ACL panel 2008

There was a panel at the American Classical League Institute in 2008, "Teaching Catullus with Passion," devoted to teaching Catullus using Writing Passion as a textbook. Panelists were:  Ronnie Ancona, Hunter College and The Graduate Center, CUNY; Christine Conklin, Thomas Jefferson High School; Bruce McMenomy, Scholars Online; Sally Morris, Phillips Exeter Academy; Robert Patrick, Parkview High School.

 abstract:

Teaching Catullus with Passion

This panel will be devoted to (1) the pedagogical and scholarly theory behind the textbook Writing Passion:  A Catullus Reader (Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers 2004) and (2) strategies for its successful use in secondary school and college classrooms. Panelists will include the book’s author, a college teacher, and a group of experienced AP Latin teachers who have used the book with success in diverse secondary school settings (public, independent, religious). Topics addressed will include how the textbook can enable quicker and more thorough command of Catullus’s poetry as well as tips for handling gracefully the potentially awkward issue of teaching sexually explicit texts. A hand-out will include an outline of the book’s features, sample pages, and information on its recently developed wiki. Participants will be encouraged to join in discussion with the panelists. Current and future teachers of Catullus at both the college and secondary school levels (AP, non-AP, and pre-AP) will find the session of interest.