#working classicists

[greekmythcomix]

Hey, it’s my Tumblr birthday today!

10 years making comics, 1 year on Tumblr!

Also I won an award! https://t.co/tYHMtESSyw

Working Classicists Awards 2024: The Winners

We could not be happier to recognise the work of some of the wonderful people who are working hard to make Classics a better place.

AND it’s the end of term on Friday! It’s a good week 😁

[lone-rhapsodist]

Quick update since I finally have some time to write.

Things at the new school are going well. It's challenging, but in a different way than I'm used to. I'm still having to manage my voice, I'm not losing it anymore but I'm still straining a bit. I'm getting better hold of my classes though, and that is a pleasure. Also, the kids are generally lovely and most of them understand when you tell them about misbehaviour or mistakes. I'm enjoying teaching some ancient Greek again after 4 years. Also, we are doing some mini-modules with Year 7 and 8 students about 'Homer and Epic' and 'Augustus and Virgil' respectively. They're still young, so we have to keep it simple, but it's a bit hard to do that when you're talking about oral-formulaic theory... Anyway, somehow we managed, and we even got to read some beautiful extended similes in translation, which left some of them quite stunned. Mission complete! So yeah, very happy with things so far.

The Classics society is going well. We had a board meeting recently, and we have our book club coming up this Monday. 3 people have confirmed they'll attend. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but for a recently formed society like ours, that's huge. I like the look of things so far. There's still lots of work to do and much room for development, but regardless, it's very promising.

As for Working Classicists, I mentioned some time ago that they had finally replied to my email. Their response was that, not only they were very happy to hear from me, but they were thinking very much along the same lines as me, as they were also about to soft-launch their own Discord server. So, they invited me to join, and they even offered me to become a Mod! I decided not to commit to that yet, but told them I would be very happy to join the server and take a look around. So far so good, there's definitely lots of lovely people there with the right kind of mentality when it comes to making Classics more accessible, inclusive etc, and it's pretty active for a new server. If they're okay with that, I might share an invite link on here, but I'll ask them first, just to be safe. There are still a few things to refine in terms of finding their form etc, but overall the server is already a beacon of hope in an otherwise desolate landscape, especially when it comes to making a Classics for the people that is also actually from the people -- for once at the forefront of the process of promoting the subject, not just subjected to it.

So yeah. Things are going well at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to find some time to get started on other, more personal projects as well. But otherwise, everything is fine. Let's hope it stays like that, and that it keeps getting better -- little by little, one step at a time.

[lone-rhapsodist]

This is the first time in weeks I am actually able to sit down and write something, and I am literally on the train to work. So you know I have barely had time to write. There is a lot going on with me, my partner, work. I can't wait for the summer to wash it all away. But in the meantime, there are problems, and they need solving, and that means lots and lots of thinking.

The only thing I really feel like sharing right now is that I have put together something to send to Working Classicists, and for once I am actually proud of my writing. I think it's very clear and to the point. I hope they'll like it.

I am also doing a lot of thinking about my Classics community project, along the lines of, what is worth doing -- what is worth keeping, and what dropping? Again, nothing specific I feel like sharing right now, but if this is to work, I definitely need to be a lot more precise with my approach. There is only so much time. I need to make sure I invest it properly.

That is all for now. I will try to give another update soon. In the meantime, thank you, and take care.

[lone-rhapsodist]

A few weeks ago I was ready to give up on the project once again. Then, a few days later, I finally heard back from my lecturer from uni. Last week, we had a Zoom call to catch up about things, talk about the project, and share some thoughts about the way forward. She loves the idea of the project -- she really got the essence of it! -- and she recommended me two groups who might be interested: Working Classicists and Asterion. She said these groups have found great success with their grassroots approach to Classics, and indeed this might be the way to go. I will send them an email to see what they think. Fingers crossed! In the meantime, if anyone knows these groups or is involved with them in any way, I would love to hear from you! Thank you, and take care.