Majors, Minors and Other Programs Offered by the Department of Classics and General Humanities

Major Electives: 27 semester hours

Minor In Classics  

18 Semester Hours from Classics (GNHU), Latin (LATN) and/or Greek (GREK) are required.
The following distribution of courses is recommended:

Minor In Latin

Minor In Greek

18 Semester Hours in Greek Language and Literature Courses. See list above. These courses fill the World Language General Education Requirement

18 Semester Hours, with Six Semester Hours of Required Courses, and 12  Semester Hours of Electives

Overview

The Latin/Teacher Education major at Montclair State College prepares students to teach Latin at the secondary school level. The teaching of Latin must be understood in a wider sense than just a concern with the Latin language, as will be explained below.

Among the broad goals of the program is the preparation of students who:
     1. ...demonstrate competence in the Latin language, its grammar and vocabulary
     2. ...have a good knowledge of the history of Latin literature
     3. ...can read and appreciate the classics of Latin literature with some ease
     4. ...know how to present Latin grammar and literature to the different levels found in secondary schools
     5. ...have a broad understanding of Greco-Roman culture and civilization
     6. ...are familiar with the social and cultural context in which Roman civilization
         developed, viz. the older civilizations of the Mediterranean basin: Greece, the Levant,
        Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc.

The course in methods aims at preparing the students for the realities of the modern high school classroom. This course involves the students in the history of language teaching methodology and helps them develop the style of teaching that will be most natural and effective. In evaluating the merits of the direct method, the grammar/translation method, the audio-lingual method, a multisensory approach, etc. most students will move toward an eclectic style suited to them and the type of students they will encounter.

The methods course also stresses the development of critical skills in evaluating textbooks, syllabi, study guides, maps, novels about the ancient world, films, computer programs, etc. It addresses the mundane questions of classroom management and procedures: discipline and control, achieving a spirit of cooperation, the use of the blackboard, slide projectors, overhead projectors, computers, etc. Students will address the question of equitable student evaluation through quizzes, tests, examinations, papers, and projects. And finally they will consider the desirability of integrating the study of the classics with other high school subjects through interdisciplinary learning and even team teaching.

In order to complete the program successfully, students must demonstrate competence in the Latin language and literature and have shown in the methods course and supervised practice teaching that they are ready to work in the classroom situation. They should also be familiar with Roman history and civilization and the broader context in which it developed.

Model on which the Program is Based

As mentioned above in the overview, modern Latin teachers do far more than drill their students on Latin declensions and conjugations. Nevertheless, language is central to any culture; the study of the language of a people is the sine qua non of understanding and appreciating its cultural heritage, and thus the teaching of the Latin language must hold the primacy in the Latin classroom. Mastery of the language is the key to reading the great literature produced by Roman authors. Students will read this literature in the original wherever possible, but sometimes they will read the authors in translation. Always the literature is to be placed in its historical and cultural context.

The Latin teacher of today needs a vision that Roman civilization did not develop in isolation but is part of a broader social and cultural context encompassing the much earlier civilizations of Greece, the Levant and Mesopotamia, and the African civilizations of Egypt, Nubia, and Carthage. Aside from an emphasis on language and literature, the Latin teacher will also be concerned with questions of ancient politics, social conditions, e.g. slavery, economics, foreign policy, education, technology, daily living, government, the role of the military, etc. To keep up to date with the ever changing views of the ancient world, the Latin teacher will supplement the traditional literary sources with an interest in the findings of modern archaeology.

Use of National Guidelines

While there are no formal national guidelines and accreditation agencies for Latin teachers, the American Classical League does provide guidance for the preparation of teachers and especially for those already in the classroom. This society publishes The Classical Outlook, a journal that offers articles concerned with pedagogy in the Latin classroom, reviews of classical books, and lists of audio-visual materials including. computer programs. It also maintains a teaching materials and resource center which publishes a useful catalog. The American Classical League in addition holds a national convention and workshop for Latin teachers every summer.

The Classical Society of the Atlantic States publishes a journal Classical World which on a regular basis gives a very useful survey of all the Latin textbooks currently in print as well as a listing of available audio-visual materials.

Required Courses

Six Latin language and literature courses at the 200 level or above, including as least two of the following:
LATN 201 Latin Literature of the Republic,
LATN 202 Latin Literature of the Golden Age,
LATN 203 Latin Literature of the Silver Age ......................18 sh (= Semester Hours)

and
LATN 419 - Methods of Teaching Latin  ..................... 3 sh

Four other courses in  either  Greek, Latin or from the list of Classics Electives  for the Classics Major (see above).
Especially recommended are: