As students of Latin, we have come to experience Paideia during each of our class meetings, at times declaring passionately that we have just encountered a Paideia moment. “Ecce! Fulgentia Paideia!” we declare, “behold! Paideia flashes!” In our presentation, we will give personal accounts of the ways in which the study of the Latin language has shaped our understanding of other disciplines, and in turn, the ways that the study of other disciplines have enhanced our understanding of Latin. In effect, we would like to share what Paideia means to us.

Paideia flashes have come to us not only in humanities classes but also in other, perhaps unexpected, disciplines. One of us observed the influences of Roman culture in an accounting course; another found Latin-derived words in novels for English classes; sociology, communications, and World Civilizations have all been discussed during our translations of original Latin texts. Even chemistry and biology courses have been referenced during our discussions of Roman literature and culture.

While our examples are separate, our experiences of Paideia through the study of Latin are anything but discrete. Rather, Paideia has become such a tangible influence on our study that Paideia flashes have become a routine aspect of our class time.

abstract prepared by Natalia Kapacinskas