Latin Beyond GCSE

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It’s sometimes said that New York is one of the biggest cities in Latin America. Latino people are its largest non-white ethnic group, constituting nearly a third of the city’s population — but this isn’t always evident at local museums, which have relatively limited Latin American art in their collections. In fact, cisgender (i.e., non-transgender) students benefit too when we do away with constant implicit reminders that they are part of one group and not another, with all the expectations that come along with that.

The article “ Found in Translation: Engendering Inclusive and Conscientious Pronoun Pedagogy in Ancient Greek and Latin Language Classrooms” written by Michael Goyette and published in the Classical Journal in 2021, explores ways in which traditional pronoun pedagogy is at odds with evolving pronoun usage in English, and examines ways in which our practice can create an inclusive classroom, but also “stimulate conscientious, informed and impactful discussions of grammar, linguistics, translation theory, and ancient literature, myth and history.” Jenn Jarnagin has taught Latin at the Episcopal School of Dallas in Dallas, TX for the past six years, and taught Latin for twelve years prior to that. She is passionate about making Latin fun and inclusive, and believes that every student deserves to see themselves reflected in her classes. Jenn utilizes research-based practices that help all students find success. In addition to her work in the classroom, Jenn also serves on the Finance Committee of ACL. She holds a B.A. from the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University, and an M.A. from Indiana University. Connect with Jenn at magistraj.blogspot.com Givenyou'relearningitforthesakeoflearningitratherthanaspecificexamformat,it'sprobablyidealtomakeuseofavarietyofresourcestoeffectively"triangulate"themethodsandtextsthatworkbestforyou. Use of cases; Verb tenses; Adjectives, adverbs, comparatives and superlatives; Direct questions; Relative clauses; More complex relative clauses; Connecting relative; Prepositions, prefixes and compounds; Present subjunctive; Jussive subjunctive; Wishes for the future; Potential subjunctive; Deliberative questions; Purpose clauses; Sequence of tenses (1); Direct commands; Indirect commands; Verbs of fearing; Perfect subjunctive; Result clauses; Indirect questions; Sequence of tenses (2); Periphrastic future (and future-in-the-past) subjunctive IstartedtousetheCambridgeLatinCoursetextbooks,aLatinteacher,whonowteachesme,gotintouvhwithme,(myfamilyknowsher,)andshesuggestedusingtheJohnTaylortextbooks.I'vecertainlyfoundthembrilliant,becausetheycovealldifferentstagesoflearningLatin,frombeginnersandupwards,anditwantthroughthegrammarattherightpaceforme,althoughthatmightbedifferentforyou,I'mnotsure.Also,theyincludeagreatbalanceofexplainationsofnewinformation,practicesentencesandlongerpassages,(whichwillbeveryusefulwhenyoustarttodoliteratureaswell.)This GLSEN lesson plan for discussing pronouns with students is a great resource for helping students understand the importance of pronouns as well as the harm done by misgendering or not respecting someone’s pronouns. This lesson would be great as an introduction to using the Gender Style Guide (referenced above) with students, or as an advisory activity. Predicative dative; Gerunds and gerundives; The gerund; The gerundive; Gerundive looking like a gerund ('impersonal neuter gerundive of obligation'); Gerund changed into gerundive ('gerundival attraction'); Conditional sentences; Conditionals (1): open or unknown; Conditionals (2): closed or remote; Wishes and fears for the present and past; Use of quin and quominus, and verbs of preventing ; Conventions of extended narrative; Extended indirect speech (' oratio obliqua'); Subordinate clauses in indirect speech; Open or unknown conditionals in indirect statement; Closed or remote conditionals in indirect statement The 2016 Time article “ Everything you ever wanted to know about gender neutral pronouns” written by Jacob Tobia is an informative, conversational read that walks you through common questions people have, and the author’s answers from their perspective as “a genderqueer advocate and media personality who has used gender-neutral pronouns for years.”

In addition to helping students of underrepresented genders feel included, when we do this we are modeling for all our students how they too can use inclusive language practices. Similarly, Mercer Weaver’s blog post “ Limitless Latin Beyond the Gender Binary” presents their opinion on why pronouns matter, and why using traditional Latin pronouns is limiting and not meeting the needs of living people who love the language. Still, ISLAA’s exhibition programme, which will encompass up to eight shows a year, is designed to offer a more diverse sample of work rarely exhibited in the US, says newly appointed chief curator Bernardo Mosqueira. “There is incredible attention for geometric abstraction, as if this was the most important or the only kind of art that has been produced from this region,” he says. “One of the main missions that we have here at ISLAA is to highlight the diversity [of Latin American art] and also complicate the narratives that are already here” in New York. Forvocab,itmightbeworthfindingGCSEvocablists,becauseitgivesyouagoodamountoftherightsortofvocabtolearn.A Guide to How Gender-Neutral Language Is Developing Around the World” written by Miriam Berger for the Washington Post discusses how several languages are adapting to be more inclusive. Beginning at the beginning: Why do pronouns matter? What resources can help me better understand the conversation around pronouns and why “he/she” aren’t the only options?

Principal parts and the supine; Indirect statement; Future passive infinitive; Participles; Ablative absolute; Impersonal verbs and impersonal passive; Time clauses; Time clauses implying purpose or proviso; Cum clauses; Inverted cum clauses; Causal clauses; Concessive clauses; Paired and co-ordinated words; Conjunctions (1): connecting; Conjunctions (2): subordinating On that note, we can also stay aware of the range of situations that transgender students may be navigating. Each person in their lives, such as various teachers, friends, family members, and school administrators, may send slightly different messages about whether they will be supportive and encouraging. Students may come out as their real gender to different people at different times. When we have a student whose pronouns have changed but they haven’t yet shared that with the entire class, or when we are unsure of a student’s pronouns, calling a student by their name instead of using a pronoun is another helpful option. Similarly, this Gender Inclusive Language in Writing UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center handout can be shared with students to help them understand gendered language and ways to shift the language they use in their writing. Despite these efforts, “We mostly operated behind the scenes for the first 10 years,” says Lucy Hunter, ISLAA’s executive director. “Ultimately, we took a look at what we do at universities and started thinking about how that work could translate to a wider audience.” ‘Florece mi corazón’ (‘My Heart Blooms’) (1994) by Feliciano CenturiónNota bene! This piece is part of our Diversity & Inclusion in the Latin Classroom series. Please let us know what you thought of this piece. A Guide to Using Pronouns and Other Gender-Inclusive Language in the Office” written by Stav Ziv for The Muse is about the workplace, but is very applicable to our school environments as well.

The gender style guide that is housed on Lupercal’s blog presents a framework for using inclusive language when speaking or writing Latin. The post is thoughtful, thorough, and presents explanations for the committee’s decisions on creating the style guide. I find this resource especially helpful if you have students who are interested in writing or speaking Latin and want to be gender-inclusive. In this post, I’ll give suggestions for how we can support our transgender students in particular, whether we choose to do that in big ways or little ones. Switching out those terms with non-gendered ones like “y’all,” “class,” “everyone,” “friends,” or “team” is hardly going to paint you as a revolutionary, but it still disrupts systems of misgendering and of erasing people with underrepresented genders. We can also stay aware of the potential outcomes for students when they are not safe and supported at school. Whether we have the personal experience of being trans or not, we know that a student’s ability to learn and perform at their best in school is tied to their feeling supported and included (not questioned or shamed) for who they are.IstartedtoteachmyselfLatinattheendofyear10,andI'mcurrentlydoingtheALevelcourse,(year13,)althoughofcourseyoudon'thavetodoanyqualificationsifyoudon'twantto. Similarly, the Biden-Harris administration have published a Toolkit for Transgender Equality that provides guidance on how best to include, respect and validate gender diverse people.