The Latin/Greek Institute

The Latin/Greek Institute is offered by

Brooklyn College and

The Graduate School and University Center

of the City University of New York at

The Graduate Center

365 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10016

Telephone: (212) 817-2081

e-mail: rfleischer@gc.cuny.edu

Information for Summer 2008

The Latin/Greek Institute: A General Description

The Latin/Greek Institute of The City University of New York, founded in 1973, is a collaborative effort of the City University Graduate Center and Brooklyn College. The Institute offers intensive, total-immersion programs in ancient languages during the summer that enable serious, highly motivated high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to cover the material normally included in several semesters of conventional work in a single summer. All programs are team-taught by experienced instructors. In addition to being intensive, the programs are unique in that they provide 24-hour availability of faculty to assist students by phone in the preparation of assignments, hourly rotation of staff to provide for exposure to a variety of approaches, and a low student-faculty ratio.

No auditors are permitted in the programs of the Latin/Greek Institute. Admission is by application only.

The Institute is held at the City University Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue at 34th St. in midtown Manhattan. The Center is easily accessible by all major means of public transportation.

The Basic Programs: General Information

The basic programs of the Latin/Greek Institute enable students with no previous training in either language to cover the material normally included in four to six semesters of college-level Latin or Greek in ten weeks of instruction and, upon completing the program, to enroll in senior undergraduate reading courses.

The work of the Institute is extremely demanding, with the equivalent of one week's material in a normal college setting covered each day. Classes begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, with only a short break for lunch. Quizzes are given daily. There are substantial nightly assignments, and there are weekly examinations. The programs provide daily drills and a review for students who want extra help. Each student has a faculty advisor to work with on any difficulties the student is having. No one should enroll who has any other commitment for the summer, e.g. term papers, job, family problems, etc.

Many students of previous Institutes have found the work the most demanding of their academic careers but also the most rewarding.

Twelve undergraduate credits can be earned in either language through Brooklyn College. 

The Basic Program in Latin

The first five weeks of the Latin program are spent in mastering the forms and syntax of the language while selections from the poetry of Catullus and the prose of Caesar are read. In the last five weeks, students study major authors and genres ranging from the classical period through the Renaissance.

Latin Institute: Required of All Students

Classical Prose: Cicero and Sallust. A close translation and comparative examination of the syntax, style, and rhetoric of Cicero's complete First Oration Against Catiline and of selections from Sallust's The Conspiracy of Catiline.

Augustan Epic: Vergil. Book IV of the Aeneid is read in its entirety with a view toward an appreciation of Vergilian style and poetic technique.

Survey of Latin Literature. Lectures and discussions on the development of Latin prose and poetry from Livius Andronicus through the Silver Age and into the medieval period and the Renaissance. Representative passages are translated and analyzed.

Latin Prose Composition. Simple and complex English sentences are translated into Latin with a threefold purpose: to review basic rules of syntax, to expand knowledge of Latin syntax by applying basic rules previously learned to more intricate constructions, and to call attention to matters of word order, style, and prose rhythm in order to create a sensitive response to the art of Latin prose.

Classical Lyric Poetry. Selections from the four books of Horace's Odes are read and analyzed in terms of themes, language, and metrics.

Latin Institute Electives:

Each student will choose one two-week mini-course (18 class hours). A minimum of three of the following will be offered.

The Basic Program in Greek

The first six weeks of the Greek program are spent in mastering the forms and syntax of the language while reading relatively simple selections of unadapted prose and poetry. In the last four weeks, students study major authors and genres ranging from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods.

Greek Institute: Required of All Students

Attic Prose: Plato. A close translation and examination of the syntax, style, and rhetoric of Plato's Ion.

Survey of Greek Prose and Poetry. Representative selections of Greek prose and poetry of the archaic and classical periods will be studied. Emphasis will be placed on rhetoric, metrics, the development of style, and dialectical differences.

Greek Tragedy: Euripides. Extensive selections from Euripides' Medea are read with a view toward an appreciation of Euripides' style, rhetoric, meter, and poetic technique.

Greek Prose Composition. Simple and compex English sentences are translated into Greek with a threefold purpose: to review basic rules of syntax, to expand knowledge of Greek syntax by applying basic rules previously learned to more intricate constructions, and to call attention to matters of word order, style, and prose rhythm in order to create a sensitive response to the art of Greek prose.

Greek Institute Electives:

Each student will choose one two-week mini-course (18 class hours). A minimum of three of the following will be offered.

The Upper Level Programs in Latin and Greek

The upper level programs in Latin and Greek permit qualified undergraduates who have completed the Basic Program in Latin or Greek plus additional upper level work in the language, or at least two and a half years (five semesters) of college-level Latin or Greek to read in depth a substantial body of literature. The programs last seven weeks.

During the first week, students review intensively basic morphology and syntax and establish a common terminology. For the remaining six weeks, the major focus is on translating and analyzing a large body of material. Daily quizzes, special tutorials, and frequent drills are included. The large amount of reading is enriched by regular prose composition exercises. Throughout, there is emphasis on aspects of criticism that derive from a linguistic analysis of a text and that cannot be acquired from a translation. Graduate students of literature and related fields are welcome.

Classes meet Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

The upper level programs, like the basic ones, utilize the team-teaching approach, and faculty are available twenty-four hours a day. There are substantial nightly assignments. The work of the programs is extremely demanding, with the equivalent of one week's material in a normal college setting covered each day. No one should enroll who has any other commitment for the summer. Daily attendance is required. Eight undergraduate credits can be earned through Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. Whether or not these credits can be applied elsewhere is the decision of authorities at the student's home school.

Upper Level Latin

Works to be read will include the following (in their entirety unless otherwise noted):

Additional selections will be read at sight. 

Upper Level Greek

Works to be read will include the following (in their entirety unless otherwise noted):

Additional selections will be read at sight.

Faculty

The principles of team teaching and careful planning and pre-teaching of every class have helped to make the LGI so successful. Faculty are on twenty-four hour call to assist students any time during the day or night. These are programs of total immersion and total commitment on the part of both faculty and students.

Faculty for 2008 will be announced early in the spring semester.

Admission

Candidates for admission to the Latin/Greek Institute should be able to provide evidence of seriousness of purpose, motivation, and considerable language ability. Application forms may be obtained from the office of the Latin/Greek Institute, City University Graduate School, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10016, or you may call us at (212) 817-2081 or e-mail us (rfleischer@gc.cuny.edu). The admissions committee meets regularly, and successful candidates are notified as soon as possible after we receive the completed application.

The deadline for applying to the basic programs is May 2, 2008.

The application and all supporting documents must be received by this date.

Housing

Unfortunately, the City University Graduate Center will not have any dormitory rooms available for summer 2008.

A private company, Educational Housing Services, which provides dormitory rooms for students at several colleges in the New York area, will have rooms available in several of its facilities, including the St. George Residence, the Clark Street Residence (both in Brooklyn Heights), and the New Yorker Hotel (on West 34th Street in Manhattan). Further information is available at the company's web site, or you may contact Mr. George Carhart, Marketing Associate, Educational Housing Services, 31 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10010. The telephone is: 212-977-9099, ext. 330.

When contacting EHS please tell them that you will be a student in the Latin/Greek Institute.

Accommodations may also be available at International House, 500 Riverside Drive, New York NY 10027-3916. Please contact Ms. Marie Gjoni, Assistant Director of Admissions, at 212-280-7668 or admissions@ihouse.nyc.org.

Please note that neither the Latin/Greek Institute nor CUNY has any connection with Educational Housing Services or International House. Students will be responsible for making their own arrangements directly.

Tuition and Fees

All schedules for tuition and fees are set by the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York and are subject to change by the Board without notice. Upon acceptance into the program, students will be informed of the exact tuition and fees and the payment schedule. Students in the basic programs will pay and register on the first day of classes. For the purposes of determining tuition charges, a student is considered a resident of the State of New York if he or she has his or her principal place of abode in the State of New York for a period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the first day of classes for the session for which the residency determination is made, states his or her intention to live permanently and maintain his or her principal place of abode in New York State, and is not in the United States on a temporary visa. Documentation of state residency must be provided, as described in the package of application materials.

Tuition

The Basic Programs

     New York State Residents ......................... $2,040

     Non-New York State Residents ..................... $4,320

Upper Level Program in Greek

     New York State Residents ......................... $1,360

     Non-New York State Residents ..................... $2,880

Program Fee (for all programs) ....    $35

Application Fee (for all programs):

     Students who have never attended Brooklyn College.... $50

     Students who have attended Brooklyn College

            at some time in the past...................... $10

     Current Brooklyn College Students ................... no fee

Note: No money is to accompany the application.  Accepted applicants will receive instructions about payment of tuition and fees.

Financial Aid

Through the auspices of the Floyd L. Moreland Scholarship Fund of the Latin/Greek Institute, a limited amount of money (contributed entirely by alumnae/i and friends of the Institute) will be available to help reduce tuition costs for some exceptionally qualified students who demonstrate need. A separate scholarship application must be filed. This can be obtained by writing to the Latin/Greek Institute at the address given at the beginning of this brochure. Filing this form also makes the student eligible for consideration for the Christina M. Dunkle Memorial Scholarship Award. These awards are privately funded and are not administered directly by The City University of New York.

The deadline for applying for financial aid in 2008 is April 11. All supporting materials must be received by this date.

Undergraduates who are residents of the State of New York may be eligible for tuition assistance through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). Check with the financial aid office at your college or university. The phone number of the TAP office at Brooklyn College is (718) 951-4165.

Since our funds are extremely limited, scholarship applicants are urged to investigate the possibility of financial aid from all outside sources, including student bank loans. Information about Guaranteed Student Loans (GSL) should be secured from the financial aid officer at the school at which the student is matriculated for a degree.

2008 Calendar

Basic Programs in Latin and Greek



Monday, June 9
First day of classes
Friday, July 4
No classes
Monday, August 18
Final examination (basic programs)
Tuesday, August 19
Last day (basic programs)



We will gladly answer your questions by phone or letter or e-mail.

Telephone: 212 817-2081 (10 a.m.- 5 p.m. any business day)

 Mail:

Latin/Greek Institute
The Graduate School and University Center
City University of New York
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
e-mail: rfleischer@gc.cuny.edu

For information about the CUNY Ph.D. Program in Classics, click here.

For information about Classics at Brooklyn College, click here.

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