Teaching Through Italy: A Guide to In Situ Studies

Join veteran Latin teacher and textbook author Karen T. Moore in her course “Classical Art and Archaeology: Teaching Latin and the Humanities with the Monuments of Rome.” This course explores the intersection of ancient literature with classical art and archaeology to enrich the study of the Latin language. Karen will demonstrate the tools and resources available to bring the lingua latina alive in the classroom through the works of ancient writers and artists. Discover renowned Greek artists like Myron, Polykleitos, and Praxiteles and their impact on Roman art, and examine the ways Romans conveyed virtue and ambition in their portrait sculptures. This course also explores the symbolic and political significance of monuments like the obelisk, the Ara Pacis, and the Arch of Titus, providing historical context and insights from ancient historians. Karen’s course offers a creative approach to teaching Latin through the lens of classical art and archaeology, enhancing your students’ understanding and appreciation of the ancient world.

Karen T. Moore holds a BA in Classics from the University of Texas and an MSc in Classical Art & Archaeology awarded with distinction by the University of Edinburgh. She is an author of the Latin Alive! textbook series and the Libellus de Historia History Reader series, both published by Classical Academic Press as well as multiple other resources for Latin educators. Karen has served as Chair of Classical Languages at Grace Academy in Georgetown, Texas, since 2002, where she built the 3-12th grade classical language program. In addition, Karen also teaches courses as an adjunct professor of Classics with Houston Christian University. She has also served in a variety of administrative roles including upper school lead teacher and director of curriculum and instruction. Karen continues to teach classical languages and ancient humanities at Grace Academy and serves as the director for their annual Senior Tour of Italy. As a teacher, she has a unique ability to instill an enthusiasm for classical literature and languages in students of all ages and skill levels. Karen and her husband Bryan are the proud parents of three Grace Academy Alumni.

Professor Grant Horner is a scholar of Renaissance and Reformation literature, theology, and philosophy with a PhD in literature from Claremont Graduate University. His research centers on Christian Humanism and the interplay between emerging Reformed thought and classical Graeco-Roman myth and philosophy, with primary concentrations in Milton, Shakespeare, Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin. Mentored at Duke by Stanley Fish, he has published on theology and the arts, Milton, and Calvin. His books include Meaning at the Movies (Crossway, 2010), John Milton, Classical Learning, and the Progress of Virtue (Classical Academic Press, 2015), and shorter works on Dracula and Paradise Lost. At The Master’s University he twice received “Professor of the Year” (2001, 2007) and founded and directs the six-week Italy Program in Florence, with study in Rome and Venice around the humanist question quid est homo?  An Alcuin Fellow, he helped establish the upper school and designed the original Humanities program for the Rhetoric School at Trinity Classical Academy in Los Angeles, where he later served as chair and continues to mentor teachers. He also holds an appointment as Visiting Assistant Professor of Latin at Fuller Seminary and works with early printed books and rare manuscripts at The Huntington Library. A frequent speaker on theology, philosophy, and popular culture, he has made 100+ radio and TV appearances and has lectured at Berkeley and Caltech. He and his wife, Joanne, live in Santa Clarita, California, enjoy watching and discussing films. When not sailing the Channel Islands—he pursues world-class climbing, including multiple one-day ascents of Yosemite’s El Capitan and a sub-24-hour “Nose” ascent in 12:52.