Studying Classical Civilisation and Latin with the National Extension College (NEC)

by Rea Duxbury

The National Extension College (NEC) is a pioneer of online and distance learning, existing to transform lives through education.

Our online A level Classical Civilisation and Latin: A Course for Beginners enable learners of any age and background the opportunity to access tutor-supported courses. Students are able to step back in time to explore the Greco-Roman world wherever they are and at any time, widening access to these dynamic subjects.

A level Classical Civilisation

Students enrolled on A level Classical Civilisation with NEC study poetry, plays, comedy and themes such as cults, rituals and religion. Along the way, they make fascinating connections to the politics, culture and society of ancient Greece and Rome.

Homer’s Odyssey, Vergil’s Aeneid and the works of Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes transport students to the ancient world.

NEC student Julia: “Classical Civilisation A level wasn’t offered by the last school I went to...It’s down to NEC that I was able to go to university, and that I studied the subject I have loved since being a child...I’m sure my life would have taken a very different course without NEC.” - Julia went on to study for a BA in Classical and Archaeological studies with French at the University of Kent. She then completed a Masters in Ancient History at King’s College London.

Through this course, students make an informed analysis of the issues and values that shaped classical civilisation. They learn how to develop and present coherent, well-evidenced arguments and also sharpen their analytical and critical thinking, skills that are vital for higher education and the workplace.

NEC students achieved a 100% pass rate in A level Classical Civilisation in 2019, with 25% of students achieving an A* or A grade.

Studying A level Classical Civilisation opens up a wide range of opportunities. Many of our students go on to study a classics course or other subjects at university and pursue varied career paths.

NEC student Miranda studied Classics at the University of Cambridge and then an MSc in the Evolution of Language and Cognition at the University of Edinburgh. She says: “What my educational journey has taught me is that life is not limiting in terms of what you can learn and how you can go about learning it. Further, the need to work does not inhibit study if you choose the right support networks. NEC has, thus far, been the best institution to understand this.”

Latin: A Course for Beginners

NEC’s ‘Latin: A Course for Beginners’ enables students to develop their language skills and read Latin texts in their original.

Students on the course are given the opportunity to study and translate extracts of texts originally written in Latin; these sources include extracts from the Aeneid by Virgil, letters written by Caesar, fables by Phaedrus and a ghost story from the Letters of Pliny. Working with these extracts gives students a true sense of the language and, coupled with the additional background topics on Roman history, provide a rich beginning to a fascinating area of study.

NEC tutor Ed: “Learning Latin (and Greek) and being able to read the literature in the original has been the most rewarding and enriching experience of my life. If you’re interested in literature, of any kind, literature that excites the imagination, strikes awe into the soul and invites you into some of the most fantastic minds ever to record their thoughts in words, it’s all there. Virgil, Catullus, Cicero, Tacitus, Livy: these are incomparable writers...but by heaven when you know the original you see so much more...So, if you want a challenging, intellectually satisfying, life-enhancing opportunity, studying Latin is it.” - Ed is our lead tutor in Economics, Classical Civilisation and Latin. Ed studied Classics at Trinity College Dublin and then at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, where he conducted research into the narrative technique of Greek epic; he later studied economics and linguistics at the Open University.

Latin is also a springboard for students to understand other subjects more deeply:

Humanities - studying Latin helps students gain a deeper understanding of the English language, with Shakespeare and Milton drawing extensively on their knowledge of Latin literature. Moreover, the foundational ideas of history, philosophy and theology are often based on works written in Latin.

Other languages - students wanting to progress to study other languages find Latin a great option as it is the root of European languages such as French and Spanish. Showing an aptitude for languages through Latin extends to computing, where programming languages are used.

Law - not only do many legal terms derive from Latin but by studying the subject, students showcase their ability to analyse information and learn a new language.

Medicine - like law, much medical terminology derives from Latin, enabling students to understand the roots of words they come across.

Art - an understanding of the artworks of the ancient world is enhanced through knowledge of Latin. A pairing of arts and languages can prepare students for work in conservation and curation, or aid their travel experiences.

The ancient Greeks and Romans created a legacy that has shaped literature, language, arts, politics and philosophy. We are proud to be able to offer Classical Civilisation and Latin to learners across the UK and beyond.

About the National Extension College

Co-founded in 1963 by Michael Young as a forerunner for the Open University, NEC is a long-standing independent educational charity.

NEC provides both a solution for schools wanting to maintain a broader curriculum and for adults and young people wanting to engage in lifelong learning.

Features of studying with NEC include: flexibility, personal tutorial support, bespoke course materials and an exam booking service.

Rea Duxbury is Marketing & Research Assistant for the National Extension College

Lend an ear on the way through the forum ….

by George Sharpley (Latin teacher and author)

People who join the Latin Qvarter beginner courses are curious to discover how dead this language really is and to explore what they can of Latin (and English) grammar. They rightly expect a word feast, with lots of our own words with Latin roots pointing the way ... and I do my best to please. I also want give people a feel for what is easily lost in Latin’s centuries-old silent imprisonment in books and stone memorials: the language’s voice.

In its day, classical Latin was a language heard much more than read. Most people – even those taught to read – will have experienced the works of Virgil and Ovid read aloud. And if T.P.Wiseman’s excellent The Roman Audience (Oxford 2015) is anything to go by, this will not have been confined to private readings in rich people’s houses, but in public theatres too. And read – or performed – with facial expression, gesture and body movement.

Thus we need caution in our application of the oral-literary divide. We think of the Iliad and Odyssey as ‘oral’ epics, because they very nearly are. They are the closest we get to oral poems of that time; but they are in fact pioneering triumphs of a literate society, if drawing on an oral tradition from the world around them. And Virgil’s Aeneid, the fruit of a poetic culture at ease with scrolls of papyrus and the study of letters, is a good deal more aural/oral than we might think. In fact the idea among some scholars today that Roman literature started from cold in the 3^rd century BC is a little misleading. It was already well warmed up by the previous and concurrent oral tradition of dramatised storytelling.

Dio Chrysostom (c. ad 40–115) shows us a poet and a storyteller at work. He describes a scene in the Hippodrome: “I remember seeing a number of people in one place, each one doing something different: one was playing a flute, another dancing, another juggling, another reading aloud a poem, another singing, and another telling a story or myth; and not a single one of them prevented any of the others carrying out his own business” (Discourses 20.10).

What makes a poet literary is not so much that he is read whereas a storyteller is heard, but his performance is recorded on papyrus, which is then used as a prompt for further recitals (as well as a text for admirers and teachers). The oral storyteller on the other hand is below radar; his work has not been preserved. Mind you, his popularity was not limited to ordinary folk: Suetonius tells us that Augustus would summon a story-teller at night if he could not sleep (Aug.78).

We think of the literati of Rome absorbing Hellenistic culture, and with it and through it the earlier classical Greek one. What we see much less in the surviving evidence is the influx of Greek culture into Italy at a broader more popular level, not least through the oral storytellers.

The tour of cathedrals in spring 2016, Latin in the Cloisters, was meant to evoke the part played by medieval cathedrals and monasteries in the teaching of Latin and in copying and preserving the great classical authors. And as it continues to roll forward into new cathedrals, Roman sites and museums in 2017, Latin beginners can expect more of the same, to learn the language through stories, historical and fabled; and to hear verses you might have paused to listen to on your way through the forum.

Latin for Beginners, a one-day course in 2017 (remaining dates):

25^th March  PEMBROKESHIRE  (St Davids Cathedral)

22^nd April  CHICHESTER  (Fishbourne Roman Villa)

29^th April  CARDIFF  (Llandaff Cathedral)

18^th October  EXETER  (Royal Albert Memorial Museum)

Details of these and other courses from The Latin Qvarter:

www.latinqvarter.co.uk