Classics is the study of the philosophical, artistic, and governmental foundations of western civilization, which is largely derived from Ancient Greece and Alexander the Great's control of the "known world" followed by the Roman Empire, the fall of which ushered in the dark ages, and then the Holy Roman Empire which controlled much of Europe through the catholic church.

As such Greek and Latin are part of the curriculum. The point is to be able to understand the writings in the original languages without the influence and potential bias of translation. Similar to how it is better for biblical scholars to read the original writings the bible is based on in Hebrew or other languages than to depend on English translations. They can change the curriculum to be "less white" and more "diverse" but then it's not classics anymore is it?

My father studied Latin in catholic school and college and told me it was useful in understanding parts of all of the Latin-derived romance languages. He could sorta understand my mom's parents speaking in Italian, enough to get the idea at least. Of course, Latin was still the language of catholic mass until Vatican II in the 60's allowed other languages so it was more relevant then.

The longer I live the more I am convinced that the Ivy League is just a club and the actual quality of education is not significantly better than good quality state universities. In some cases it's worse, such as law, where a lawyer friend told me Ivy League law degrees area all theory with less application so it takes longer to train them to be an actual lawyer. That they now want to water down their supposed educational superiority to become more "diverse" will backfire, except for the "club" aspect of the connections you make by going there. And that's fine with me - I got both of my degrees in the Big-10 and would put the actual quality of education up with the best in the world.

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Originally posted by Lefty Sig:


My father studied Latin in catholic school and college and told me it was useful in understanding parts of all of the Latin-derived romance languages. He could sorta understand my mom's parents speaking in Italian, enough to get the idea at least. Of course, Latin was still the language of catholic mass until Vatican II in the 60's allowed other languages so it was more relevant then.

I took 2 years of Latin as I was in Pre Med and it was expected. Like your Dad, I can understand some Italian and some Spanish because of the latin. Can't follow speech, though, because people speak too fast and indistinctly, but writing is another matter.

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Originally posted by tacfoley:

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Originally posted by Blume9mm:
My only thought when reading the thread to this was instead of eliminating the Greek and Latin classes maybe they should include some others..

I have to agree on that one.

A good while back our unit was having a pub quiz night out which included a few American-type questions, mainly in deference to our USAF exchange officer and his lovely wife. He failed all three American-themed questions in the fifty question test.

Here, give 'em a try....

1. What American president was given the nickname 'Old Hickory'?

2. What famous American sailor said 'I have not yet begun to fight'?

3. What country made the Statue of Liberty?

He flunked all three. But to our amazement, so did his wife.

It took me four years of college to get a two year degree and I know the answer to all three of those.

I expected something a little tougher...