Finish Your Semester Strong

By Regan Barr of The Lukeion Project

Students: your semester is finally coming to an end! It’s been a marathon, not a sprint, as most of life’s proudest accomplishments will be. With the finish line in sight, there are three possible outcomes. You could stumble, fall, and fail miserably, wasting all of your effort up to this point. You could also begin to ease up and stagger across the line, finishing somewhere in the middle of the pack, but happy to be done with it. Or you can use your last burst of energy to finish strong, perhaps even crossing the finish line first, an achievement you can be proud of!

The internet is awash in examples of all three. There’s the runner who had it in the bag, but in one fatal, disastrous miscalculation, lost it all. There’s the competitor who started to celebrate too early, easing up when she should have pressed on. She completed the race, which in itself is no small accomplishment, but she secretly knows that she didn’t give it her all and could have done better. And finally, there’s the racer who fixed his eyes on the prize, summoned all his remaining strength and made that final heroic effort that ensured him the top spot on the podium. Maybe it’s second or third place, but he can hold his head up high, knowing that he gave it his best effort.

There’s no question that ability is part of the equation, but it’s not the whole story. Determination and strategy also play a big part in how you cross the finish line.

Determination is a mindset that considers all of the alternatives and concludes that perseverance is worth the pain. It realizes that even if this is not your favorite class, it charts a course for future classes. It understands that you’re not just getting a grade, you’re charting a trajectory. You’re building habits for life, and finishing strong is often the difference between the adventurer who gives up and the entrepreneur who makes it big. This is the “grit” that Angela Lee Duckworth describes in her Ted Talk that’s now been viewed by nearly 6 million people.

Success is rarely the result of a series of fortuitous accidents. It is more often the reward for determination: an unwillingness to give up until the job is done. Determination says “if I give up now, all my hard work up to this point was for naught.” It doesn’t just see the finish line; it aims for it. How can I finish strong? Sometimes the finish line is completing that research paper, studying for that exam, completing a project, or doing your best on that last presentation. Success is being able to say at the end of your day “I’m proud of what I accomplished today and how I spent my time.”

Where do you find the motivation and the determination when it’s lacking? Determination is a matter of perspective. Travel in your mind to 5 years in the future. Looking back on your now-self, what would you like to see? Will this be the instructor who recommends you for that plum internship because you demonstrated a relentless resolve? Will this be the moment you push through that mental barrier and learn that you really can endure instead of quitting when the going gets tough? If you can do this, what else might be within your reach?

Determination must be paired with strategy. A determined mindset is nothing without action, and not all actions are equally beneficial. What will move you forward in the most productive way? Here are a few suggestions for finishing strong:

1. List your next steps.
Why waste valuable time wallowing about in a quagmire of self-pity and desperation? Instead, quantify what you have to do! Progress requires defining your target. When it comes to finishing the semester, that means listing what remains to be done. This might be an obvious starting point, but many students never actually confront their to-do list realistically. They begin with the task they find most comfortable, spend way too much time on it, only to discover that they have sabotaged their own efforts on other more challenging tasks.
Quantifying what remains to be done provides two benefits. First, it allows the student to create a plan (step number 2), a path forward toward the real finish line. But the second benefit is just as important: it allows to students to measure progress, an important motivator that boosts determination!

2. Create a realistic plan. 
Working from your to-do list, determine what to do and when to do it. It’s important to actually plan your time, so plot your time on a calendar. This provides your best metric for determining when and how you’ll finish.
If you want to create a realistic plan, you must recognize what motivates you best. Do you benefit from tackling the big job first, getting that big victory under your belt, and then speeding up as you move to the less challenging projects? Or do you need the smaller victories to help you build toward the most daunting task? What will help you build momentum that will carry you toward the finish line? And don’t forget to break up your study and review times for the best retention. It’s better to spend one hour in review on two different days than to spend two uninterrupted hours in review.

3. Include breaks and rewards.
Most of us aren’t built to focus on our most intense challenges for hours on end. We need to take regular breaks and celebrate milestones along the way. Perhaps when you’re writing that paper, you reserve the last 10 minutes of every hour to get up and move a bit. When you finish it, reward yourself with a snack, half an hour of your favorite game, or some time to just chill with the dog.
Finishing strong isn’t easy, but it’s worth the effort.

With determination and the right strategy, you can be proud of your accomplishment and really enjoy the rewards that await you, just across the finish line.

Want to Major in Classics in College? Here's How to Start in High School

By Amy E. Barr of The Lukeion Project

Becoming a Classics major is exciting stuff. Several instructors at The Lukeion Project studied a variety of Classics-linked fields including Latin, Greek, ancient history, archaeology, art, architecture, plus anthropology, field excavation, osteology, museum studies, artifact illustration, artifact conservation, and more. Our broad experiences prompted our enthusiasm for our interdisciplinary approach. Add the perks of travel abroad plus the benefits of several foreign languages! If you are like us, a Classics degree is perfect for anyone who has more interests than they can count. How does one get started?

Going down the Classics rabbit hole means you may have to run around a bit until you find your preferred path. Most will choose either a Classics major (often a second major in Classics makes sense) or a minor in college. Even after finishing a degree in Classics, many find themselves in fields that seem distant to Classics but are actually closely linked: law, medicine, science, business, writing, teaching. A Classics degree need not limit one to a Classics career.

When shopping for college Classics programs, look at the various interdisciplinary opportunities available in various departments. In addition to Latin and or Greek, you can find ways to follow personal interests like museum internships, excavation volunteer posts, College Year in Athens, language immersion in Rome, etc. Interview various faculty after you shop programs to find a department that feels right. Now your first job is to be a good candidate when you find the program of your choice.  

What’s a good high school path for a future Classics major/minor?

Start with Classical languages and plan to do as much Greek and Latin as possible. Pick Greek or Latin as your primary (it doesn’t really matter except to your personal tastes) but plan on doing both languages sooner rather than later. Want to make your future college professors swoon? When it comes to Latin and Greek, complete at least four years of one and at least two years of the other before graduating from high school. Classics majors tend to add French, Italian, or German at college or graduate school so fear not, you'll add modern languages eventually.

Many students prefer to do four (or more years) in Latin with The Lukeion Project since a nice fat score on the AP Latin Exam (year four) can pave the path to scholarship money or, at certainly multiple college credits. Other students prefer Greek but will complete the SAT Special Latin Exam (an easier exam compared to the AP Latin exam) after the second or third year of Latin.

My second bit of advice is to travel. Any student who is interested in Classics will be taken more seriously if he or she has traveled to destinations that not only represent the literary aspects of Classics, but also the culture, history, art, and archaeology. A "study" trip to Greece and Italy will make you a strong college applicant. Adding Spain, France, Turkey (etc.) will make you a shining star in a sea of applicants all the way through graduate school. Plan to major in Classics? Plan to travel. This is not optional.

In addition to language studies and travel, I make several complementary recommendations below. Many of these courses require you to read, think, and write broadly. These courses will support your mastery of Classics which is, by definition, an interdisciplinary field. First, let me tackle a couple more issues:

Should Classics majors expect to go to graduate school?

With few exceptions (like teaching high school Latin at a public school) the answer is a firm yes, graduate school is normal for those who want a career in Classics. Your undergraduate program should give you a broad introduction to all things Classical while your graduate program(s) will help you refine your particular focus: language (philology), history, archaeology, anthropology, etc., may all be on the table depending on the graduate program you pursue. You must complete some graduate work (at least an M.A. but normally a Ph.D.) to teach at the college level, work as an archaeologist, or work at a museum (just for example).

Get started during your high school years

Conventional programs will offer few chances to broaden Classical studies before college starts but the more you tackle now, the more interesting you will be to the admissions committee at the college programs of your choice. Love Classics but plan to major in something different? If you have time and interest you can complete the equivalent of a Classics "degree" while still in high school at the Lukeion Project. Here's how a person could get the most of our program:

7^th/8^th/9^th grade

• Witty Wordsmith
• Barbarian Diagrammarian
• Lester’s Logic Lounge

8^th/9^th grade

• Latin 1 or Greek 1·
• Muse on the Loose (Survey of Greek Literature in Translation) and
• Muse Reloosed (Survey of Latin Literature in Translation)

9^th/10^th grade

• Latin II or Greek II plus start the second language (Latin or Greek)
• Mythology Alpha (includes Iliad, Odyssey) and
• Mythology Beta (including Aeneid, Metamorphoses)

10^th/11^th grade

• Latin III or Greek III
• Latin II or Greek II
• Classical History: will cover Greeks and then Romans

11^th/12^th grade

• AP Latin or Greek IV (we offer Latin VII and Greek VII)
• Optional 3rd year of the second language
• Rhetoric
• College Composition and College Research Writing (perfect English credit for students in final year(s) of high school)

12^th grade

• The Classical Bard: Shakespeare
• Classical Philosophy
• AP English Lit.

How to Be Successful in the Online Classroom

By Regan Barr of The Lukeion Project

Ms. Wilson was the most feared teacher in my elementary school. Gray hair, face contorted into a permanent scowl, a ruler usually within reach. I once personally observed her chasing a student across the playground in heels while she brandished a yardstick. I did well in Ms. Wilson’s class, but I’m not sure if it’s because I was a conscientious student, because she was a great teacher, or because I feared what might happen if I failed. Ms. Wilson was a rare breed, and I don’t think she’d fare well in the online environment. Today online classes are becoming the norm rather than the exception, and any successful student must master a different set of skills to thrive in the internet classroom. Here are the top four habits:

1. Maintain focus during sessions

It was much harder to conceal your inattention when you were trapped in the same physical room as your teacher. Many of us remember the student who hid a comic book inside his propped-up math book or developed a secret sign language to communicate with a friend across the room when the teacher turned her back. But at least they pretended to be engaged. Those days are gone. Instructors can no longer scan the room for distracted minds, dozing pupils, or inattentive troublemakers. They used to bark out a sharp “Thomas, stop that!” to regain their students’ attention, but today’s students can log in without tuning in. Some students simply walk away or turn down the volume on their headset while they spend their time in other pursuits. These same students will later complain that the class is too hard, or that they’re not getting anything out of it.

Online students have far more power over their own educational experience than we did in Ms. Wilson’s classroom. In a world full of electronic distractions, the student who has learned to focus is the student who will succeed. The instructor has taken the time to share his expertise, and the savvy student will use that time to full advantage. The big lie that many students tell themselves is that “I can catch up later, but I don’t really feel like doing this now.” Later never comes, or if it does, it will be twice as hard and take twice as long to master the material without your expert guide.

It takes an act of will to make the most of an online class. Eliminate distractions while you’re in class or watching your recording. Turn off your phone. Don’t have other apps open on your device. And most importantly perhaps, take notes … by hand … with a pen and paper. This simple act will do more for your retention than you can imagine. 

2. Take responsibility for your own schedule

There was no doubt about who was in charge when you were in Ms. Wilson’s classroom. When she told you to work on exercise 4 at your desks, you knew she’d be patrolling the room like a warden, ready to swoop down on the doodler or daydreamer and put them back on track. Time spent in her classroom was not your own.

The online student doesn’t have a Ms. Wilson to force them to make the most of their time. They must schedule their time carefully and keep to that schedule. Each class requires study and homework time. How long will each take, and when should it be done? Major projects may require time spread across days or weeks or the whole semester. How can that be accomplished with minimal stress and optimal productivity? Without a schedule, a student will spend time only on those subjects that they enjoy, or worse yet, will waste the time they should be working, until the last minute. The result will be anguish, anger, frustration, late-night cram sessions, and inferior work.

During middle school and high school years parents should teach their children to make their own schedule and stick to it. This is a valuable life-lesson, and future professors and bosses will praise those who learn it. It is the difference between the self-directed worker who is recognized for their competence and the shoddy loafer who is shunned by co-workers and fellow-students. During these critical, formative years, parents must move away from telling their children when to work on which assignment, and move into the role of holding their children accountable for their schedule.

3. Plan your discussion board contributions

Discussion boards are already a common feature in many online classrooms, and their popularity with teachers will continue to grow. Ms. Wilson could spend her classroom time on a discussion that engaged students, but the online session is often shorter than time spent together in the traditional classroom. The result is that more online time is spent in lectures while instructors look to discussion boards to replace traditional classroom discussion time.

How does a teacher persuade students to continue the discussion outside the brief online session? By making participation a part of the student’s final grade. This brings new challenges to both the student and the teacher, but one of the advantages is that students can put more thought into their contributions than they can in a fast-paced live discussion. Students should always be mindful that they are displaying both their effort and their attitude every time they post.

We live in an age of carefully crafted online personas and virtually anonymous rages on social media. A discussion board post is a very different beast. It should be thoughtful, professional, and respectful. The divisive rants and haughty emotional preaching of social media have no place on a student discussion board. Contributions should be thoughtful and rational, and disagreements should be handled with grace and respect.

4. Interact with your instructor appropriately

No one would think of treating Ms. Wilson with anything but respect. Her steady glare could wither the most defiant of spirits. This is the nature of face-to-face communication. Attitudes can be gauged, emotions can be read, reactions can be seen. Online communication is different, but an email sent to your instructor must be handled with all the caution required when approaching Ms. Wilson in person.

First, always address your instructor with an appropriate title of respect. There is a reason why she is teaching, and you are being taught. This is not a tweet or a text message. Don’t begin with “Hey…,” their first name, or an emoji. Set the correct tone.

Second, always identify yourself (your first and last name) and give the class that you’re asking about. There may come a time when you are known by your first name alone, like Cher or Kanye, and when you are immediately recognized on the street as “that stellar student in English 101,” but this is not that time.

Finally, write in full English sentences using correct spelling and punctuation. Save the text message abbreviations for your friends, not your instructors.

The student who masters these four habits will be set to succeed in the online classroom

The Reign in Spain

By Amy Barr of The Lukeion Project

Segovia, Spain

The ancient city Tyre in Lebanon has been continuously occupied for longer than most cities in the world. Phoenician Tyre used to be an island until Alexander the Great used his signature problem-solving skills to build a handy bridge to her sea walls, thus ending his stubborn--and successful--seven-month blockade of the (until then) perfectly fortified city. Before proud Tyre ran up against the likes of Alexander, she was building her wealth through trade networks throughout the known world. Carthage, founded about 60 years before Romulus named Rome would be one of her best ideas.

Carthage straddled the midpoint of the Mediterranean and, as the world’s first big-box-store, she became staggeringly wealthy and self-important. The rather earthy Romans took offense at her hubris, her bedazzled purple fashions, and her insistence on taking over all the islands closest to Rome’s expansion zones. Stubborn to a fault, the Romans taught themselves how to build and sail the battleships she needed to combat Carthaginian claims on Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. As was often the case for young Rome, she won the first Punic (Phoenician) War mainly because she refused to quit and, secondarily, because she figured out how to use land battle techniques against a bunch of sailors.

Carthage took her toys and went home, at least for a little while. Undaunted, she soldiered through post-war financial setbacks by sleuthing out juicy new trade opportunities. Spain, it turned out, was jam-packed with gold, silver, and timber. The Phoenicians knew a good deal when they saw it and moved in.

While the two old enemies continued to glower at each other for quite a while, cheeky Hannibal fanned the flames when he terrorized Saguntum, one of Rome’s protectorates in Spain. Hannibal surprisingly saddled up an assortment of confused elephants and doubled down: Nobody expected elephants nor sun-loving Carthaginians to stream into Italy from the north. Things went badly for a long time (Hannibal was tricksy).

While Hannibal Barca, the apparent brains of the operation, was busy bamboozling Romans in Italy, Scipio, a sort of Roman Chuck Norris, winningly attacked Hannibal’s less capable relatives in Spain in 206 BC.  No more Spanish groceries for Hannibal meant Rome would astonishingly mark another win, mainly because she refused to quit.

In less than a decade, the Romans had her new prize, Spain, split in two. Creatively, she named the two provinces Spain-Over-Here (Hispania Citerior) and Spain-Over-There (Hispania Ulterior).

Eventually, Rome took Spain over everywhere as she put down rebellion after spicy rebellion. 
In 61 BC, Julius Caesar as a praetor (governor) in Hispania Citerior used ersatz Spanish-rebellion-squashing as an excellent way to pay off his massive political debts.

Augustus formalized Rome’s new ownership of the peninsula by adding a third regional distinction, Hispania Tarraconensis (modern Tarragona). As Rome settled in, she established her signature infrastructure.

What did the Romans ever do for Spain? Soon everyone enjoyed excellent roads (900-mile superhighway), fresh water (massive aqueducts dotted the land), and top-notch entertainment in nice new theaters. Veterans, promised a plot of land upon retirement, started choosing sunny Spain as Romans founded Augusta Emerita (Merida), Asturica Augusta (Astorga), Colonia Caesar Augusta or Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza), and Lucus Augusti (Lugo). Two of Rome’s best emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, came from Spain. Let's not forget Rome's contribution to Spain's languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Mirandese, Asturian, Leonese, Aragonese, Ladino, Catalan/Valencian, Occitan, and Gascon -- all maintain a link to the Latin language.

You Must Visit

Founders of The Lukeion Project have been leading annual tours to Italy, Greece, and Turkey since 2008. While it is impossible to grow bored with these destinations, as Classical Archaeologists we are more aware than most that the Greeks and Romans left their deep and lasting imprint throughout the Mediterranean, not just a few popular regions. Contrary to Wikipedia, Spain’s rich history begins long before the Middle Ages. We invite you to join us in our first tour of Spain. Expect a very busy two weeks, May 18-31, 2020. Here and here are the details. The bus (our own private bus, mind you) is already half full. Register now.

Here are the highlights:

• Barcelona
• Las Ramblas
• Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia visit
• Barcelona City History Museum
• Tarragona
• Pont de les Ferreres Aqueduct
• Archaeological Museum Visit
• Roman Ruins & Theater
• Castle visit
• Sagunt (Saguntum – the city that prompted the second Punic War)
• Valencia
• Cartagena
• Nova Cartago, founded by Phoenicians
• Muses del Teatro Romono
• Muralla Byzantina
• Granada
• Royal Chapel
• Alhambra
• Ronda
• Puente Nuevo
• Seville -- the birthplace of emperors Trajan and Hadrian
• Bullring visit (not a bullfight)
• Amphitheater
• Mosaics (Casa de los Pajaros and others)
• Italica
• Merida
• Roman Ruins
• Museo Nacional de Arte Romano
• Toledo
• Madrid
• Royal Palace
• Prado
• National Archaeological Museum
• Segovia
• Historic Castle
• Roman Aqueduct

You Might as Well Learn to Love Aristotle

By Randee Baty, our AP Lit., Shakespeare, College Comp, and College Research instructor at The Lukeion Project

It doesn’t matter what field or discipline you study, he will pop up. It doesn’t matter if you are studying in 322 BC or 2019 AD, he will pop up. And it pretty much doesn’t matter what class you take here at The Lukeion Project, he will pop up. You’ve probably guessed it.  Aristotle, the ultimate know-it-all.  Don’t think that by avoiding a philosophy class you will avoid Aristotle. Whatever you study, he will be there.
Just to make sure everyone is familiar with the vital statistics, Aristotle was born in northern Greece in 384 BC and died in 322 BC. His father, the physician to the king of Macedonia, died when he was young, and he was raised by a guardian. He joined Plato’s school when he was 17 or 18 and stayed there for approximately 20 years. 
After leaving Plato’s school, Aristotle traveled to Assos in present-day Turkey and became a friend of the ruler there, eventually marrying the ruler’s ward, Pythias. She and Aristotle had one daughter together, also named Pythias. After Pythias died, he had a son named Nichomacus with Herpyllis who became his second wife. In 343, he began tutoring Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon. That student would one day be known as Alexander the Great. He also taught two other future leaders, Ptolemy and Cassander.
There have been many great thinkers throughout the centuries such as Socrates and Plato, huge influences on Aristotle himself. But Aristotle is the one that students will keep running into time after time. Why does he show up in academic studies seemingly more than any other man in history? Because he wrote about everything.

Are you interested in the theater? Until the last several hundred years, much of western drama was controlled by the idea of Aristotle’s unities. He taught in On the Art of Poetry that dramatic works should have unity of place, unity of time and unity of action. Therefore, dramas should only have one location, they should take place over the passage of no more than one day, and everything in the play should directly link to the main plot with no digressions. Even after English theater had begun to move away from practicing the unities, French theater held onto them. Obviously, modern plays have moved far from this ideal, but any study of the history of the theater will include Aristotle.

Are you interested in literature?  The plot of the tragedy was analyzed and studied by Aristotle, using famous Greek tragedians such as Sophocles, for example. Aristotle wrote that the tragic character must be nobly born, must be a mix of both bad and good, and must fall from prosperity to suffering.  The great tragic characters of Shakespeare follow the principles Aristotle laid out. Hamlet, King Lear, and Coriolanus all spring to mind.  All three are Shakespearean characters who take that fall Aristotle describes and most readers would consider them stronger characters than Shakespeare’s comic heroes. One of my favorite literary characters, Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, also meets Aristotle’s guidelines for a great tragic character.

Are you interested in rhetoric? Even though Aristotle was not the first person to write about rhetoric, The Art of Rhetoric is still one of the most read texts on the matter. Many modern textbooks use The Art of Rhetoric as their basis and then just use modern examples to illustrate ancient principles.

Are you interested in philosophy? Needless to say, you will study Aristotle.

Are you interested in ethics? Aristotle was what we call today a virtue ethicist. In a very simplified form, virtue ethics says that people become more virtuous over time because they practice being virtuous and nurture virtuous qualities. Once they are virtuous, they should be able to judge others who have not yet attained the judge’s level of virtue. People who are not virtuous will not be happy, according to him. Happiness depends on leading a virtuous life. He covers this in two writings, Eudemian Ethics and Nicomachean Ethics, the second written to his son, Nichomachus.

Are you interested in science? Aristotle studied anatomy, astronomy, geography, geology, physics, biology, and zoology.  He believed that nature should be studied by reason and observation. He believed knowledge could be examined. He didn’t believe in chance or spontaneity as causes in scientific experiments. His methods resembled scientific method practices today. Discoveries of Aristotle were used by both Newton and Einstein. He understood that the earth was round almost 2000 before Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Are you interested in logic? Aristotle believed it was the first step in learning. With his creation of the syllogism, he created the field of formal logic study that is still done today.

Are you interested in politics? Aristotle believed that men are social animals and that the state exists for the good of the citizens. He wrote about different systems of government and also about what makes a good citizen. He believed it was natural for men to form themselves into communities and that there should be diversity in those communities if it was to be healthy. His Politics is still widely read and, interestingly enough, his ethical works mention that a study of ethics will lead to a study of politics. Politics and ethics went together in his mind, something we can’t always say today.

Math, metaphysics, poetry, psychology, aesthetics, music, linguistics, economics, history, you name it, he studied it and wrote about it. Along with being a primary influence on Alexander the Great, his influence on millions of lesser-known students can’t be overestimated.

If you are going into any field of academic endeavor, you will meet and get to know Aristotle.  He’s a smart guy, so you might as well learn to love him.

Plan for AP Latin from the Start

By Amy Barr at The Lukeion Project

At The Lukeion Project, we offer AP Latin in our fourth-year Latin class after students have had a chance to complete their grammar years (Latin I and II with us) and a full year of Latin readings (Latin III). Students who make good progress in Latin will cross that golden finish line during their junior or senior year, depending on when they started Latin with us. The AP Latin Exam typically tests a student over the translation and close readings of two authors (Caesar and Vergil) as would be typical in a second-year college Latin course. This makes success on a single AP exam worth ticking four semesters at college off the "to-do" list.

Many students join our program after starting Latin elsewhere. Unfortunately, some super teacher-friendly Latin approaches on the market don’t offer enough Latin syntax, grammar, and language mechanics to carry a student into reading the real stuff. Obviously, some of our own students feel the need for a little more Latin review before moving into our third-year program. The solution? Offer a Transition course to give students who need it one more chance to fill in any gaps before moving into a translation-heavy Latin III course. If students have time in their schedule, this can be a good option for many students. Those who feel their Latin is pretty strong, we offer additional years of Latin study after AP Latin, including Cicero, Ovid, and now Terence.

So, students who would like to try their hand at AP Latin should already be reasonably competent in Latin translation as they start the course. What else do they need to succeed?

A College Board approved AP Latin course dictates the Latin that the class must read as well as a range of additional skills beyond skillful Latin translation alone. The course’s goals are to help students:
1. Build accurate literal translations from Caesar’s De Bello Gallico and Vergil’s Aeneid.
2. Understand the broader context of the written passages.
3. Understand the style of writing and the rhetorical devices employed.
4. Analyze the Latin and draw logical observations and well-supported conclusions based on Latin evidence.
5. Practice reading Latin prose and poetry aloud with accurate comprehension and appreciation.
6. Learn to scan dactylic hexameter and discover how it is used to enhance the text and create a specific effect.

That's a lot for two semesters of study so I would recommend a rising AP Latin student possess a certain mindset. First, AP Latin students must personally desire to be enrolled in the class. The material is challenging and extremely rewarding for those who do the work. Externally imposed incentives often fail in the long run. Examples of bad reasons to take AP Latin include: parent(s) alone think it is a good idea to take the class while Joe Student is just along for the ride, or Joe Student is mainly looking to collect shiny stars for college applications and hopes any old AP class will do. If you do not personally want to be enrolled in the class, you are not a good candidate, even if doing the fourth year of Latin would make mom really proud.

All AP Latin students must work hard to develop their critical/analytical essay writing skills. It is impossible to pass the AP Latin Exam without writing well-informed, well-organized, analytical essays. Does this mean you must begin this course with fierce college-level writing skills? No. But, if you do not wish to work hard to develop those fierce writing skills (or if you consider writing to be akin to dental surgery), this class also may not be the right class for you.

Conversely, most students do not start the class with an understanding of what will make an excellent AP Latin essay. If flowery essay-writing is a strong point-of-pride for you and you are not willing to learn the new methods consistent with philological analysis, this may not be the right class for you.

All AP Latin students must take personal responsibility for improving their Latin skills. One student may suffer over relative tenses in the translation of participles while her peers agonize over subjunctives. This course is not about the basics of Latin translation so be prepared to go brush up on your own. Only students who have already translated a selection of Golden and Silver authors prior to starting this class (Martial, Catullus, Ovid, Cicero, etc.) will be prepared to tackle Vergil and Caesar. If you have limited “real Latin” translation experience, this also may not be the right class for you.

This sounds tough! What’s the point of taking AP Latin?

1. Students who successfully earn a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP Latin exam, depending on the requirements of the college program they ultimately enter, will “test out” of two full years of a foreign language. The financial benefits of testing out of 16 credit hours of language are obvious in terms of time and money.
2. If you want to be a Classics major in college, earning a good score on the AP Latin Exam is nearly (sometimes always) a requirement of getting into a decent undergraduate program while hopefully winning a scholarship to study in that program. While I'm talking about things that make you an appealing applicant as an undergraduate going into Classics, let's include adding Classical Greek to your high school studies. If you are interested in studying Classics, try to do both languages (Latin and Greek). If you can only fit in time for Latin, be sure to take AP Latin.
3. If you don’t want to be a Classics major but enjoy Latin and want to test out of college language requirements, passing the AP Latin exam (if your college program accepts AP Latin credits), voila! You have just tested out and at great savings. Pro tip: add a Classics minor or even double major. If you have already tested out of your first two years of Latin, you’ll only have to add a few credits to make that minor (or double major) a reality. A Classics major/minor is a great addition for those considering degrees in law, medicine, sciences, literature/journalism, English, and so much more. 

What else can support success on the AP Latin Exam?

The AP Latin Exam presumes a decent understanding of Classics which is, in itself, very interdisciplinary. Don’t wait to take other classes in related areas (history, literature, writing, philosophy). I recommend the following Lukeion Project courses scattered through the high school years:
1. Muse Literature Series (Muse Reloosed focuses on Latin literature in translation but I consider both of them essential)
2. Mythology Alpha (including Iliad and Odyssey) and Mythology Beta (includes Aeneid in English plus a study of ancient heroes) - people mistakenly take this topic as "fun for kids." We should all consider it essential for understanding Western civilization.
4. Roman History – offered only in the spring semester (take Greek History too if Classics is on your horizon)
5. College Composition – master a range of writing assignment types assigned at the college level. This course is not just for those thinking about entering a program in the humanities. Both this course and College Research Writing make the perfect senior year English credit.
6. College Research Writing—We focus specifically on success in college research papers. Do not graduate from high school before taking this course. 
7.     Philosophy: the Romans (spring) - educated Romans mainly held a Stoic worldview when Caesar and Vergil were composing their works. Naturally, taking a full year of Classical Philosophy is a great idea.

Want to be a Classicist?

By Kelsie Stewart
[Ms. Stewart is a doctoral student deep in the Classics trenches at The Ohio State University, a former Lukeion student and traveler, and an esteemed Lukeion grader in advanced Latin]

Dear Future Classicists:

Help! Just kidding; Classics is an amazing major or minor for undergraduate studies. Just think long and hard before you do grad school.

I am having a rewarding if challenging time, but my advice to you is: have a plan. Classics is a great major if you’re planning on going to medical or legal school afterward. It is a great minor if you’re doing anything else. Before you consider graduate school, know that it is a long grueling process during which, you will make little money. After graduate school, the market is quite slim for jobs at colleges and universities. It is better at highschools and online programs like the Lukeion Project; just know that is what you’re getting yourself in for. You may end up changing your mind later, but make the most well thought out and researched plan that you can.

To supplement your planning process in Classics or anything else, you need mentoring, and more mentoring, and all the mentoring. Talk to students who are a few years ahead of you and younger teachers and professors. Their memories will be fresher, and their more recent experiences will be more relevant.  Older professors are great to chat with, but they probably won’t be up to date on the nitty-gritty details of what you need to do in your career to provide much help for you. There is no step by step youtube video or syllabus for how to go from being a high school student to a tenured professor. You just have to figure it out, and the only tool you have is talking to people who are doing or have recently done it.

Speaking of nitty-gritty details, you will need research, references, teaching experience, travel experience, money, test scores, and 45-50 hours a week of difficult mental work.

You need research experience on your resume because one of the major features of academic work is research. Even if you are planning to teach high school but you are going to graduate school, you will need to do research before and during the process. You will need to learn to write well. To do this, find a mentor, or take one of the Lukeion’s classes on writing. Also, don’t tell anyone you just want to be a highschool teacher unless you are going to a program that specializes in that; it’s not as prestigious and people won’t take you as seriously.

You will need to study for and take the GRE and obtain at least whatever the minimum score is at the university you are applying to for acceptance. You start studying for this test several months beforehand and leave yourself enough time to take the test a second time if necessary before applications are due. There are courses you can pay for, but I’d recommend buying a reliable prep book and working through that. Also, taking the GRE costs money, so be prepared.

You will need teaching experience. TA, substitute, grader, tutor. Ask around at your university and local colleges, high schools, and job boards. Get whatever you can and take on and as much as you can reasonably manage. The other half of your job as a professor is teaching. Schools and employers will want to see you can do this.

You will need references. If you have been getting mentoring from a few professors, you should be good to go. People like people who ask them for advice. Don’t be sycophantic, but if you’ve been consistently asking for advice, they will like you more for the attention, and because you seem to be making an effort. Ask them to write references for you many months before the deadline. Give them as much information about yourself, the school or job, and the application as you can. Do not make them do an ounce of effort that you could have done for them.

If you can, get some travel experience. It is the most enjoyable thing on this list and adds a couple bonus points to your resume. It shows that you are passionate enough about Classics to spend lots of money to go look at it. There are plenty of programs that offer scholarship money for travel. You can also do a Lukeion trip-which I would recommend. I don’t love to study abroad because I don’t really want to have homework and sit in a classroom. I preferred my Lukeion trip because it was educational but focused on the hands-on experience.

You will need money. Unless you are planning on medical school afterward, you can’t afford to go into debt for a classics education. Make as much money as you can over the summer, apply for scholarships, and only apply to graduate programs that offer stipends. You won’t make a ton of money in this career, but you can be comfortable and at least not go into major debt. Learn how to budget, cook at home, and if possible, get married! I’m kind of joking about marriage, but it helps if you can split the bills and your roommate is not a stranger.

Graduate school is demanding. I work 45-50 hours a week and I have peers who do more like 60. You have to be disciplined because there is no time clock or supervisor to make sure you are keeping up. It is all on you. You have to spend a lot of time sitting at desks in freezing libraries memorizing rare verb forms and fragmentary poets that you don’t care about. You do get to spend time on things that you are interested in, but not all of them. Be mentally prepared.

Perfectionists will struggle. Classical studies encompass more information than one person could possibly learn in a lifetime, so there will always be more you need to learn. Even in the particular field you choose to specialize in, you will never be finished, and there will always be holes in your memory that you have to go back and fill in.

If you are doing Classics, do your research so you are aware of what you are signing up for. Then make the best plan that you can. Good luck!

Just Follow the Directions

by Amy Barr with The Lukeion Project

I teach mostly high school students. About half of them struggle to follow directions. This problem isn’t limited to this age group, but I can easily compare them across the span of my teaching career. Sure, I’m getting older and crankier, but even younger colleagues concur the situation is getting worse.

Maybe humans hit information-overload long ago even while they must still live in the constant blast of the online information-spigot. Perhaps students of this age naturally figure I’ll just email them if it were important. Most people assume they know what an assignment entails long before they’ve read how to complete that assignment (and they are often wrong). Sure, nearly everyone finds orientation handouts and syllabi dull reading. This doesn't explain the trouble.

Following instructions is important for success in the kitchen, furniture assembly, filling out required paperwork at the DMV, knitting a sweater, and completing a research project. If you are adept at following instructions you can build your own house, run a business, craft a gourmet meal, or paint “almost” like an expert. 

Failing to follow the instructions leads to comical “post-worthy” inconveniences to major disasters worth millions of dollars. We know this, yet reading and following instructions fall in the same category as flossing after every meal. We know we should do it more often than we do. (Virtuous flossers: please don’t send me notes).
 
Fans of The Great British Baking Show will confirm that following instructions can be the main issue during the technical challenge in which everyone is required to bake the same thing. Disasters aren’t usually due to a lack of skill but due to a failure to follow the (admittedly vague) instructions. The video editors love to show hosts issuing admonitions and tips followed by clips of contestants ignoring those admonitions and tips. This makes for great entertainment plus we can shake our head and say, “No wonder the sponge is stodgy!”

I use several ways to get my students to follow my instructions. I know these things work because they become excellent directions-followers. Newest students will struggle and stumble for the first 4 or 5 assignments but then their next 7 or 8 decades run more smoothly. It’s worth it. What do I do to get students to follow instructions? Here are just three ideas:

1. I can be a bit dramatic. Sure, it isn’t going to be the end of the world if a student ignores some formatting laws, but my instructions make it clear they will lose points if they do. When their score is diminished by something so easily fixed as line-spacing or font-size, they pay attention the next time to both the details and the big picture. 
 
2. I sometimes hide ways to earn bonus points deep in the instructions. After the assignment is over, there’s certain to be a peer boasting in class about those helpful extra points. Oh my! Everyone becomes careful to read all the instructions on the next assignment, just in case there are more hidden goodies.

3. I expect them to follow instructions and hold them to it. This last pointer seems to be a no-brainer. Don’t we all expect people to follow the instructions we provide? The number of new students who use their failure to read or follow the instructions as their excuse to ask for a second chance suggests otherwise. Many are accustomed to blaming the instructions rather than blaming their failure to follow the instructions. Their approach works for them elsewhere or else why would they try it in my class? I step outside everyone’s comfort zone, pick up my “mean Latin teacher I.D. card,” and require everyone to follow instructions. When things unravel (as they often do), I encourage them to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and do better next week. They usually do. By week three or four, things start to go smoothly for everyone.

Simply following instructions will bring most of us to a satisfactory point in our grades, furniture construction, dinner preparation, knitting, gardening, and home repair. Following instructions will get us through the most mundane paperwork tasks and the most elaborate swing set/treehouse ever crafted by flashlight. Are instructions vague, poorly worded, or are they in Swedish? Are you experiencing unusual variances in the assignment expectations, turkey or font size, tax table specifics, or tab A/slot B issues? This is normal! Ask your instructor, mentor, elder, parent, neighbor, or more experienced peer. That’s all part of the skill set as well.   

Seeing the World is Worth It

By Amy Barr with The Lukeion Project

Are these people actually having fun with travel? Maybe not.

The first time I traveled abroad, I was a college sophomore. I was so nervous on the flight to Amman, Jordan, that I barfed…twice. Perhaps you imagine something more glamorous for world travel? Maybe a luxury for trust-fund kids and their wealthy parents?

I had saved every penny for 10 months to pay for my first trip. I was an archaeology major. I hoped with every fiber in my being that this would be my first excavation of many. I needed to pay for the international flight and two months room-and-board in Jordan, in advance. I was putting myself through college with a part-time library job and student loans (mom or dad never volunteered to pay a dime). I skipped owning a car, buying clothes, or eating anything but bad cafeteria food for my first year of college. I even made a little cash by dumpster diving for aluminum cans back when recyclers paid for them. I sent letters asking for travel donations from distant relatives. The financial challenge of travel seemed completely impossible right up until the moment my plane took off. Those were well-deserved barfs if I do say so myself.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Since then I have done my best to "see the world" by but even after many trips and nations, my bucket list is still quite long. Here are a few things that world travel taught me and why I’d recommend everyone make the sacrifices necessary to see this world. There are many benefits of real travel but these are the three most formative reasons I included my children in travel as early as possible.

1. World travel makes you thankful.

Travel in one’s home country is comfortable stuff. Restaurants, stores, language, clothes, and even social customs are relatively uniform. Aside from unexpected traffic jams, most surprises will be voluntary (Yosemite vs Niagara Falls, In-N-Out Burger vs Skyline Chile, Disneyland vs. Disneyworld).
Travel abroad will stretch your perspectives in ways your perspectives need most desperately to be stretched. Approximately one block from the airport, your travels will begin to show you how much you take for granted. Your little corner of the world is not normal for all human beings.
Breakfast cereal and a big mug of coffee in the morning? Easy commute and plenty of parking for your car? All types of food options for lunch? 8-hour workdays in temperature-controlled cubicles? Fast food for dinner by 6 PM? Single-family home? Virtually nothing about your normal day is normal everywhere.
As you travel you might begin to experience longing and then thankfulness for the small pleasures you regularly enjoy that, perhaps, others do not. Thankfulness, in time, gives way to increased inquisitiveness. Newness stops being scary and starts being desirable.

2. World travel makes you open to newness.

Ever spent time with a rigid person who needs everything just “so”? Not a ton of fun. There will always be those that cling to the details of their personal preferences as if they had been handed down as divine law. I can't say that travel will ever change such a person. As a tour organizer, I can happily say those that encounter new experiences, view them in a spectrum from delightfully exotic, to mildly inconvenient, to occasionally uncomfortable. This is normal and this is what begins to change us.
Depending on your personality and the length of your trip, you will begin to view an increasing number of cultural differences as positive, if not desirable. Italian coffee? Greek souvlaki? Turkish baths? French pastry? Jordanian hospitality? Yes, please!
Travel always makes one more open to newness.

3. World travel makes you more tolerant.

Remember when tolerance truly meant “live and let live”? The more you travel outside of your home country, the more tolerant you must become. It is a natural side effect of seeing life, the universe, and everything through dozens of new lenses. You aren't permitted to go about your day as usual. You must learn to adapt or you won't be able to navigate even the simplest task of eating or getting to your next location.
Travel makes you more tolerant of both inconveniences and people who are not at all like yourself. Travel makes you more open to viewing differences as not only good but often preferable. In turn, I would hope we become more thankful when pleasant days go our way. Can you imagine a world full of truly tolerant, thankful, inquisitive people?

Shameless Self-promotion Department

Join me next year, May 18-31, 2020, in Spain. My husband and I are filling up a busload. There's still time to join now. We use the WorldStrides travel company and they'll arrange financing, flights, hotels, everything. In case you would like to know more follow this link. Our best price ends on October 2. Those who register by then and complete the trip will also receive 1 free Lukeion semester course of your choice (giftable if you don't feel like being a student any time soon).

Student Email Etiquette Primer

Communicating in the Email Age: How Does One Get the Instructor to Answer Emails? 

-- By Regan Barr at The Lukeion Project, The Sassy Peripatetic #30

The subject line read “Welcome to Greek History – Instructions Attached.”
Clearly, someone had hit “reply” on an email that I had sent out several months ago. I was going through my morning office ritual, which begins with wading through 75 or more emails that had filled my Inbox while I was sleeping. I kept scanning until one email caught my attention. “Help! I can’t get into my quiz!”
I immediately jumped on that email. Here was a student who needed my help, and it was time-sensitive. The subject line might be a little over-dramatic, but it did its job; it clearly communicated the nature and urgency of the content and the frustration of the student who sent it. I opened the email, found out what the problem was, and shot back a response that the problem had been fixed.
I continued scanning. There’s another one with a months-old subject line: “Welcome to Greek History – Instructions Attached.” “That’s odd,” I thought, but it certainly didn’t look like a priority, so I kept scanning. By the time I encountered that same subject line a third time, I decided that I was dealing with one of two situations: either someone’s email was malfunctioning, or someone didn’t understand this new-fangled invention called email. I reluctantly and begrudgingly opened the email. “Why aren’t you answering me? I CAN’T SUBMIT MY RESEARCH PAPER! I’ve tried for hours and I sent you a message last night. Now the deadline has passed!”
Well, perhaps using a subject line that was 3 months old wasn’t your best move.
This kind of debacle (complete with accusations of blame, emotional distress, and crushed hopes and dreams) is far too common. Sometimes laziness is to blame, but sometimes people really don’t understand email etiquette. If you don’t want the recipient to completely ignore your email, or worse yet, be irritated by it, you should follow some simple email rules:

1. Always include a RELEVANT subject line.

This is more than just being courteous; it’s also the key to getting the recipient to open your email. Now I know that some people don’t understand this because they only get three emails a week, but gone are the days when people eagerly watched their computers awaiting the “You’ve got mail!” notification. Most people aren’t sitting on the edges of their seats hoping for an email from you. Instead, they’re rolling their eyes at the deluge of email garbage that assaults them each morning when they sit down at their computer.
Instructors, bosses, clients – people who wade through lots of email every day – usually approach the laborious task of email wrangling by focusing on two questions: what needs my immediate attention? and what can I delete without even opening it? An inappropriate subject line can land you in the second category, no matter how important the content of your email.
Those who are new to email are thinking, “Well, how rude! I can’t believe someone would delete an email without even opening it!” The rest of us, however, do it dozens of times a day just to maintain our sanity. Rude is expecting others to perceive the importance of an email that has a deceptive subject line.

2. Always IDENTIFY YOURSELF.

The email read “Mr. Barr, our electricity went out in the storm while I was entering my homework. Can I submit it a second time? – Frodo Baggins.” I was surprised to learn that I had such a famous literary character in my class, so my response was, “Although I’m very fond of hobbits, I’ll need to know who you actually are before I can answer.” The reply floored me: “Well, my mom says that I can never use my real name on the internet.” That makes re-setting homework very difficult.
When sending email to family or close friends, you often don’t need to identify yourself. I know and recognize any email that comes from a family member or close personal friend. But when emailing someone who receives dozens or hundreds of emails a day, like your teacher, your boss, or a customer service representative, give them everything they need to immediately gain some context. I ask my students to give me their full name, class, and time: John Doe, Greek 2, 10:00 am.
When you fail to include vital information, the result is usually a good deal of delay. If I’ve got nothing better to do, I might wander through my class rosters or wade into the student database on a quest to discover the identity of the mysterious sender. But here’s the thing: I ALWAYS have something better to do. My response is usually, “who is this, what class are you in, and which homework assignment are you talking about?” Several hours are usually lost while we play email tag – a game that most instructors really don’t like very much.

3. Always INCLUDE DETAILS.

“Mr. Barr, I can’t see the class recording.” There are many reasons why this might be the case. Here are a few that immediately come to mind: there’s a cat between you and your computer screen; your contact lens prescription is out of date; your computer monitor is turned off; you don’t know the password for the recording; you can’t find the recording link; you’re getting an error message; your power is out because of a storm… should I go on?
There’s simply no way to help this person until I’ve got more information. A lot of time would be saved by simply including that in the first email. If you’re getting an error message, please include what that message says in your email. If your cat is in the way, you’ll have to be creative and solve that one for yourself.
Failure to follow these three rules will result in frustration, wasted time, missed deadlines, and lost opportunities. Perhaps even more important, your recipient may become very irritated. That’s not something you want, especially if the recipient is your boss or your teacher!

Students: Your Language Studies Need Summer Care

It doesn't matter if you are 14 or 64, language studies at the mastery level will tax your will power and challenge your schedule. Learning any new language well takes time, effort, practice, and a bit of time management. Want to learn a new language? Practice daily through review, mnemonic devices, flash cards, translation, plus repetition. Setting up a ritual of a little daily review isn't SO hard during a regular school semester. Summer, however, is a different challenge. Let's face it: when given the choice to go swimming or go translating, not that many want to forego the fun stuff.

For most, summer promises at least a slightly lightened academic load or even a well-earned rest. The bad news? If your program, like many language programs, ends in May and starts again at the end of August or early September, you will take an entire semester away from your new language.

“Wait,” you say, “that’s the good news. I could use a little time off!"

Imagine a very young child learning to speak for the first time. She is doing well. She is crafting 5 or 6-word sentences as she adds new words to her vocabulary every day. Suddenly, nobody speaks to her for 16 weeks. In this theoretical situation, all her language momentum will halt. Missing the necessary practice she will soon lose many of her gains.  The impact of such a language “silence” would be huge! Even if you are not a very young child, when you are in the process of learning a new language, taking three months off can set you back more than you can imagine.

Maybe look at it this way: If a person labors to build momentum as he peddles a bike uphill, he won’t usually stop just as he hits a comfortable speed. If he does, his muscles must work much harder to start again and return to that momentum as the slope is now very steep. Hills and bikes, languages and summers...it pays if you don't stop!

Here are four things you can do during your summer break (or any break longer than two weeks) to keep your language studies alive and well (while keeping your free-time free). These are especially useful for the study of Latin and Greek as we teach at The Lukeion Project. With a little modification, they will work for modern spoken languages as well.

Tackle Short Translation Challenges 
This is the best way to give your language studies a little weekly attention. To continue to develop your new language, challenge-error-correction is the best approach. In other words, you must be able to translate a piece and check your accuracy immediately. Find short translation pieces that help you review the elements of your new language in manageable pieces. Check your work for accuracy regularly or very little will be gained and even much will be lost if you reinforce bad habits. Schedule about an hour each time. I recommend you accomplish this challenge early in the day before other tasks fill up your schedule.

Flash Cards / Charts (Paradigms)
Reviewing individual data points as well as whole organized elements of your new language is a discipline that pays big dividends. Take Latin for example. After first year Latin, a student could make a rotating list of declensions (we know three at the end of the first year) and all the forms of the active voice indicative plus half the forms of the passive voice. Don’t forget your vocabulary! Now, assign yourself a little review every few days. Maybe no more than 45 good uninterrupted (social-media-free) minutes are necessary per week. Reward yourself with a nice incentive if you can fully focus on the data for all 45 minutes.

Language Puzzles
It doesn't matter what language you are learning, there are hundreds of different "puzzles" designed to help you review your language in a fun way. Google Latin crossword puzzles, Sudoku for Roman numerals, Latin cartoons, and much more. Consider translating any of the popular modern works that have been translated into your chosen language. Examples in Latin are Winnie Ille Pu, Harius Potter, Hobitus Ille, and many more.

Alternate Sources of Inspiration
Do a little digging. Maybe you like science or biology. Maybe archaeology, inscriptions, or numismatics are all your thing. Perhaps you want to check out law, debate, or forensics. Learn how to write cool Latin mottos if you adore art. Is the study of medicine in your future? Look for applications of your language studies in ways that interest you. Latin (and Greek) has a role in almost everything. Spend a little time this summer finding ways it has impacted subjects you enjoy.

Tales of My Days of Archaeology, Part 1

by Amy E. Barr, The Lukeion Project (educator, Latinist, archaeologist, traveler, mom to 3 grown children, 6 goats, 13 chickens, 2 ducks, 6 cats, 2 dogs)

Choosing the most amusing tales from my excavation field days presents challenges. First, many of you will believe I’m just making this stuff up. Second, how do I pick my favorites stories? I have optimistically described this blog as “part 1” since, no doubt, my children will ask me why I didn’t include this story or that one. Nevertheless, names have been changed or avoided lest I succumb to the third challenge: avoiding vendetta from those involved. You'll notice that the best stories have to do with the archaeologists themselves.

As writer Agatha Christie, wife of well-known archaeologist Max Mallowan, might attest, nothing will make one contemplate murder more than an archaeological excavation. The group of people that assemble to excavate a site generally have several dangerous qualities in common. Any time you concentrate those qualities by aggregating archaeologists, shenanigans begin.

Archaeologists tend to be fearless, ambitious, comfortable with risk, and opinionated. Most of them are also introverts who “live in their heads.” Yank this type of person out of the library, irritate them with heat and privation, then force them to live in social groups…well, you’ll soon have the perfect habitat for mischief.  

I’ll start my list of short stories with Tales of Satan. Satan is the nickname some of us gave an elderly architect at a certain excavation in Jordan. While his many advanced years should have earned him a kinder title than “Satan,” his complete lack of judgment lost him all points on both the social and intellectual scoreboard.

 

I won’t even begin to mention the fact that Satan felt it was beneath his dignity to flush whenever he used the community in-ground “Turkish” toilets. Likewise, here, I will not at all remark on how this was discovered and announced--the evidence utterly unavoidable--during dinner when all 20+ of us were enjoying after-dinner watermelon. No, such a discussion would be indelicate. I’ll start, instead, with Satan and his toothbrush.

 

Excavating in Jordan is not a task for dainty people. There are bugs, grit, heat, bugs, sleeping on sketchy foam mattresses on the floor, and bugs. Showers are available because somebody hooked garden hoses over the tops of in-ground toilet stalls. Clothes are washed in buckets during rare intervals of boredom. Days begin at 4:30 am so we can crawl into our excavation trenches before the sun is up.

 

Dinners were important times to recover a sense of ease. After dinner, we’d sit at the table on the porch to tell stories as we sipped hot cups of mint tea or sweet black tea. Others—parched from the sun--would gulp glasses of cool refreshment from the enormous ceramic communal jug of boiled/purified water. This was the jug we would return to each morning to fill our canteens for a day in the field. A big aluminum mug was kept on top so we could respectfully dip out our share of water and pour it cleanly into our glasses or canteens whenever we liked.

 

Our evening meals on the porch were lovely. We sat next to well-loved rose bushes and carefully tended mint planted by our cook for evening tea time. Tales from the day’s excavation, however, would be typically interrupted by Satan. He preferred to go to bed at least an hour or two earlier than everyone else. We whippersnappers (anyone under the age of 60) were told to clear off and quiet down…by 7 pm. Our excavation house was in the middle of nowhere. The only other place to convene was on the roof exactly 20 feet above that same porch but with a good view of the courtyard and improved breezes.

  

One time after a bit of early-evening-fist-shaking from Satan, we relocated to the roof but decided to pay careful attention as Satan finished his evening ritual trudge to the outhouse and then a return to brush his teeth. 

Wait. Why is he brushing his teeth on the porch?  The only available running water supply at the camp could be found in the outhouse facilities which he had just left…or perhaps he is using his canteen water. A dozen or more of us, bored, lean over the edge of the roof, watching, nosy.

   

Satan is vigorously brushing his teeth with a toothbrush that dates to just before WWII. As he finishes the battle, we watch what comes next in horror. I still see it now—almost in slow motion. He dips the well-foamed ratty taupe-bristled brush INTO the communal water mug.  He swirls and swirls. He tosses his used frothy water into the rose bushes. Next, he leans—AND SPITS HIS TOOTHPASTE---into the mint garden, spewing foam like a shotgun blast. Finally, he dips the now ill-used communal cup back into the water jug a second time and takes a glurgy swig—SLURP—directly from the communal cup. He sloshes for eternity and—AGAIN—spits a broad blast into the mint patch: Our tea mint. 

It silently dawned on all of us at the same time. Ease suggested practice and constancy. Satan had been swirling his toothbrush in the community water supply and spitting on our tea mint since the start of the whole rainless summer.

  

Nothing will make one contemplate murder more than an archaeological excavation.

Travel Abroad Isn’t Just Nice, it is Necessary

by Amy E. Barr, The Lukeion Project (educator, Latinist, archaeologist, traveler, mom to 3 grown children, 6 goats, 13 chickens, 2 ducks, 6 cats, 2 dogs)

My first trip abroad was when I was 18. I had decided to study the ancient Near East and archaeology.  My major professor invited me to excavate in Jordan for the summer after my freshman year. Before you think, “sure, that’s nice for a kid with financial means," I'll stop you.  When I booked that flight to live abroad for two months, I was also putting myself through college. Not a dime came from home (though mom sent me a pair of shoes that first Christmas). I worked and saved since the minute I turned 16 during a summer in which my single-mom family was also homeless. I managed to save enough to pay for my first year of college (I wasn’t sure how to pay for the second year yet) and now I was going to add world travel to the budget? I am glad nobody talked me out of it. That first trip had me hooked.

I would find a way to pay for college and still make trips to excavate and travel abroad. A four-year degree followed by a master’s degree, then two different programs for a Ph.D. I traveled or lived in Jordan, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Israel, Syria, Egypt, and Sweden. My husband shared similar experiences and a passion for including our children in international travel as early as possible. We sacrificed but we were able to make our first trip to Italy when our youngest of three turned seven years old. We managed to haul them all several times to Italy, Greece, and Turkey as they grew up because travel isn’t just nice, it is necessary. Here’s why:

Travel Teaches Actual Tolerance (not the cheap imitation that people refer to today)

When you live and move in a culture that is not your own, you learn that different ideas, tastes, preferences, languages, and perspectives can and do co-exist nicely. Outside is a place where people don’t just encounter zillions of differences and tiny (or not so tiny) hardships, they improve and flourish from being around them. Travel helps you learn how little you need. Done well, travelers  discover “inconvenience” is just a magnificent adventure in disguise.

Travel Teaches Actual Patriotism

The old-fashioned virtue of patriotism is at risk. I blame in part a lack of travel. Travel abroad almost always makes one more patriotic. It is easy to believe the condemnations of your homeland if you lack the perspective and experience to inform you otherwise. The worst critics of America have never left her borders. It is a joy to experience the love others have for their own nations as they share their foods, music, monuments, lifestyles, and traditions with visitors. It is not evil to love one's own nation and enjoy that patriotism in others.

Travel Teaches Actual Gratitude

You may never be more thankful for the kindness of others until you are lost and need directions in a foreign city or at risk of disastrously boarding the wrong train. A thousand details abroad will differ from home. Many of them are beautiful! You’ll spend a lifetime trying to recreate them during your mundane days. Many of them are dreadful! You’ll spend a lifetime better appreciating places that are free of rubbish strewn hillsides, open sewers, deeply sketchy restaurants, or hundreds of other unpleasantries that are completely normal elsewhere but, hopefully, rare back home. 

Travel Teaches that Life isn’t Safe and That’s OK

This last one is the most important one. A life led exclusively in a safe, clean, tidy, guard-railed-and-padded bubble is no life at all. Real life isn’t safe. It never has been, it never will be. People who don't venture from their false bubble will be traumatized by even the smallest puncture. Life is jam-packed with small (and large) disasters. Travel abroad inoculates us from many of life’s traumas. The world has very few guard rails and rare are the warning signs. When you travel, you learn how to cope, manage, and navigate. Develop yourself! Be awake, be wary, but be bold as you travel this life.   

TLDR

Amy E. Barr, The Lukeion Project

Savvy text-fluent young people like myself know that TLDR means, “too long/didn’t read.” This is often shorthand for, “can you just summarize this article for me, so I don’t have to waste my time reading it?”  More times than not, TL/DR just suggests that no matter how important the contents of a personal missive/blog/article/assignment or (heaven forbid) book might be, ((shrug)) it was just much too long to read.

I know I LOOK young and text-savvy, but I’ve been teaching now for 25+ years. I started well before human communication transformed into today’s lingo of trills, whistles, dank memes, and seemingly random letters indicating (for example) that recipients of even the dumbest jokes or cat videos have been writhing on the floor in mirth when we all know those liars never even giggled once or even moved their face.

I can also remember what it was like to distribute instructions to students and expect them to read those instructions all the way to the end, even if those instructions exceeded five highly abbreviated bullet points in a short email.

Ah! Those were the days! All I needed to do was indicate that a large percentage of grade points could be docked if a student failed to read and follow instructions! That was all the incentive students needed, poor old-fashioned things. Now If I can’t detail what’s expected in a 7-page writing project or a proctored exam or even a short quiz in under 9 words, most can’t even.

So, what gives? People are still able to read, and they usually still care about learning new things, and most are even vaguely interested in doing things properly while earning a decent grade. Nevertheless, TL/DR. Dozens of times each semester I will go back to read the instructions I prominently posted for an assignment to check if I am losing my mind! Did I tell them how to format the project and what type of sources to use? Yes! I did! There are my instructions right there! Yet some students just can’t bring themselves to read those instructions...at least not ALL of them.

Focus has gone AWOL.

Old people: remember the good old days when you might watch an entire one hour show without splitting the time evenly with whatever you were also doing on your phone? Back in my day (you whippersnappers), some people would even watch an entire show without picking up any additional electronic devices! My grandparents even tell me of a time when one would put on music or turn on a radio to listen to the music or news…a whole hour only listening! Noobs.

Today’s modern specimen prefers the rolling chaos of a streaming video binge plus a game plus 2 or 3 friends texting, snapping, tweeting, plus regular checks for “likes” or status updates or new posts all while chatting idly with a group online. School books are open, pens and notebooks are ready, but there’s such a craving for pandemonium that these things can’t be silenced!

Now, there’s a good word: pandemonium.  Look it up! We find it in print for the first time in 1667 in "Paradise Lost" as the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell, "the high capital of Satan and all his peers," coined by John Milton. It comes from Greek pan "all" + Late Latin daemonium "evil spirit." By 1779 it firmed up to mean a "place of uproar."

Most of us now live in a place of uproar. We have lost focus. We have no quiet place of concentration. There’s no pause in the storm to read anything from beginning to end, to hear anything, to focus on anything. Gone are the days of mono-tasking. The truth is that many consider everything too long to read, hear, feel, consider.

The next time you are tasked with reading something important. Try to focus. Turn off everything and monotask. I promise the discomfort of not knowing what else is going on will pass eventually. You can do it! Read the whole assignment! View the whole class recording. Enjoy the whole chapter. Get through the whole discussion board comment without breaking focus.  Make a scorecard for the week and give yourself a treat every time you KEEP your focus to finish a solitary task before switching your context to something newer, louder, funnier, shinier.

You can do it! I have faith in you. Are you still reading? Give yourself a treat!