Reading Greek or Latin, 'The Power of Rhetoric,' in Tusculum
July 5 - 15, 2025
A unique summer learning experience in the hills outside Rome, Italy designed for high school students to advance their expertise in reading Latin or Greek. Here, near Tusculum, where Cicero honed the art of rhetoric, the Classics come alive through the interplay of public speaking, ancient history, and travel.
The Power of Speech in Times of Crisis
Calder Classics invites dedicated students to join us at Rome’s doorstep for this unique academic experience. We reside one-half hour outside Rome in a gracious villa near the ruins of Tusculum, Cicero’s favorite residence and retreat for study and literary work. Here, students of the Classics gather with their teachers to read famous orations in either Greek or Latin. Inspired by some of the greatest speeches of ancient times, we analyze the theory and practice of public speaking in antiquity and today.
Over this ten-day program, works of the classical world become more vivid through their interconnection with modern rhetorical masterpieces and students’ engagement with the power of words. Our days are split between Greek or Latin readings and English rhetoric sessions in our residence, and visits to the Roman Forum and local archaeological sites. Influenced by their academic and cultural experience, students are given time and guidance to create their own speeches. Each portion of the course informs and builds on the other.
Students currently in 9th through 12th grade are invited to apply.
Master Greek or Latin Rhetoric
In Greek and Latin sessions, participants read, translate, and discuss Greek or Latin oratory in a interactive “salon” style environment. Students gain valuable sight-reading experience with such influential rhetorical geniuses as Plato and Lysias for Greek students or Catullus and Cicero for Latin students. Given that participants join us from a variety of schools, we begin with a review of Greek or Latin grammar. We then analyze various poems and orations from both a grammatical and literary perspective, engaging in such topics as the significance of rhetorical devices, meter, and intertextuality.
At least one year of reading original (or slightly adapted) Greek or Latin texts is required.
Analyze Rhetorical Masterpieces in English
Inspired by the power of ancient orations, students analyze masterful modern speeches in English, focusing on rhetoric delivered in times of societal, political, and moral crisis.
In our rhetoric lessons, students explore a variety of modern speeches tracing their techniques back to the ancient masters of Greek and Latin oratory. We analyze the words of celebrated orators who provide assurance, direction, and moral guidance through dark days, and we examine speeches from today’s top thinkers wrestling with the crises of daily living. The readings give students an entry point to discuss rhetorical devices, structure, and the strategic use of language. Participants then develop and polish their own persuasive arguments using techniques gleaned from ancient and modern oratory. Each student receives peer and instructor feedback on their writing. The course culminates in a reading where each student shares a speech they have polished during the program.
Dive into Italy’s Art, Culture and History
During our time in Italy, we engage with local sites that are related thematically to, or directly inspired by, the literature we read together. Guided by local ancient historians, we explore the Forum in Rome, archaeological parks, and ancient venues where great speeches were written or delivered. Our discussions delve into the historical context and broader themes of the places we visit as well as their connection to the Greek and Latin curriculum.
Sample Daily Schedule
While the schedule will be flexible, the general plan is as follows:
9-10:00 AM Group Breakfast
10-1:00 PM Latin or Greek/Site Visits
1-3:000 PM Lunch and Break
3-6:00 PM English Rhetoric/Site Visits
6-10:00 PM Dinner and Evening Activities
Accommodations:
Our residence is in an elegant ten-bedroom villa nestled in the famed hills near Tusculum. Located a short one-half-hour drive from Rome by taxi or car the villa features two pools, a tennis court, a billiard room, and gracious reception areas where we gather to read, analyze our texts, and engage in conversation. With access to our own professional kitchen we cook, study, and relax together in a supportive and comfortable environment.
All rooms are shared. Each student has their own single bed. There is a full laundry with washers and dryers.
Accommodations
Dates and Fees: July 5 – 15, 2025
The $6,800 tuition includes accommodations, transportation with the group within Italy, museum entries, instruction and course materials. Breakfast and dinner are also included; lunch is at students’ expense. Airfare is not included.
Application Deadline
Students are accepted on a rolling admissions basis while space is available. Please submit your application by the deadline of April 1 to receive priority consideration for this program. Applications received before April 1 will be reviewed as they are received, and acceptances will be granted upon evaluation by our staff. Applications received after April 1 will be accepted if spots are still available.
Your application will be processed and you will receive a reply regarding your acceptance status within one to two weeks of your submission date provided that we have received your teacher reference.
Transportation
Students may choose to travel on the same flight as our staff on either or both legs of the journey between New York City and Rome. Calder Classics will arrange transportation between the Rome airport and the residence ONLY for those students who choose to travel on a flight with our staff, or who coordinate with our flight at arrival or departure. The details of the flight will be specified in advance. Students traveling by themselves must make their own connections to the residence.
Our Scholars
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Cindy Calder
Cindy Calder
Cindy Calder founded Calder Classics in 2012 while studying Greek and Latin at Columbia University. She earned her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her M.A. in Classics from Columbia University. She also spent several summers in the hallowed halls of CUNY’s Latin/Greek Institute, where the extremely intense but very rewarding course of study inspired her to share her passion for the Classics through her own high school and adult programs. Cindy founded Calder Classics on the belief that the study of the Classics, when complemented with a first-hand experience of art, history, literature, and modern culture, enriches younger students’ academic experience and encourages adults to re-engage in the joys of learning. At Calder Classics, mixing students of all ages in a shared learning environment has proven intellectually stimulating in wonderfully unexpected ways. Cindy taught Latin at Trinity School, the Brearley School, and Saint Joseph High School in New York City, and she has taught many courses for Calder Classics in-person and online. She has extensive tutoring experience in Latin and Greek. Cindy lives with her husband in Massachusetts and is the mother of four grown children.
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Dr. Eric Casey
Dr. Eric Casey
Dr. Eric Casey earned his B.A. from Haverford College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a Professor of Classics at Sweet Briar College for 15 years where he was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award twice and had a teaching and research focus on Greek cultural history and Latin literature and poetics. He has published on strategies of commemoration in ancient Greek funerary inscriptions and the threshold between the living and the dead, as well as on the Great Library at Alexandria, connections between ancient Greek mystery cults and the Freemasons, among other fascinating topics. Dr. Casey is also the recipient of the American Philological Association’s award for Excellence in Teaching at the College Level, and the Classical Association of Virginia’s Teacher of the Year Award. He currently teaches Latin and Greek at The Trinity School in New York City and served as one of the official graders for the AP Latin Exam for over 10 years. Dr. Casey teaches several online courses for Calder Classics and has co-led multiple trips to Greece and Italy.
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Lizzy Kildahl
Lizzy Kildahl
Lizzy Kildahl graduated from Williams College in 2014 with a major in History and a focus on the Middle East. While at Williams she took every opportunity to study Spanish and Portuguese on campus and abroad, becoming proficient in both, and developing a love of learning languages and traveling the world. After graduation, she taught English for a year in Northern Thailand. Lizzy is currently in her tenth year at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, a semester school in Washington D.C., where she teaches U.S. History, Comparative Government and Politics. She is Dean of Faculty Emeritus. Among other things, Lizzy’s U.S. History class focuses on understanding American political leadership through primary source analysis, including seminal political speeches. Lizzy was a chaperone for Calder Classics in 2015, 2023, and 2024, and she is returning in 2025 as a co-teacher of the “Power of Rhetoric” class in Tusculum and as a chaperone in Florence.
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Alyssa Northrop
Alyssa Northrop
Alyssa Northrop received her B.A. in English and Creative Writing at Williams College and her M.F.A. in fiction writing at Brooklyn College. She has taught English on a Princeton in Asia Fellowship and undergraduate composition and literature courses at Brooklyn College. Alyssa is a life-long student of the Classics, having studied Latin and Greek in high school at Saint Ann’s and modern adaptations of classical literature at Williams. She has fiction and non-fiction pieces published in the Colorado Review, the South Carolina Review, and Epiphany Magazine, and she is working on her first novel. When Alyssa is not writing, she works as a writing and humanities tutor for kids of all ages. Here is her website.
Alyssa spent a summer chaperoning for Calder Classics in 2014 and returned in 2017 and 2019 to teach a Creative Writing Workshop in Florence and online in 2020 and 2021. She led our Creative Writing Workshop in Florence in 2023 and she will co-teach Reading Latin + Creative Writing in Florence in 2024. Alyssa is the first recipient of the Calder Classics Scholar-in-Residence award.
