More News About Latin From Across the Pond!

More news today from the United Kingdom!

The Daily Mail is reporting, "Latin in Classroom Comeback As 60 Primary Schools Make Ancient Language Compulsory." According to the article, at one point, only 100 comprehensive schools (similar to American public high schools) offered Latin. Now, one in six of all secondary level schools in the UK provide for instruction in Latin.

It's obvious that the efforts of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project and the Iris Project are making a significant impact on Classics education in Britain!

Latin Inspires, Enthuses!

See Dr. Lorna Robinson's commentary in today's Independent (UK): "Dr. Lorna Robinson: 'Latin Inspires and Enthuses Children." Dr. Robinson directs the Iris Project, a British charity promoting Classics in schools, especially government-funded schools and schools in urban areas.

Edited to add: A companion article, "Haud Mea Culpa, Domina," in the same paper reports on a new initiative to bring Latin into British state primary schools and offers some conversational Latin as well. (American teachers dealing with No Child Left Behind legislation will certainly be able to sympathize with their British colleagues and find useful the translation for "Where does my school come in the league tables?")

Iris Magazine September 2009 Issue Available

Lorna Robinson, director of The Iris Project, based in Oxford, UK, announces that the Autumn 2009 issue of Iris magazine is now available. This issue examines the influences and interpretations of epic and includes the following features:

• Iris chat: Margaret George, author of Helen of Troy
  
• Home Thoughts from Abroad: Virgil's Aeneid
• 1000 Years Before Homer: The epic of Gilgamesh
  
• Masters of War: Epic battles on film
  
• A Marriage of Minds: Arabic and Classical epic
  
• News feature: A Mosaic for the London Olympics 2012
  
• Travelogue: Ephesus

Additional articles focus on outreach, news, reviews, quizzes, puzzles, translation, fiction, and advice. To find out how to order a copy of Iris magazine, visit The Iris Project website. The Iris Project is a registered charity in the United Kingdom that promotes Classical education for students in state-funded schools and in urban settings.

Announcing the Iris Festival, London (UK), June 2009

Coming this summer, the Iris Festival is a free, three-day festival celebrating the Classics and Greek drama! It will be held 17-19 June 2009 at the Scoop, City Hall, London, UK. Plays and performances will be presented by students from six inner London state-funded schools. The tentative schedule includes a double bill of Greek comedy by Aristophanes (the Birds and the Clouds), readings of classical poetry in translation and in Latin, and a Classical tragedy (possibly Euripides' Bacchae) performed by sixth form (equivalent to junior and senior level in the American high school system).

In addition, there will be activities (mosaic and mask making, storyboarding myths, etc.) for families to enjoy in the area alongside the venue.

To find out more, please visit the Iris Project to find out more about the different initiatives this wonderful organization sponsors in order to promote Classics for all students, regardless of background. The director of the Iris Project is Lorna Robinson, who has just published a new book, Cave Canem, a delightful compendium and commentary featuring Latin words and phrases.

Latin Teachers in the News!

A very recent article in the Delta Democrat Times of Greenville, MS, showcases Simmons High School's energetic Latin teacher Austin Walker and his bright and ambitious students. Read Hollandale Students Learn Roman Empire's Language.

Students in inner-city Hackney and other disadvantaged London (UK) boroughs are learning Latin, thanks to the Iris Project and Classics students from University College London and Kings College London. You can read more about this project at the Daily Telegraph in Latin, the Language of Literacy.

Illinois Latin Teacher Brian Tibbets (Monmouth-Roseville High School), has been featured in this week's Galesburg Register-Mail (October 20, 2008) after being awarded the Illinois Classical Conference Latin Teacher of the Year award. Read Latin is Not a Dead Language at MRHS.

Rocktown Weekly has a wonderful story entitled Rident Stolidi Verba Latina ("Fools Laugh at the Latin Language") (Link no longer active) highlighting the elementary school Latin classes taught by Arthur Rogers at Redeemer Classical School in Virginia.

Latin in the Parks

Those of you fortunate enough to be in London or Oxford this summer have the opportunity to enjoy the Iris Project's Latin in the Park lunch time sessions for adults and families. For only £1 pound sterling materials charge per session (about $2 USD), adults and families can learn some Latin and ancient culture. Bring a picnic and blanket and enjoy the sun and some Classical culture! RSVP and get more details at the Iris Project's website!

Latin Outreach in London, UK

The BBC News reports that inner city students in London will be learning Latin from 15 university students from Kings College and University College of London as part of a project conducted by the Iris Project, directed by Lorna Wing, and sponsored by various classical organizations in the United Kingdom. Teachers and students are responding enthusiastically to the project, which is getting a great deal of positive press coverage.

This is a initiative definitely worth following as it progresses!

The Iris Project

The IRIS Project was created by Dr. Lorna Robinson, a Classics professor from the United Kingdom. The mission of the IRIS Project is to promote access to Latin, Ancient Greek and Classical Civilisation in state sector schools across Britain. Project organizers are setting up free workshops, pilot courses and theme days for schools. The IRIS Project hopes to ensure that the languages, myth, history, religion, literature of the Classical World are accessible to students from all socio-economic backgrounds. IRIS Magazine, described by the editor as a "a Classical magazine with a new and eclectic slant" is one of the major outreach initiatives of the project. The magazine is aimed at a secondary school audience and includes articles, poetry, puzzles, games, recipes and reviews. Overseas subscriptions are available.

Articles of note in the Spring '07 issue include Africanising the Classics (focusing on post-apartheid South Africa), Reinterpreting the Past in Popular Culture, and Modernising Monsters: Classics and Computer Games.