About the Institute
Although this institute is now over, please watch this site for future endeavors.
Also, see the PROJECTS page to view the lessons yielded
by the institute's participants.
Title: The Ancient Olympics and Daily Life in Ancient Olympia: A Hands-On History
Directors: Bob Holschuh Simmons and Nathalie Roy (See Faculty and Speakers page for more information.)
What: This hands-on workshop is a K-12 Summer Institute funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Where: on the campus of Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois
When: July 8-19, 2024
Duration: 2 weeks
Stipend: $2,200.00
Stipends are intended to compensate participants for their time commitment and to help defray the costs of participation, which may include expenses such as travel, lodging, meals, and technical support. Stipend amounts are determined by NEH based on the duration and format of the program. This is taxable income.
Travel:
The closest airports to Monmouth, IL, are Peoria International Airport in Peoria and Quad Cities International Airport in Moline. From either, expect about an hour's drive to the campus of Monmouth College (map). Travel from the airport via ride-sharing is probably the easiest way to get to Monmouth.
Accommodations:
Participants will stay on campus at Bowers Hall, in suite-style accommodations. There will be two participants per suite, and they will share a bathroom, but each will have an individual bedroom. There are kitchen facilities on each floor of the dorm.
Meals:
Participants will be dining for nearly all meals at Scots Dining (school-year menus here) in the Stockdale Student Center. Some special dining experiences are planned for off-campus too.
Readings:
In covering the athletic side of the ancient Olympics, participants will read all or portions of Swaddling’s Ancient Olympic Games, Miller’s Arete: Greek Sports from Ancient Sources, and Sweet’s Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook with Translations. All draw heavily upon primary accounts of the ancient Olympics and broader athletic training by Philostratus, Pausanias, and other classical authors. Philostratus was a Greek philosopher who detailed the athleticism needed to perform in the Games and details of the performance of various events. Pausanias was a Greek travel writer who described the site of Olympia and the Games themselves. Students will go beyond the Olympic-specific passages of those authors to learn the Games’ broader context. Chapters from Golden’s Sport and Society in Ancient Greece and Papakonstantinou’s Sport and Identity in Ancient Greece, supplemented by several of Pindar’s Olympian Odes, will guide students’ inquiry into the significance of sport in Greek life.
Hands-On History: This workshop is unique in that participants will actually experience the daily life of ancient Olympians and their support teams, as well as the everyday people of the tiny town of Olympia, where the Olympic games happened. You'll explore how the athletes used olive oil to bathe, how they trained for and performed in numerous athletic events, and how their diets helped to prepare them for competition. In addition to the lives of the athletes, we'll learn how the townspeople lived and worked around the Games by exploring weaving, beekeeping, papyrus production, writing tools and materials, and more.
Goals:
The overarching goals for the Institute are for participants to grow in the following ways:
● knowledge of the diverse experiences and perspectives of ancient Greek people during an Olympic festival, both within the festival grounds and in the city of Olympia;
● knowledge of sources, ancient and modern, that describe the Olympic Games and the lives of people living and working in Olympia;
● ability to apply their knowledge of the Olympics and the lives of the diverse residents of Olympia for hands-on class projects and demonstrations;
● knowledge of hands-on history and experimental archaeology and means of using them to elevate the voices of ancient people;
● usage of primary sources–written documents, archaeological remains, and other material sources–in the K-12 classroom.
Institute Schedule:
Sunday, July 7: Arrivals and welcome dinner
Monday, July 8 to Friday, July 12: Lectures and hands-on history
Saturday, July 13: Optional field trip to the Warren Country History Museum and presentation on the Egyptian Canopus Stone
Sunday, July 14: Independent time for reading and research
Monday, July 15 to Wednesday, July 17: Lectures and hands-on history
Thursday, July 18: Participant presentations
Friday, July 19: Olympic Games recreation and participant presentations
Saturday, July 20: Departures
Typical Daily Schedule for Monday through Friday:
8:00 AM | Breakfast
8:30 AM | Participate in an ancient Olympic event
9:30 AM | Break for showers or changing
10:00 AM | Lecture and reading discussions
12:00 PM | Lunch
1:00 PM | Hands-on history lessons
3:00 PM | Break
4:00 PM | Independent time for reading and project research
6:00 PM | Dinner
7:00 PM | Independent time for reading and project research
Participant Projects:
Each participant at the institute is expected to develop and present a lesson they plan to use in their classrooms, or in a co-curricular activity, related to the ancient Olympics or hands-on history. These lessons will be housed on this Website and shared with other teachers.