Conventus Aestivi–including one across the pond 1
As the solstitial optimi dierum draw nigh and most of us have a brief while to catch our breath and spend time with family and friends, it’s time to think about a summer workshop or study program. For those of us interested in Active Latin workshops, it’s a banner year!
For teachers, college instructors, graduate and undergraduate students we have, in no particular order:
•The various programs of the Accademia Vivarium Novum;
•the SALVI Rusticationes at the Claymount Mansion in Charles Town, WV;
•the Septimanae Latinae Europaeae (two locations);
•the Conventiculum Viterbiense in Italy;
•the Conventiculum Lexingtoniense, to be followed immediately by the
•Conventus ALF (Academia Latinitati Fovendae), which is being held in the US for the first time;
•the Conventiculum Dickinsoniense; and
•the Conventiculum Bostoniense.
Specifically for our students on the high school level, there are:
•SALVI’s Academia Aestiva Latina at the Getty Villa in Malibu, CA; and
•Paideia’s high school programs in Italy and Greece.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I hope CANE members will take a moment to point out any egregious omissions. I’d also like to draw your attention to one interesting and friendly group in Europe that is not well known here, the Seminarium LVPAnum Aestivum, which I was fortunate to attend in 2014, when it was held August 11-17 in Poznań, Poland, at Adam Mickiewicz University.
LVPA, the Latinitati Vivae Provehendae Associatio, is technically a German nonprofit. But its active membership hails from a wide area of central Europe. In 2014 30 participants came to Poznań from the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Iceland, and Slovenia as well as from Poland and Germany. Sessions consisted of scholae on particular authors, modeling of classroom exercises, recitations of original poetry, performances of plays and music, and conventional academic papers, all delivered in Latin.
The unus sermo, voces multae problem was larger than I anticipated. The majority of participants used the restored pronunciation of Latin, including the Italians. A number of the Germans, however, used a traditional German pronunciation that I found really opaque, wherein the diphthongs are pronounced as in German: Theseus, for example, comes out /Te:ZOIS/ The Q and A after the paper I gave became something of a personal nightmare because of this.
On the brighter side, original poetry, songs and plays are much more prominent than at any North American conventiculum I have heard of. I participated in a 20-minute play about the Athenian youth sent to Minos in Crete written in lovely septenarii. And my wife Nancy, a very modest Latinist but accomplished singer, made her Polish stage debut in a delightful operatic scene about Aeneas’ early days in Italy (Nancy sang the goddess Flora–fully clothed, I might add). These dramatic works are written well in advance by talented people who really enjoy creative writing in Latin.
And several truly marvelous Latin speakers attend, many of whom are quite young. Cäcilie (Caecilia) Koch, from Münster, Germany; and Paolo Pezzuolo, from Valdagno, Italy, are two who speak astonishingly correct and natural Latin. I must also mention Inga Pessarra-Grimm, from Kamen, Germany, the founder of LVPA; and my college friend Mikolaj Szymanski, from Warsaw, Poland, who is as sui generis a fellow as one might ever find.
Here is as good a place as any to mention that one must be prepared for the European approach to error, or perceived error, correction, which is rather more forward than American practice. And, outside of the sessions, people are very relaxed about what language you speak. This was a godsend in my case, since my wife knows little Latin. Many reached out to her to make her feel welcome.
The total cost of the week-long seminar, hotel room for two for six nights, 17 meals over 7 days, and a day-long excursion to the oldest archeological sights in Poland, was 265 Euros per person or $336 at the time. This rivals the low cost of the Conventiculum Dickinsoniense at $300. Of course, one has to _get_ to central Europe. But Polish cities are only a few hours by express train from Berlin.
Martinus Loch, who is on Facebook, is probably the best person to check in with about LVPA’s summer plans. Nota bene: Martinus prefers to correspond in Latin.