33852 - Teaching of Latin Language and Culture with Laboratory (1) (2nd cycle)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students have improved their knowledge of Latin Language and are able to communicate contents related to Latin language and culture in a didactically effective way. They know the appropriate tools and methodologies for teaching Latin language and culture.

Course contents

At School with Ovid

ENCOUNTER WITH THE TEXT: Ovid's Metamorphoses

Ovid, a widely read poet even in ancient school, has also been the subject of interesting educational experiments in more recent times.
The Metamorphoses, in particular, lends itself well to various types of reading approach due to its narrative richness: it can be read in translation to spark interest in ancient myths; with the original text alongside to highlight significant and evocative expressions (Ovid is an important source for the proverbial tradition), or in Latin, to engage with a refined yet not overly complex text. Finally, the poem's rich literary and artistic legacy provides an opportunity to explore not only textual, but also visual reinterpretations within the European tradition.
Attempts have also been made to use Ovid as a gateway to language learning. An interesting example is the 1922 textbook Latin via Ovid by N. Goldman and J. E. Nyenhuis, which has been reprinted several times, including a second edition in 1982.
This course will therefore experiment with and verify the effectiveness of using Ovid's text to teach Latin language and literature. Examples of how Ovid's text can be used in language and literature teaching will be presented. Finally, laboratory activities will use Ovid's Metamorphoses as a starting point to create innovative teaching methods and tools.

TEXT SELECTION: Students are required to read the following text in Latin: Ov. met. 5 (The Abduction of Proserpina), 6 (Arachne), 146–315 (Niobe) and 10 (Orpheus and Eurydice), as well as 14 and 233–307 (Circe). Knowledge of the hexameter is required.

LABORATORY: There are two types of workshop activities:

- evaluation of translations.

- design of language teaching or literature teaching exercises based on Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

CORE CONCEPT OF TEACHING LATIN
- The institutional framework: the new ministerial guidelines.
- Elements of language teaching: translation in schools, teaching methodologies and models for learning Latin.
- Elements of literature teaching: models for teaching based on selected Ovidian texts on the syllabus. For this section, all of the readings related to the institutional framework listed in the bibliography below are required.

The course starts on 9th November 2026

Please, note: For those who need to refresh or extend their linguistic knowledge, we recommend, for morphology, the study of  I. Dionigi – E. Riganti – L. Morisi, Il latino, Bari, Laterza 2011 (oppure Verba et res. Morfosintassi e lessico del latino, 2 voll., Bari, Laterza, 1999); for Syntax, A. Traina-T. Bertotti, Sintassi normativa della lingua latina: Teoria, Bologna 2003 (3rd ed.).

 

Readings/Bibliography

LATIN TEXTS

For Metamorphoses, we recommend Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses, edited by P. Bernardini Marzolla, Turin: Einaudi, 1994, or any edition with a side-by-side text (including English translations). Teaching materials for the passages covered in the syllabus will be available on Virtuale.
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TEXTS ON CORE CONCEPTS

1) A. Balbo, Insegnare latino: sentieri di ricerca per una didattica ragionevole, Torino 2023, 2a ed., pp. 73-101 cap. 4 (models for glottodidactic)

2) One essay of your choice from the volume.: V. Garulli, L. Pasetti, M. Viale, I disturbi specifici dell'apprendimento e insegnamento linguistico: la didattica dell'italiano e delle lingue classiche nella scuola secondaria di secondo grado alla prova dell'inclusione, Bologna 2021

3) G. Milanese, John Erskine, i “Great Books” e i classici antichi, in Latina Didaxis XII, Genova 2013, 23-46 or one chapter of your choice from the volume G. Milanese, Le ragioni del latino, Brescia 2024.

4) L. Pasetti, Quale traduzione a scuola? Vantaggi e svantaggi di un esercizio ‘difficile’, comunicazione del 24 settembre 2015 nel seminario di studio "Insegnare i Classici - Apprendere competenze", nell'ambito del progetto “Didattica delle Lingue e delle Letterature Classiche”, organizzato da USR del Veneto e AICC, Padova, or L. Pasetti, Nuovi strumenti per l’apprendimento del lessico latino: il progetto IN-EULALIA, Nuova Secondaria 44, 2026, cds. 

CRITICAL READINGS

   One of the following readings is required:

- C. Allen, Ovid and art, in Ph. Hardie, The Cambridge Companion to Ovid, Cambridge 2002, pp. 336-367.

- M. Kamil, Trauma and recovery in the rape narratives of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, TAPA 154.2 (2024) 503-536.

- J.F. Miller, C. E. Newlands, Handbook to the Reception of Ovid, Newark 2014, a chapter of your choice.

- G. Rosati, Tempo del desiderio e fuga delle forme: la donna-acqua Aretusa e un testo che corre, in H. Casanova-Robin, Ovide, figures de l'hybride: parcours de l’herméneutique philosophique à la Renaissance (Colloques, congrès et conférences sur la Renaissance, 64), Paris 2009, 235-245.

- C. Segal, Orpheus: The Myth of the Poet, Baltimore 1989, a chapter of your choice, pp. 118-154 (Orpheus in Rilke).

- Th. Ziolkowski, Ovid and the Moderns, Cornell University Press, Ithaca 2005, a chapter of your choice.

further readings may be recommended during the classes.

N.B.

Students with SLDs or temporary or permanent disabilities: it is recommended that you contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it ) and your teacher to discuss the most effective strategies for following the course and/or preparing for the exam.

Non-attending students are required to take two critical readings and, regarding the Metamorphoses, the following test is also required: met. 14, 308-440. Erasmus students are kindly asked to contact Prof. Pasetti before making their final decision.

Teaching methods

The course combines teacher lectures, workshops and seminars: students will be required to share the teaching process.

Assessment methods

PREREQUISITES: essential prerequisite for the examination is a good knowledge of Latin morphosyntax. This will be assessed in the first part of the oral interview.

The exam consist of a conversation with the examiner; and includes:

- a preliminary linguistic assessment (the candidate must be able to independently translate the examination text, identify and describe the phonetic anche morphosyntactic structures of Latin in a didactically effective way know and read the metres of the texts under examination)

- an assessment of the following abilities:

• to discuss the essays included in bibliography and to highlight issues and problems related to teaching Latin in secondary school.
  
• to estabilish the literary backgrounds of the texts examined in class; identify linguistic and stylistic peculiarities and develop teaching proposals that are useful for effectively communicating the focused concepts.

Assessment guidelines:

failing grades: lack of basic linguistic knowledge and inability to produce a correct translation and interpretation of the text. Subsequent inability to plan effectively teaching.

passing grades: basic linguistic knowledge, translation and interpretation of texts mostly correct, but inaccurate and lacking in autonomy. Basic teaching skills: the student is able to plan teaching, but not in an autonomous way.

positive grades: language proficiency at an intermediate level; translation and interpretation of the texts fully correct, but not always accurate and autonomous. Good teaching skills: the student is able to plan an effective teaching and to reflect on teaching.

excellent grades: language proficiency at an upper-mid level; translation and interpretation of the texts not only correct but performed with autonomy and precision. Excellent teaching skills: the student is able to plan original and effective teaching strategies and to reflect on teaching.

N.B.

Students with LDS or a temporary or permanent disability: it is advisable to contact the relevant university office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it) in good time: it will be their task to propose any adjustments to the students concerned, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the teacher for approval; the teacher will assess their appropriateness in relation to the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Platform Iol, websites, online support for learning and teaching Latin

Office hours

See the website of Lucia Pasetti