Department of Classics and Early Christian Literature

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Department of Classics and Early Christian
Literature
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What is a Classic?

• A Classic is something everyone wishes
• to have read,
• but no one wants
• to read.

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The classics, referring to the literature of
Greek and Roman civilizations, were established
between the 4th century B.C. and the 4th century
A.D. A curriculum based on that literature was
already formed in the early Christian centuries.

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Christianity and Classical Culture?

• Quid Athenae Hierosolymis? Tertullian
• Ciceronianus es, non Christianus ! St. Jerome
• polla\ me\n poihtaij,suggrafeusi, filoso/foij
  prosekte/on St. Basil.

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AMU department of Classics and early christian
literature

• Committed to the study and teaching of the
  language, literature, and culture of Greco-Roman
  antiquity, the early Christian centuries, and the
  living classical tradition.

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The Bible in Greek and Latin

• Greek New Testament, Septuagint, Vetus Latina,
  Biblia Vulgata, Extracanonical books (e.g.,
  Protevangelium of James, Gospel of Nicodemus)

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Greek Fathers of the Church

• Apostolic Fathers, Irenaeus, Origen, Athanasius,
  Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory Nazianzus, Gregory
  of Nyssa, Basil, John Chrysostom, Romanos,
  Akathist Hymn, John of Damascus

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Latina Vox ecclesiae

• Latin Patrology Tertullian, Ambrose, Augustine
• Medieval Latin Peter Lombard, Abelard, Thomas
  Aquinas
• Neo-Latin Pope Pius II, Thomas More
• Contemporary Vatican II documents, Encyclicals.

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Classics courses within the Ave Maria University
curriculum

• CORE Elementary and Intermediate Latin language
  for B.A. candidates.
• MAJOR Attic and biblical Greek language,
  elementary to advanced.
• Advanced Latin courses.
• SPECIAL Topics on the Greco-Roman world, early
  Christian life and letters, and the classical
  tradition for related majors and graduate
  students.

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Gradus ad Parnassum

• Golden Age Latin readings Lucretius, Cicero,
  Vergil, Horace, Ovid.
• Latin Epistolary Writing
• Latin Prose Composition
• Latin Church Fathers
• Scholastic Latin Texts
• Special Topics (e.g., Lactantius, Conciliar
  documents)

• Elementary and Intermediate Greek
• NT and Patristic Greek
• Greek Poetry
• Greek Church Fathers
• Greek Special Topics

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Classics Department Faculty

• Andrew Dinan, Ph.D. Catholic Univ. Plutarch,
  Philo of Alexandria, Clement.
• Bradley Ritter, Ph.D. Berkeley. Roman Republic,
  Hellenistic Judaism.
• Daniel Nodes, Ph.D. Toronto. Greek and Latin
  Fathers, Renaissance humanism.
• Rev. Piotr Paciorek, S.T.D, Marian Studies,
  Christian Latin, St. Augustine

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Work in Progress

• Preparing reading courses in a genre framework
  including secular and Christian writings
• Assessing language proficiency and knowledge of
  the literature
• Maintaining highest standards of scholarship in
  students and faculty
• Building a small, well integrated, high-quality
  major program (currently nine majors)
• Assisting graduate students in classical language
  acquisition and the reading of primary sources
• Conducting summer programs in classical
  languages, literature and culture.
• Anticipating co-curricular activities for
  interested students and faculty.

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Res Publica Litterarum Advantages of Study by
Genre

• Allows for range across classical and Christian
  authors
• Promotes exploration of similarities and
  differences within genres
• Ciceros orations/ Augustines homilies
• letters of Seneca/ letters of Leo
• history of Tacitus/ history of Bede
• Vergils poetry/ biblical epic

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AReply to Mark Twain

• A classic is a work which people say they are
  re-reading even when they are reading it for the
  first time.
• Classics never exhaust all they have to say to
  their readers.
• Classics are works to which you cannot remain
  indifferent, and which help you define yourself
  in relation to them.
• (Why Read the Classics? novelist Italo Calvino)

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Studia Humanitatis

• Education as formation and not merely as
  information.
• Homo sum humani nil a me alienum puto Terence.
• Delectatio perficit operationem. St. Thomas
  Aquinas, Summa Theolog. citing Aristotle.

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Exegi monumentum aere perennius. Horace Odes
3.30
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AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY The Department of Classics
and Early Christian Literature Spring
Colloquium a lecture and workshop by Dr. Francis
Cairns Professor of Classics, The Florida State
University The Mistresss Midnight
SummonsTibullus and the Latin Lyric Followed by
a review of graduating senior research
projects. Friday, 28 March 2007 Lecture 330
p.m. Stella Maris Main Chapel Discussion 500 to
600 p.m. Loyola Hall 119-120 Both events are
free and the campus community is cordially
invited.
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Careers for Classicists?

• I like it, but what can I do with it?
• With B.A., K 12 Teaching
• MAT Degree
• Graduate Work in the Classics toward University
  Teaching
• Law, Publishing, Journalism, Communications,
  Museum Curatorial, Politics, Library, Clergy and
  Religious, Business, Antiquities, . . . .

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