February 2, 2007

From Virgil to Alma Mater

By ELLEN HANDLER SPITZ

Since "alma mater" is Latin, and since the study of Latin has waned on all educational levels in both pious and secular milieus, I wonder whether folks who use that term really know what it means anymore. This thought occurred to me during a seminar I teach with another professor at my state-university campus, an introduction to Greek and Roman antiquity for 10 carefully selected freshmen, all on full, four-year scholarships to study the humanities. We were nearing the end of term and had

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