Thaden School Latin Students Visit U of A for 'Classics Day'

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Thaden Latin students playing "Lost Recipes" at the World Languages & Digital Humanities Studio.

Last month, the Classical Studies Program in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures had the honor of hosting a group of Thaden School Latin students and their professors, Noreen Kupernick and Rob Conn, for a Classics Day at the U of A. 

The group's first stop was a tour of the University Museum with curator Laurel Lamb and assistant professor Rhodora Vennarucci for a behind-the-scenes look at the collections. Students had the opportunity to interact with artifacts from the museum's Greco-Roman collection, including an Attic Red-Figure vase used to store wine, a bronze figurine of Hercules and Roman Republican coins. One student said that having the opportunity to hold ancient artifacts was an experience he would never forget.

The group then met classics faculty, graduate students and Eta Sigma Phi students for lunch in the Arkansas Union food court before visiting teaching assistant professor Joy Reeber's LATN 1013: Elementary Latin II class, where they had the chance to observe a college-level language class. 

In the afternoon, the group visited the World Language & Digital Humanities Studio for a tour of the space and a hands-on virtual reality demonstration. The demo was led by studio researcher Michael Hall, a doctoral candidate in the Comparative Literature & Culture Studies Program, who co-founded the VR Club for Language Learning with fellow studio researcher Jhonatan Carmona. Hall and Vennarucci shared classics-inspired VR apps used in teaching and research. 

One of the virtual reality applications used was called "Lost Recipes," a serious game that tasks players with completing a provided recipe while navigating the kitchen in an ancient Greek house, learning about the culture through cooking. Thaden students worked individually to follow the instructions in the game and successfully prepare dishes that were staples in the ancient Greek diet.

Alongside "Lost Recipes," Thaden students also tested an application designed by the Virtual Roman Retail project. This application transports players to a street in Pompeii and allows them to experience what it might have been like to browse for goods in an ancient Roman shop.

Not only did Thaden students have the chance to meet and talk with the talented students and faculty in the Classical Studies Department and have a memorable VR experience at the studio, but they were also immersed in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome — something that may not be otherwise possible without access to the University Museum and VR games and equipment.

For more information, or to coordinate a similar visit, please contact Vennarucci at rhodorav@uark.edu.