cases, upper-level reading courses such as those focused on Livy, Virgil, or Ovid.
While the Latin Workshop requires a concerted commitment, students almost always report that their experience was rewarding and even invigorating. The classroom environment is intense but supportive, and the instructors hold daily office hours and are available by e-mail in the evenings to provide additional assistance. We hope that you will be a part of the Latin Workshop this summer.