Vera Res: THE LATIN PRIMARY SOURCE PROJECT
What's this all about? NOTE: THIS SITE IS NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE, BUT LATIN TEACHERS SHOULD FEEL FREE TO READ THE WHOLE SITE, USE WHAT YOU WISH, AND REPLICATE THE IDEA! Did you know that thousands of documents written in Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire --primary sources for the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Enlightenment and later-- have never been translated into English or other languages? Many remain unused, under-used or inaccessible to historians. By establishing this comprehensive, interactive, web-based resource, Latin and History students in high schools and colleges across the nation will engage in primary source interrogation. Those in the present engage in direct inquiry with the past. For many, Latin does not seem to carry immediately apparent relevance in cross-cultural communication. This project bucks that perception, giving those students the “real thing,” important work to do, original scholarship useful to historians. This web resource, at a minimum, will help students and teachers: (1) work with the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian's Dibner Library to access rare books & manuscripts written in Latin that have no published translations & to choose an appropriate document, starting with the Opus; (2) understand the tools for palaeography & orthography; (3) execute specific problem based learning steps for transcription, translation, and annotation based on examples; (4) use an effective assessment rubric; and (5) submit their work for peer review and online publication. Above, near the graphic, please click "YOUR ADVENTURE BEGINS!" |
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