This is an unusual and extraordinary Latin course for beginners (so you don't need to know anything about Latin to enroll in this course), which differs from many other schools or university Latin courses —because it doesn’t focus on learning grammar rules and translating (actually decoding) too difficult texts, but its goal is to learn the Latin language in an enjoyable and practical way as an international and timeless medium of communication. In this course you will acquire basic language skills in the Latin language (reading and listening comprehension, spontaneous speech production, and writing skills) within the scope of the following subjects: the topography of Imperium Romanum, family life, and the closest degrees of kinship, master-slave society relationships, a Roman villa and living in it, shopping and trade. We will read Oerberg's 'Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata' for a collective thirty hours during which we will cover the first eight units.
The goals of this course are:
1. to dispel notions that learning Latin is different or more difficult than other languages;
2. to form good habits in language learning, applicable to the acquisition of other languages;
3. to incorporate modern methodologies of language acquisition as well as available technology and resources. You will come to appreciate Latin as an international language, both in the past and still today.
In this course you will:
- acquire basic language skills in Latin (reading comprehension, listening comprehension, spontaneous speech production, etc.);
- learn how to effectively develop your skills in Latin using digital resources available on the Internet;
- appreciate Latin as a language of international communication through the ages and today.
The republican tradition is not only a venerable European Heritage (Q. Skinner, M. Van Gelderen), but also as a project of social and political set-up for modern Europe, which protects freedom of individuals (freedom as non-domination), limits the state power over individuals (imperium), but also empowers disadvantage individuals and groups at the same time (dominium). The idea by Philip Pettit has got interesting extensions: like constitutional design (R. Bellamy), multicultural identities (C. Laborde), legal arrangements (S. Besson, J.L. Marti). Designing an inclusive state for modern pluralistic knowledge societies is not an easy task. I will analyse the condominium model which covers how the state operate vis-a`-vis the people and under which condition the people (demos) have an influence and control (kratos). The crucial problem of the model deals with solving conflicts and disagreements between parties by reference to auditors and [independent] experts. This question leads me to the second objective: the experts vs. lay knowledge in context of modern knowledge societies (N. Stehr, S. Fuller). I will discuss recent developments in expert studies and (H. Colins, R. Evans, S. P. Turner, R. Koppl), and the concept of representation, in use of science in democracy context (H. Pitkin, M. Brown).
