The Joint Association of Classical Teachers
31st JACT Latin Summer School, Wells Cathedral School
2011 Report
'You know you're on the Latin summer school when you approach a group of people and say 'salve!' to
break the ice and are then corrected with 'Don't you mean 'salvete'? There's more than one of us.''
It always comes as a relief and a slight surprise when I yet again find myself, in the last week of July,
catching my first glimpse in a year of Wells Cathedral as I drive towards the school to begin another
ten days of Latin teaching, socialising and learning in the beautiful surroundings of one of my
favourite cities. The 31st summer school, whilst not quite as big as the previous year (145, down
from 153), was certainly more international. We had eager Latin students travelling from as far afield
as California and South America; and we once again welcomed two Czech students from Charles
University, Prague. Several other international universities were well represented, including
Université de la Sorbonne, Auckland University and Yale University. The age range of the summer
school continues to have a healthy spread: 14-50 and it is worth mentioning that the number of under
18 students and over 18 students is still relatively well-balanced.
'I met some fantastic people and learnt a lot in a great group. I loved the lessons and had so much fun,'
1. Staff and teaching
David and I were very happy to invite back so many familiar faces this year. Returning yet again to
sacrifice ten days of their summer holidays were Luke Bastin, Julia Ebbrell, Joe Hytner, David
Moyes, Elly Nicoll, Charlie Paterson, Sophie Ridley (nee Potter) and Sara Ward. Stephen Graham
returned from his eastern adventure in Indonesia and Lindsey Cullen, one time director's assistant,
also came back to teach. Nina Bruce and Dick Mowbray (David's 'old' Classics teacher) were
welcome additions to the tutor team. Charlie Coulthard very kindly agreed to return as our assistant
and, as ever, proved herself to be indispensible (I do not say this lightly: she was away for almost a
day at one stage, dealing with a medical emergency, and we practically descended into chaos!).
'Splendid! I really did not expect to make this much progress in such a short time! [The] tutors were the
perfect balance of knowledgeable professionalism and approachability. Thank you all so much.'
This year we had 15 teaching groups including 3 beginners groups (with two separate groups for
potential Oxford and Cambridge students); 3 post-GCSE groups and as many as 4 post-AS groups.
The number of students who attended having learnt Latin off-timetable was especially noticeable and
I am pleased that the summer school has been able to contribute to their progress. The grammar
clinics were divided into 'Basic' and 'Advanced' and were organised in an order and format which
would help as many students as possible.
'The grammar clinics helped make complex grammar less intimidating.'
2. Events
We were very lucky to welcome back so many familiar faces for the series of evening lectures. As
has become tradition, Anthony Bowen gave the first talk and taught us how to pronounce Latin
properly (and once again all the teachers amongst us walked away swearing that we would remember
to pronounce double consonants separately). It was a pleasure to see Professor Matthew Leigh (St.
Anne's College, Oxford) again and his talk on Aeneid I and Early Roman Epic introduced us all to
some lesser known Roman poets and provided a very useful grounding for those students who would
return to Aeneid I in September as part of their A2 course. Dr. Llewelyn Morgan (Brasenose College,
Oxford) successfully reminded us of the importance of metre in Latin poetry with his talk entitled The
Short and Long of it - Sex, Death and Metrics. Dr. Joanna Paul (Liverpool University) talked about
the reception of the Classical world in recent Hollywood history and Genevieve Lively (Bristol
University) proved that the Romans did have a sense of humour. We were delighted to welcome back
Stephen Bird, who once again provided us with a fantastic introduction to the remains of the Roman
baths of Aquae Sulis. We continue to be very grateful to him for his continued support of the summer
school and the help he gives us in our organisation of the trip to Bath.
This year we broadened our 'co-curricular' repertoire and held a classical drama session in the drama
shed of Ritchie, which was very well received. We also organised trips to Wales on the weekend and
Bath on the last Tuesday. Both of these were enjoyed immensely by those who attended them. It
never ceases to amaze me how fresh and innovative the Bath museum always proves to be, year in
year out: there is always something new to see.
'The disco party was a blast! It all was! See you next year!'
'Very geeky especially the last night play and party! Hard work but great fun.'
The Latin Summer School would not be the Latin Summer School without the miracle of
entertainment which is the staff play on the last night. This year, some of the students suggested it
would be a good idea to allow them to put on a play, as happens at the Greek summer school and the
Classical Civilisation summer school. Whilst I understand and appreciate the educational benefits of
this, I think you are more likely to find the 13th book of the Aeneid than succeed in tearing the script
and the limelight from the hands of most of the tutors (not to mention convincing David to sacrifice
his Miles Gloriosus costume). I feel a little ashamed that we performed The Swaggering Soldier for
the third year in a row and I make it my solemn promise in this report that I will provide the summer
school with a new play next year!
3. Acknowledgements and thanks
This year we awarded 20 bursaries and we continue to do all we can to make the summer school and
the learning of Latin as accessible as possible. As none of this would be possible without them, I
would like to thank those sponsors whose generosity helps makes this possible:
The Classical Association
The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
The Jowett Copyright Trustees
The Craven Committee, University of Oxford
Faculty of Classics at the University of Cambridge
Friends of Classics
4. Next year's course:
David and I have decided to extend the duration of the course by two days based on the philosophy
that you simply cannot have too much of a good thing! Naturally, we have had to reflect this in the
price of the course but unfortunately this could not be avoided.
The 32nd JACT Latin Summer School will run from Monday 23rd July 2012 to Saturday 4th August
2012.
If you wish to be provided with information on the 2012 summer school then please email Alexandra
Boyt: [email protected]
Or else visit the JACT website.
Alexandra Boyt
Co-director of the JACT Latin Summer School