Engaged education is based on the idea that we can learn through hands-on activities, non-traditional means, and direct experience. The following are some examples of engaged learning involving Classics.
A student undertook an on-site study of the walls of Roman Britain, including participation in an archaeological dig near Hadrian's Wall.
Students developed and pursued individual research projects using the varied resources of London. Projects included a study of illustrations for Ovid's Metamorphoses, a translation history of Horace's Odes, and an examination of literary and archaeological evidence related to Boudica's revolt against Rome.
Two students travelled throughout Italy and immersed themselves in epigraphy by translating ancient Latin inscriptions which they came across.
A group of students received an Odyssey grant to study the Parthenon by travelling to Nashville, Tennessee (where there is a life-size replica of the Parthenon), London (where the Parthenon Marbles are kept in the British Museum), and Athens (where the Parthenon itself stands on the Acropolis).
A student received a grant from the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation to travel to Rome and explore the history of the Colosseum; she then examined the depiction of the amphitheatre in other media, both ancient and modern, including art, literature, children's books, and film.
After workshopping their poems in a special weekend seminar, students in an upper-level Latin course presented a reading of their creative translations of the Roman poet Catullus.
Two students received Odyssey awards to participate in an epigraphy seminar in Portugal. They learned how to read authentic Latin inscriptions from the Roman Empire.
Students presented readings of Greek tragedies for the campus community and designed costumes for updated versions of Greek drama.
Myth students created installations to explain how ancient mythology has informed English vocabulary.
Students have learned about the ancient technology of the codex through book-making and book-history workshops.
Some majors and minors in Classics have participated in a project to identify, catalog, and explore the various uses of Classics in the novels of the Victorian-era author Anthony Trollope. Their findings are presented in Trollope's Apollo, an online guide to Trollope and Classics.
Latin students learned about the transmission of the Bible by translating pages from actual medieval manuscripts of the Vulgate and by making their own manuscripts of the Book of Ruth. They also experimented with historical calligraphy and gold leaf illumination.
A student and professor collaborated to learn about papyrology and codicology while translating the Greek fragments of the Gospel of Thomas and recreating the form of an ancient codex which contained the Coptic version of the Gospel of Thomas.
Students have participated in archaeological excavations and on-site study in Greece, Italy, and Portugal.
Students prepared and shared foods made from ancient Mediterranean recipes.
Students in the Roman Civilization course gained insight into Roman ideology and society by viewing and handling Roman coins minted in the Republic and Empire.
A group of students travelled with a professor to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to spend a day interpreting and discussing Cy Twombly's paintings and their relationship to Homer's Iliad.
A student received a grant from the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation to explore the connections between the ancient myth of Orpheus and contemporary queer theory.