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hekebolos

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  1. hekebolos

    Some advice

    Hello everyone, Second year grad student here, and it's my third quarter as TA. I've been teaching the same class since I've begun, but for some odd reason, this quarter seems abnormally difficult. I'm responsible for teaching essentially a vocabulary class designed to help students in the sciences break down and decipher the meanings of technical words. Needless to say, the textbook is dry; students are provided prefixes, bases, and suffixes, and example terminology. A ton of rote memorization is required just by the sheer nature of the course. It is not scientific, but takes an incredibly philological approach. This, I'm sure, irks some of the students. It's offered by the Classics (Latin and Greek) department, and immediately there's a disconnect. Since my first quarter, I've learned quite a bit about trying to shift around each lesson. I've tried to draw in material unrelated to Classics to make the content seem more relevant and useful, and this was received well in previous classes. There have been: word construction exercises, articles drawn from the sciences whereby they have to define terms in context, activities where they can create "names" for fictional diseases/creatures, drills/vocabulary discussion (so they can understand how terms are used and provide historical background if available), lectures on Greek medicine/medical theory, and games. In previous quarters, particularly over the summer, students were engaged and rather "loose." This quarter, however, there is hardly any participation even in the more creative activities or the games (except when there's extra credit). Usually, I'm not concerned with these "blank stares," but it's been coupled by a couple of students who tend to make snide comments about the material to whomever is sitting next to them. Even the announcement of competitive games is greeted by eye rolls. Does anyone have any advice on how to make vocabularly building more engaging? I'm willing to accept that it might just be the class, but I'm running out of ideas.
  2. edgirl, Thanks for the quick response. I was accepted to my university's Classics PhD program, which includes both MA and PhD work. Prior to "formally" moving on to PhD status, we have to go through the MA requirements first, which I'm slated to complete this year; and this requires both departmental approval and my consent to move on to the PhD track. So upon my completion of the MA requirements, I will have to inform the department that I do *not* plan to move on to PhD work, and I will be awarded the MA regardless. I opted to stay an extra year to do MA work because of my TAship (which by proxy includes more teaching experience) and so that I may receive stronger recs from my professors. Essentially, I had to decide this year whether the PhD track was the right one for me, and I didn't want to be in a position whereby I would have regretted committing so many years to doctoral work several years into it. And thanks for the heads up about the NYC Teaching Fellows program; I was completely unaware of it, and it's definitely something about which I plan to research more.
  3. Hello everyone, I'm currently in a PhD program in Classics, but lately I've been reconsidering my decision to continue my studies in that field professionally. Having been teaching a couple of quarters at my university, I've realized that I went about grad school all wrong, and that I want, first and foremost, to focus on teaching and pedagogy as opposed strictly to academic research. I'm looking for programs that would lead to an initial certification for social studies education at the secondary level. Once I've completed my MA, I also plan on getting certified to teach Latin as well. I'm hoping to find some perspectives from some of you guys on how to approach the application process and what programs I should consider. I suppose some background info might help you out: As noted before, I'm currently in a PhD program for Classics, and I have BAs in History, Political Science, and Classics as well. I've recently been awarded a TAship by my university, whereby I will be responsible for teaching two sessions of a 200-level class per quarter (I'm currently in my second quarter of class instruction). I graduated summa cum laude as an undergraduate and I'm currently holding a 3.9 GPA in my grad program. Aside from my experience teaching at university, I was also a substitute at my hometown's school district, but it was nothing that substantial. There are also other on-campus activities and leadership positions I held as an undergraduate. I took the GRE years ago, and I'm due to retake them in late August (my old score was V: 640 Q: 650 A: 5.5). I imagine the additional years of Latin and Greek will have a positive impact. I would like to attend school in the NY metropolitan area. I've been considering TC, NYU, and even Lynch School as options, but I don't know what the funding situation is for any of these programs. I would prefer to attend TC as I would like to work in more urban settings, but I don't know how much of a chance I have in being accepted. In general, though, are there any significant things I should look out for while applying? What should I emphasize in my application? Like I said in the beginning, I had been so focused on Classics programs that this all seems a bit alien to me, so any words of advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, mikeisnowhere
  4. Thanks for the prompt reply, maeisenb. Apologies for not providing extra background information. I have BAs in History and Political Science (summa cum laude), and I subsequently went back to university and earned a Classics BA (also summa); since then, I've been doing grad work predominantly with Latin and Greek. During that time, I've studied with Duke for a semester in Rome in their ICCS program, which heavily emphasized the topographical history of the city and further historical developments on the peninsula. In addition, I was selected for publication online for the Anthropology Journal (not a peer reviewed/academic journal, of course, but publication nonetheless), won a couple of Greek/Latin translation awards, and will be serving as a TA this Spring at my university. The major problem I have with strictly Classics is the heavy philological emphasis which tends to push historical analysis to the backburner. My research interests are predominantly non-elites in Roman society (slaves, foreigners, freedmen, etc.), and the intermingling of foreign elements (bilingualism/diglossia). I know that there are avenues within Classics by which I can pursue these topics, but I would prefer a more interdiscplinary approach by drawing from art or archaeological sources as opposed strickly to textual.
  5. Salvete, I'm currently working on a Classics MA, but I've reached a crossroads of sorts. While I still want to study Antiquity, I feel as though I would rather pursue an Ancient History PhD instead of continuing down the Classics path. However, I was wondering whether having a Classics MA-- instead of an Ancient History MA-- would put me at a disadvantage in the application process. Or conversely, will the fact that I've done extensive work with both Latin and Greek help distinguish me amidst other applicants? I've also considered that it's essentially a non-issue, and that admissions committees are more or less ambivalent about Classics vs. Ancient History MAs. Of course, I would appreciate any feedback. -hekebolos
  6. Salvete, I'm currently working on a Classics MA, but I've reached a crossroads of sorts. While I still want to study Antiquity, I feel as though I would rather pursue an Ancient History PhD instead of continuing down the Classics path. However, I was wondering whether having a Classics MA-- instead of an Ancient History MA-- would put me at a disadvantage in the application process. Or conversely, will the fact that I've done extensive work with both Latin and Greek help distinguish me amidst other applicants? I've also considered that it's essentially a non-issue, and that admissions committees are more or less ambivalent about Classics vs. Ancient History MAs. Of course, I would appreciate any feedback. -hekebolos
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