Classics Day Festival

11/22/2024

This is WAY overdue, but better late than never. Here are photos from Classics Day VI (September 30, 2023), taken by Monmouth's incredible Office of Communications & Marketing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/monmouthcollege/albums/72177720311593236/page2 . Enjoy!

Explore this photo album by Monmouth College on Flickr!

07/26/2024

One more National Endowment for the Humanities at Monmouth College Summer Institute post: Karli Strom of Tri-States Public Radio just posted over-the-air and print stories on the institute here: www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/2024-07-26/educators-explore-ancient-olympia-at-monmouth-college. Ms. Strom's excellent work was a product of an internship at TSPR through the Department of Communication Studies at Monmouth College. Thanks, Karli and TSPR! Nathalie Roy Mitchell Micheal Posey Olivia Matlock Elizabeth Proctor Kezia Dearden Janis Mars Wunderlich.

At the two-week summer institute, “The Ancient Olympics and Daily Life in Ancient Olympia: A Hands-On History," K-12 teachers from around the world explored the cultural significance of the games and learned how to teach students about the Olympics as well as everyday life in ancient Olympia.

07/23/2024

The two-week National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute that Nathalie Roy and Prof. Bob Holschuh Simmons recently planned and carried out, along with Micheal Posey, Olivia Matlock, and Megan Dailey, was covered today by Monmouth College's Barry McNamara in the story linked below. The institute had the ancient Greek Olympics as one of its foci, but also practices of daily life that would have been carried out around the Games, among them weaving; concrete-making; baking; construction of papyrus paper and ink with which to write on it; pottery creation and painting; crop-raising; bee-keeping; religious approaches; and more. The participants' energy and inclusive kindness were palpable, the projects through which these extraordinary teachers will apply what they have learned to their own classes were inspiring, and Monmouth's small-town setting and hospitality served our group and the institute's focus wonderfully. Greatly rewarding experience. Cristin Haake Lori Thompson Kezia Dearden Elizabeth Proctor Sonya Shockey Jared Ciocco Ryan Sellers Brad Savage Janis Mars Wunderlich Dan Leon Danielle Steen Fatkin Tara Ligon Catherine Daun

Monmouth College’s two-week, NEH-funded workshop for teachers from across the nation was ‘rewarding, stimulating, satisfying.’

09/29/2023

We have a program for tomorrow's Classics Day! I'm pasting below all that there'll be to do, and the times when things will be happening on the main stage. See you tomorrow between 1 and 4 PM on Monmouth's campus for Classics Day!

Greek, Roman, and Macedonian Military
Olympic sports:
Akon (Javelin)
Olympic Diskos (Discus)
Halma (Long Jump)
Running Events:
Stadion
Diaulos
Dolichos
Hoplitodromia
Combat Events:
Wrestling (Pale)
Boxing (Pyx)
Pankration
Chariot Racing
Roman Gladiators
Language Trees:
Arabic
Bengali
Ancient Greek
Hindi and Henna
Latin
Russian
Sanskrit
Spanish
Twi
Ancient Timekeeping and Science
Ancient Technology: Construction, Food, Writing, and Art
Brains: Ancient vs. Modern Conceptions
The Ancient World in Virtual Reality
Riddle Me This! Puzzles
Greek Vase Forms
Roman Stone Carving
Making and Writing on Papyrus (University of Illinois)
Italy Today
LGBT in the Classical World
Ancient Greek & Roman Clothing
Need Advice? Ask a Greek Natural Philosopher!
Make a Catapult!
Origami! Xiphos Swords (Greek), Koi Fish (Japanese), and Laurel Leaf Crowns (Greek and Roman)
Call Me Meddy: A Bilingual (Spanish/English) adaptation of Euripides’ play Medea (Rockford University)
Ancient Coins
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
Ancient Games: Senet, Latrunculi/Petteia, and Tabula
Classical Scavenger Hunt
Classical and World Mythology

Schedule for the Main Stage
12:55-1:00 PM: Bagpipe Invitation to the Trubeck Amphitheater
1-1:15 PM: Welcome and Introduction to Classics Day
1:15-1:35 PM: Monmouth College Wind Ensemble, directed by Dr. Justin Swearinger
2:00-3:00 PM: “Call Me Meddy,” an English/Spanish adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, written and performed by Rockford University students and faculty, led by Dr. Yoandy Cabrera
3:00-3:45 PM: Greek, Macedonian, and Roman Military Demonstration

09/24/2023

Classics Day VI is next weekend--Sat., September 30, from 1-4 PM! Here are a few updates on the event:
• FOOD! There will be an excellent Greek meal, available between noon and two (while supplies last—we have purchased 100 meals) free of charge for participants in Classics Day and people planning to take in the event.
• Here is the event page for Classics Day, set up by the Emilee Renwick, Creative Director in our incomparable Office of Communications and Marketing: https://www.facebook.com/events/1015284309600816/?ref=newsfeed
• Emilee also documented a recent Sports in Greece and Rome class that served as a preview of the sports part of Classics Day: https://www.facebook.com/monmouthcollege/posts/pfbid02YPksk2NCMV9V31jxF3vxSyWFdAc7kUdHPeC3GfPqZyp2b8aP88NMsb6TqqdX9FwWl
• Here is a podcast that the Duane Bonifer, Associate VP of Communications and Marketing, recorded with Bob Holschuh Simmons and senior Classics Day Leadership students Rahm Pandey and Jan Abel about the upcoming Classics Day: https://soundcloud.com/monmouthcollege/monmouth-conversations-2023-24-no-5
• We once again have more than 50 separate events and demonstrations that visitors can take in, plus dozens more informative posters. Most recent additions:
o Conceptions of the brain: ancient vs. modern
o Need advice? Ask a Greek natural philosopher!
o Ancient games: Senet, Petteia, and Backgammon
o Demonstration of techniques of Greek, Macedonian, and Roman militaries
o Representatives of the following languages (alphabetically): Arabic, Bengali, Greek, Hindi, Latin, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Sanskrit, Twi, and Urdu.

For K-12 schools that have some distance to travel, we have some funds available to help you get here. Please direct message me through this page to discuss options.

See you next weekend at Classics Day!

09/10/2023

Classics Day VI is happening in just three weeks! Here's the event's flyer. The Leadership team is busily working to make this the best Classics Day yet. We hope you can be there--all are welcome, free of charge. More updates in days to come.

08/23/2023

Classics Day VI will be on Sat., Sept. 30, from 1-4 PM at Trubeck Amphitheater on Monmouth College's campus! Lots more information to be posted soon. We look forward to seeing you for this 50+-event Classics Day!

06/17/2022

Check out the College's coverage of the year in Classics, including Classics Day and the recognition it got from various organizations. Please note that there is a linked written article that is different from the video. Enjoy!

04/14/2022

Coverage of Classics Day V's award for Outstanding Promotional Activity by Monmouth College 's Barry McNamara! Enjoy.

Monmouth College’s Classics Day V earns honor for outstanding promotional activity.

03/26/2022

This morning, the Classical Association of the Middle West and South announced the Monmouth College Classics Department's Classics Day Festival V (2021) as the winner of 2021-22 Award for Outstanding Promotional Activity. Thank you to the twelve tremendous Monmouth College Classics Day Leadership students who brought Classics Day to life: alphabetically, seniors Mel Fairand, Olivia Matlock, Mik Moore, Elisa Riedesel, CeCe Rodriguez, Bob Storey, and Brie Stumbo; junior Todd Fowler; and sophomores Jan Abel, Rahm Pandey, Larissa Pothoven, and Sam Stoyanoff. (Please tag yourselves if you’d like.) Thanks also to Prof. Vanessa Marie Campagna and the dozens of students, other faculty, and community members who merged their spectacular Fusion Fest with Classics Day, and the scores of other students, alumnae/i, faculty, staff, and community members who contributed to Classics Day in a host of additional ways. In the fall, members of the Classics Day Leadership class asked who else in the nation was putting on an event in the field as elaborate and impressive as ours. The answer, it seems, is “no one.”

10/05/2021

While this year's Classics Day was a great success in general (pictures to follow in the next week or so), one of its specific accomplishments is that the Greek Nescafe frappes that Tin Cup served, at our request, were such a hit that the shop is going to add them to its menu! Those who couldn't get enough of them at Classics Day will now be able to get their fix at Tin Cup!

After serving 225 of this special request beverage at Monmouth College Classics Day and receiving overwhelming requests to add this to our menu, Tin Cup has added the Greek Nescafé Frappe.
Thank you Monmouth College for asking us to participate in this fun event.
See you soon!

10/01/2021

Due to the weather, Classics Day V will be taking place in the Huff Athletic Center tomorrow, Saturday the 2nd, from 1-4PM. All activities and scheduled events, including the Fusion Fest shows, will still occur.

We will have Greek food, provided free of charge, from 12-1:30 while supplies last, along with Greek Nescafe coffee made by Tin Cup from 1-4 while supplies last, also free of charge.

At the event, there will be a raffle for a $25 gift card to the bookstore and other possible prizes upon completing a scavenger and earning different awards throughout the day.

We hope to see you there!

-Olivia Matlock and the Classics Day Leadership class