Directors: Dr. Sarah Harrell & Dr. Ian Lockey
This tour for K-12 educators (and others who may be interested) will focus on women in the Roman world and provide
resources and lesson plans for teaching about this topic in the Latin classroom. Using current scholarly approaches and
theory, we will draw on text and material culture to emphasize the complexity and breadth of women’s roles in ancient Roman
society. During this tour we will discuss topics relevant to the Latin classroom, including but not limited to: the lived
experiences of women in different classes; how the law affected Roman women; women and the feminine in political and
public spaces; attacks on women by male authors and what that suggests about gender in the ancient world; the celebration
and remembrance of women in monuments and texts. The tour will combine classroom sessions and site visits to engage
with these topics, examining relevant Latin texts (in the original and in translation) at sites and museums. Through the
examples of a number of women named in texts and present at sites, we will explore the rich tapestry of women’s lives in the
ancient world. Participants will come away from this tour with scholarship, knowledge of sites and artwork, lesson plans, and a
collection of authentic texts that can be used to engage students with this essential, but often overlooked, topic.
Highlights of the tour include (but are not limited to):
- Rome
- Baiae
- Oplontis
- Stabiae
- Cumae
- Pompeii
- Herculaneum
- the island Pandateria/Ventotene
- Naples
For information about scholarship opportunities, visit
https://www.vergiliansociety.org/tours/
Sarah Harrell earned her B.A. in Greek and Latin from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in Classics from Princeton University. She currently teaches Latin and Linguistics to middle and high school students at Geffen Academy at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. She has traveled extensively in Italy and Greece, including two Vergilian Society Tours (in 2017 & 2025). Questions? email: sharrell@geffenacademy.ucla.edu
Ian Lockey earned his B.A. in Classics from Cambridge University and his Ph.D. in Classics and Classical Archaeology at New York University. He now teaches at Friends Select School, a Quaker Independent school based in Philadelphia, PA. He has attended two Vergilian Society Tours (in 2017 & 2018) and he led the tour Social Justice in the Latin Classroom in 2025. Questions? email: ianl@friends-select.org
