Academic Conduct

You are expected to abide by Holy Cross’ Academic Integrity Policy, posted here. Cheating on homework, quizzes, or exams (defined here as but not limited to reproducing answers from an answer key, referring to forbidden notes to help answer questions, or copying another student’s answers) may result in penalties ranging from a failure on the specific assignment, quiz, or exam to failure for the entire course.

Attendance

You must attend each meeting of the course to attain a good grade. I will be explaining the quite dense material in the textbook through examples and alternative ideas (mnemonic devices, helpful tips, etc.), so it will be to your benefit to attend class so as to make your homework and studying for quizzes and the exams less daunting.

If you must miss a class meeting for any reason, please inform me as soon as you know of the absence via e-mail before the class meeting begins, and we will correspond accordingly. More than two (2) unexcused absences, defined as a failure to appear in class without notifying me via e-mail that you won’t be there before the class period begins, will result in a full grade drop for the semester (e.g., an A- will be dropped to a B-).

It bears repeating: if you will miss class for any reason, you must e-mail me before that class period begins to let me know!

Any absence beyond the two allotted above for compelling and verifiable reasons (including but not limited to extended illness, a death or medical emergency in the family, a wedding in the immediate family, and participation in a college-sponsored athletic event) falls under Holy Cross’ Excused Absence Policy and requires a note from your Class Dean. See the full Excused Absence Policy here.

Disability

Any student who needs accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Disability Services to discuss support services available. Once the office receives documentation supporting the request for accommodation, the student would meet privately with Disability Services to discuss reasonable and appropriate accommodations. Contact information for the Office of Disability Services can be found here.

If you are already registered with Disability Services, please be sure to get your accommodation letters and deliver them to me in a timely fashion. Instructors need 4-5 days advance notice to be able to facilitate the process of receiving testing accommodations.

Diversity and Inclusion

Studying Latin at Holy Cross is one way to challenge a centuries-long tradition that reserved the study of the ancient world for a privileged elite. The challenge goes beyond simply welcoming students however they identify their race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religious or spiritual tradition, or socioeconomic background. As we work to see the multicultural world of the ancient Mediterranean through the original thoughts and language of Latin speakers and writers, we reflect on and actively explore how this can help us recognize and respond to structures of power and privilege in our own lives.

This work is especially important today, when historically false images of the ancient world are being invoked to support particular political viewpoints. Studying Latin helps us see through erroneous assertions about the “whiteness” of the ancient Mediterranean, and reject claims that the Greco-Roman world is the special province of any ethnic or political group.

Extra Help

If you feel overwhelmed or need extra help, please do not hesitate to visit me in office hours or e-mail me. Additionally, there are resources outside the Classics department, like Academic Services and Learning Resources that can help. Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Assessment & Grades

Attendance and Participation: 10%
You must attend each class and actively engage with the material being taught (i.e., no distractions via cell phones or Facebook, no disruption of the class by having personal conversations, etc.). Participation is not optional; if you do not volunteer, I will call on you. Latin is a challenging language and requires engagement both inside and outside of the classroom; in addition to being an active participant in class, you are also expected to spend time outside of class reviewing your grammatical and syntactic concepts and practicing translation in addition to completing homework assignments from the workbook.

Homework: 30%
I will collect homework, check for completeness and correct it, and return it the next class meeting. For exercises in the textbook, please either type up your answers and bring a hard copy to class, or write out your translations / responses legibly on loose-leaf paper for submission. E-mail submissions will not be accepted unless you consult with me first and I have given express permission. For translation assignments, please submit both your translation and the marks or notes that you used to put the translation together (e.g., the Latin text with parentheses, arrows, and parsings, etc.). Homework will be graded for completeness rather than correctness, so if you’re completely stumped by a question, do make sure to put something down on the page or explain where the confusion or difficulty lies!

Quizzes: 30%
There will be fifteen (15) short quizzes throughout the semester, each weighted at 2%, designed to test your mastery of vocabulary, grammar, and translation. This comes out to a quiz per chapter of Shelmerdine (Chapters 17-29) and two quizzes on Vergil’s Aeneid 2. Quiz dates are 1/30, 2/4, 2/8, 2/13, 2/18, 2/27, 3/11, 3/15, 3/20, 3/25, 4/3, 4/8, 4/12, 4/26, and 5/6.

Midterms and Final exam: 30%
There will be two midterm exams and one final exam, each weighted at 10%, designed to test your understanding of grammatical concepts and ability to translate Latin into English and English into Latin. See the schedule below for details on what each exam will cover. Midterm exam dates are Wednesday, February 20, and Wednesday, March 27. The final exam date is TBD.

NOTE: If you cannot attend class and must miss a quiz or exam, you must let me know before the class meeting in order to be eligible for a make-up by e-mailing me. If you do not clear your absence with me beforehand and miss a quiz or exam, you will receive a 0% for that quiz or exam.

The final grade will be calculated as a percentage out of 100; then, it will be converted to a letter grade according to the following scheme:

A = 96-100%; A- = 90-95%
B+ = 87-89%; B = 84-86%; B- = 80-83%
C+ = 77-79%; C = 74-76%; C- = 70-73%
D+ = 67-69%; D = 65-66%
F = 0-64%

Grades ending in .45 or greater will be rounded up to the nearest whole number; grades ending in .44 or less will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

By the way, to test whether you’ve read the syllabus all the way through, please choose your favorite vocabulary word in the glossary in Shelmerdine and e-mail it to me by Friday, 1/25, with the subject line “Latin vocab is fab(ulous)!”