-
My teaching philosophy pursues two primary goals. Firstly, I aim to familiarize students with engaging and relevant aspects of Greek and Latin languages, literature, and culture. Secondly, I strive to empower my students by instilling in them a sense of mastery over the subjects at hand. It is my hope that students leave my classroom with the experience and confidence needed to join important conversations happening in any field they wish to pursue. I work toward these overarching goals by creating an active classroom, where students are exposed to all kinds of engaging material and encouraged to connect that material to their own unique life experiences. As an instructor at Bryn Mawr, Hamilton College, and Harvard University, I have led courses on advanced Latin (“Ovid,” “Latin Love Elegy,” “Catullus,” “Horace’s Odes”), introductory and intermediate Latin and Greek, as well as courses in translation on classical myth, classical civilizations, and comparative literature.
I can illustrate how I implement my teaching philosophy with regard to this semester’s course, “Madness in the Ancient World.” I have organized this course around topics that remain relevant in our culture, such as the lure of addictive substances in Homer’s Odyssey and the abuse of power by tyrannical rulers, with a focus on Caligula and Nero. In order to gain appreciation for the lasting impact of Greek theater, students perform scenes from Euripides’ Bacchae, after making creative decisions about props, costumes, and audio-visual elements. This play and the project of performing it drive home lessons about the benefits and pitfalls of group dynamics, while additional material in the form of vase paintings and Greek and Latin “keywords” allow for a layered and holistic view into ancient culture. Throughout the semester, moreover, written assignments, small-group activities, and frequent in-class presentations encourage students to connect emotionally with the content and gain confidence speaking in front of their peers.
In language courses, I seek to balance a holistic overview of a given topic with representative “greatest hits” in the original language, while also integrating important scholarly discussions so that students can feel a sense of mastery over the subject matter. For example, in “Latin Love Elegy,” a graduate-level course, I assigned a range of poems from each of the prominent elegists in order to give a thorough and wide-ranging survey of this short-lived but massively influential genre. My approach to language instruction is immersive, with large amounts of reading assigned for each class. I emphasize translation in the classroom, but balance it with an appreciation of Latin poetics, with students giving regular presentations on what they consider the most interesting aspects of the assigned reading, from intertextual references to modern receptions. In this way, students have opportunities to pursue their unique interests, while gaining practice in communicating their ideas clearly and succinctly. I also introduce students to several of the most lively controversies in scholarship on elegy, such as the true identity of Sulpicia (just an alter-ego of Tibullus?) and the authorship of Heroides 15 (by Ovid or an impressive imitator?). Over the course of the semester, this work, combined with an abstract workshop and a substantial final paper, empowers and prepares these students for a future career in academia.
When it comes to mentorship, I take a hands-on approach. I am currently the primary advisor to a recipient of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, which seeks to address the underrepresentation of marginalized groups in higher education. To support my student and her project on ethnic out-groups in ancient Rome, I conduct weekly check-ins and give feedback on written work, from project proposal to conference abstract and ultimately a senior thesis project. At Bryn Mawr, moreover, I have regularly served as a second reader on senior theses, giving detailed feedback and collaborating to assign grades on a range of projects. In my capacity as mentor, I aim to give my students the tools necessary to succeed by pointing them toward fundamental scholarship, introducing them to other scholars to build an academic community, and giving them the focused attention and encouragement they deserve.
In her 2010 book Not For Profit, philosopher Martha Nussbaum emphasizes the importance of a liberal arts education in our increasingly global world. Since we all make decisions that affect other people—from who we vote for to what we choose to consume—the capacity to empathize with people different from ourselves is fundamental to a functioning society. Our field, by investigating the lived experiences of people far removed from us in time and space, guides students to cultivate empathy. It is with Nussbaum’s philosophy in mind that I craft my courses to emphasize the relevance of the ancient past in our students’ lives and to encourage them to see themselves as part of the expansive and interconnected fabric of humanity.
-