Faculty members from a broad range of disciplines at diverse institutions extended their knowledge of ancient Greek texts and developed strategies for incorporating them into their courses in general education during a seminar in summer 2006 on Ancient Greece in the Modern College Classroom. The inaugural seminar in a planned three-year series focused on teaching the Iliad. Twenty-eight CIC faculty members attended the July 10-14 event, cosponsored by CIC and the Center for Hellenic Studies, at the Center’s Washington, DC campus. The seminar was made possible through the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Directed by Gregory Nagy, director of the Center for Hellenic Studies and Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and professor of comparative literature at Harvard University and Kenneth Scott Morrell, associate professor of classics at Rhodes College (TN), “Homer Across the Curriculum: The Iliad” was designed primarily for professors who have not had formal training in ancient Greek literature. The seminar provided background on the nature of the poem, the role Homeric poetry played in the evolution of Greco-Roman society, and the ways in which various cultures have responded to and understood the poem. Participants also worked collaboratively on materials for their courses and had the chance to use the renowned library at the Center for Hellenic Studies.

Nagy was impressed by the high caliber of the participants and the energy they dedicated to the cross-disciplinary nature of the seminar. “This group was perfect to work with. They were strongly motivated and worked hard—harder than I’ve ever seen people work before. They are masters at turning their research into teaching—and their teaching into research. I was most impressed not only by their discoveries but also by their ability to articulate clearly their discovery procedures. I envy the students who study Homeric poetry under their guidance,” he said.

As participant David Fisher, professor of philosophy at North Central College (IL) explained, Nagy and Morrell provided “in form, content, and diversity of participant disciplines, a good model of interdisciplinarity. By showing how combinations of work in speech and communication; history; anthropology; religious studies; philosophy and sociology—as well as classical models of literature—are needed to understand Homer (as socio-cultural product; as oral performance; as text) they provided reasons to think outside disciplinary boxes.” Assistant professor of psychology Stephanie Madsen of McDaniel College (MD) said, “Everyone was so welcoming and eager to embrace difficult disciplines. It was an honor to study with Kenny and Greg and I feel like I learned as much from the wonderful new colleagues I met. The experience has been personally important and will be put to good use in my future courses.”

Planning is underway for the 2007 seminar on Ancient Greece in the Modern College Classroom.

The Center for Hellenic Studies is a leading research institute affiliated with Harvard University. Since its founding in 1962 as an “educational center…designed to rediscover the humanism of the Hellenic Greeks,” the Center has brought together people and resources in a variety of contexts to support the study of Hellenic civilization.