Introduction to The Examined Life Program

Mission

Launched in 1999, The Examined Life program is a professional program for teachers aimed at strengthening Greek Studies in the schools. (Click here to read the complete and detailed version of our Mission Statement.)

Program Offerings

• Workshops
• Resources for teachers
• Resources for students
• Book and resource collection
• Website (teachgreece.org) with resources for teachers and students and information about Fellowships
• Newsletter (Ithaka)
• Annual Ithaka presentations
• Fellowships:
  • Graduate courses
  • Study tour of Greece
  • Curriculum Development — development of study guides
  • Leadership Corps — dissemination and outreach

Program Highlights

Website: teachgreece.org

The website is a growing source of activities and information developed by Greek Study Fellows and program leaders for use by teachers and students in school communities across the nation. Its intention is to engage teachers and students in challenging interactive modules as they acquire knowledge and information about ancient and modern Greece. The website also contains information about The Examined Life program.

Workshops

Workshops are held in conjunction with Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard University’s Art Museums, and other institutions - in the workshops participants focus on athletics and art, among other topics, in an effort to capture the life and ideals of the ancient Greeks. View a recent example.

Annual Ithaka Presentations

Annual Ithaka presentations are held at Brandeis University - Greek Study Fellows present such carefully-honed curriculum projects as: Architectural Models Using Estimation, Proportion, Geometry; Ancient Greek History and Later Historical Periods; The Greek Labs: Effect of Acid Rain on Marble, and Other Exercises; Recreating Minoan Frescoes in Schools and Classrooms; "Sing in me, Muse": Homer’s Odyssey, a Book Group Model; Greek Theater as Social and Moral Commentary; the Trojan War, Images in Art; The Olympic Games in Antiquity: A Web Quest; Lessons in Contemporary School Leadership from the Greeks. View a recent example.

Collection Access

Access to a book and resource collection of newly published books about Greek history and culture for personal and classroom use.

Newsletter

Ithaka is an occasional newsletter contains program news, Greek news, and curriculum initiatives. Read the current issue.

Wide Range of Student Achievements

Student achievements include acquisition of knowledge, heightened cultural awareness, exemplary written work, Socratic discussions, drawings, frescoes, relief maps, and papier mache masks and amphoras. Representative achievements are available on the website.

Fellowships

Administered by the Newton, MA Public Schools in cooperation with Brandeis University, the Program encourages teachers and administrators, K-12, to apply for Greek Study Fellowships with the goal of strengthening Greek Studies in the schools.

1. Graduate Course

As a part of The Examined Life graduate course, Greek Fellows read the Iliad and the Odyssey, Aesychlus’ Oresteia, Sophocles' Antigone, Eurpides’ Medea, Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra, Hesiod’s Theogony and selections from Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plato. Greek Fellows also tour the MFA classical collection.

Inspiring lecturers include internationally known scholars from Brandeis University, Wellesley College, Harvard University, Boston University, and University of Massachusetts, Boston.

2. Study Tour of Greece

On the study tour of Greece, Fellows see the rugged landscape, precipitous mountains, amazing light, and the architecturally perfect Parthenon in Athens. They visit Sounion, Corinth, Nauplion, Mycenae, Epidauros, Olympia, Delphi –a breathtaking pilgrimage. Itinerary for the most recent Study Tour.

3. Curriculum Development — Development of Study Guides

As a direct result of the Graduate Course and Study Tour, Greek Study Fellows write state-of-the-art Curriculum. These Study Guides are designed for classroom use and may be published on the program website.

4. Leadership Corps — Dissemination and Outreach

As a direct outcome of course, study tour, curriculum development, Greek Study Fellows become members of a Leadership Corps charged with serving as leaders, presenters, and mentors in workshops and programs.

Continuing Opportunities for ExL Fellows

The Magna Graecia Seminar

The five session seminar --Magna Graecia: Greeks Bearing Gifts . . . into Greek and Roman Italy-- is designed for Greek Study Fellows who have completed the course titled The Examined Life: Greek Studies in the Schools. Organized by Professor Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, the seminar culminates in a study tour of Greek colonies in southern Itlay and is designed to meet the growing need of our leadership corps to continue their interest and study of Greece.

Study Tour of Italy

On the study tour of Italy, Fellows see Greek colonies in southern Italy and Roman sites on the Bay of Naples with a special focus on Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Campania. Greek Fellows will stay at the Villa Vergiliana, Cumae, Italy.

Join Us! Become a Fellow Our membership currently includes 14 school districts, 50 schools, 180 teachers, impacting thousands of children. Join us and help strengthen Greek Studies in the schools: • Enhance Teaching • Inspire Students • Raise Test Scores • Heighten Cultural Awareness
For more information, click here and find out how you can join The Examined Life program.

As you set out on the voyage to Ithaka Pray that your journey be long, Filled with adventures, Filled with wisdom.                     —C.P. Cavafy