Here are some examples of projects and assignments I have worked on in education.

Ancient Athletics website (Spring, 2016) 

This website is designed to assist students and interested parties in the basics of sport and spectacle in the Greek and Roman worlds. The website provides summaries of current scholarship on the topics, links and lists of further reading, and a significant amount of copyright free images for use.

 

Ancient Athletics student research (Spring, 2016) 

Students in my Ancient Athletics course at Trinity University selected sites around the Mediterranean where ancient athletics took place. Each student conducted their own research to provide a summary of the site and its remains. They also provided at least three copyright free images, links to relevant websites, and a short bibliography.

 

Roman Funeral Monuments

For my high school Latin 3 course, students were tasked with creating a Roman style funeral monument. the project, which can be done entirely online, began with an introduction to the types of funeral monuments, both their general appearance and the standard text included. Next, students examined a number of transcribed texts with the help of a key for how to read the abbreviations. Then students looked at actual monuments. Here, they had to transcribe the inscriptions themselves and then attempt to translate them. Finally, students had butcher paper and created their own monuments with the help of the abbreviation key.

                    

 

Design your own benefaction

In this interactive, group project students are given a scenario from the Roman world–a new family in town, an established elite, a Roman administrator, etc.–and then they have to shop for their ideal benefaction. This project accompanies readings and lectures about the role of euergetism and gift-giving in the Roman world, especially in the cities of Roman Asia Minor. Students must decide the type of building they will donate, to whom it will be dedicated, the kind of statues it will include, and other important details. When conducted, we had great fun sharing our decisions and giving the reasons why based on the role-playing scenarios given.

 

Tiger Olympics

The Tiger Olympics was an awesome collaborative project between students, faculty, administrators, and the community. Students at Trinity University in my Ancient Athletics course worked in concert with students from UT San Antonio (in a similar course). Together, they designed an entire program of events (races, field events, cheese stealing). They solicited the community and other departments for prizes; they contacted faculty and friends to participate. Overall, we had around 60 participants and many faculty and friends in attendance. In addition to fun races, there was an egg-in-spoon relay, a rap battle, a frisbee throw and so much more. The prizes were excellent; every student got a t-shirt and many got sunglasses, bubbles, and some even got chic-fil-a gift cards!

 

Creative projects for Women in Antiquity and Classical Mythology

Every time I teach these courses, I include a creative project, which encourages students to play to their strengths and pursue their interests. Such creative projects have included replicating the hair style of Roman women, creating a costume of a Roman woman, creating a drawing of something we looked at or read in class, making a vase, making a social media page, or creating a playlist for a specific character or story on Spotify. I’ve also had students write poems and original songs. It is a great opportunity for students to explore the stories and history on their own terms and try to find ways to make the ancient past relevant to them. Here are some examples.