• Academics
Scott Barnard Helps Students “Pop” Classics Studies beyond Campus

Language teacher Scott Barnard is always looking for ways share the work of his students beyond his Pop Hall classroom.

For example, through an ongoing partnership with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), students in his Introduction to Ancient Greek class resurrect stories of forgotten men and women from ancient times. Their work is part of the IAS Krateros project, where scholars are digitizing squeezes (three- dimensional, mirror image inscription impressions) of third and fourth century B.C. steles found at historic sites in Greece, Macedonia, and Turkey. The translations make it possible for scholars around the globe to study the writings.

For the past few years, Barnard has also been “very proud” to help his top Honors Latin students earn a spot on the undergraduate panel at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS) annual meeting. College professors and graduate students are the primary attendees.

“They all did a splendid job there, but I was beginning to get the sense that high schools speakers would benefit far more by sharing their research with their peers,” Barnard explained.

The meeting, he said, is viewed as a “gateway conference for younger scholars to establish themselves in their particular field, or sometimes for a more established scholar to workshop new theories or critical readings.”

This year, in collaboration with fellow Latin teachers from local private and public schools, Barnard created a dedicated secondary school panel at the 2022 CAAS. He was the panel chair, handling the logistics of the proposal. Each school sent a student to share their research and “they all chose exceptionally well; ever one of the speakers did an incredible job,” Barnard said. “There were interested scholars in attendance who followed up our speakers with interesting questions.”

Lawrenceville’s representative was Jasmine Zhang ’23, whose topic, “Manipulation and Power: Agrippina’s Influence on Nero,” grew from an Honors Latin project. “I wrote about the ways in which Agrippina, Emperor Nero's mother, manipulated him and used him as a conduit to obtain great power. I also examined the ways in which historical sources were inaccurate, as Agrippina was a woman, and the surviving narratives of her life are told through the eyes of the men that lived around her,” she explained. “I've always been interested in examining Roman women, so when I came across the opportunity to study Agrippina, it immediately caught my attention.”

Calling his student a “keen researcher and clear writer,” Barnard was not surprised that she produced an excellent paper. “What impressed me most about Jasmine’s paper was the maturity of her analysis of what limitations and what advantages Agrippina’s gender played in the tings she was able to accomplish. Jasmine brought her critical eye to the primary Latin sources we have about [Agrippina’s] life, and even though these texts have strong biases, jasmine was able to combine them with other pieces of historical and cultural evidence to offer a more robust sense of what Agrippina must have experienced.”

While presenting was “daunting at first,” Zhang said she “soon realized that everyone was super friendly and all very interested in hearing about each other’s research. It was a great experience, talking with the scholars who shared my interests, and they were all very passionate when discussing my research as well as their own.”

Barnard was delighted to provide this unique opportunity to another Lawrentian. “Jasmine did a splendid job,” he said. “The delivery of her paper was done very professionally and she responded thoughtfully and articulately to the audiences’ questions.”

Zhang appreciated this introduction to the “classics community.” The field of study, she noted, is “pretty small, so it was great to meet so many new people and speak with them. I also think that speaking in front of a scholarly audience helped increase my confidence in delivering my own research and I hope to continue this sort of work in the future.”

For additional information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.