AP Latin Literature Cancelled -- Please Add Your Name

[Andrew Reinhard]

Salve,

As many of you know, AP Latin Literature is being cancelled, although AP Vergil will remain in place for the immediate future. Please read the letter from the AP in the news section on the right and the letter from Ronnie Ancona in the Blog, and if you feel strongly about keeping the AP Latin Literature program alive and active in the United States, please add a comment to this post with your name and school affiliation attached. I will collect these in preparation for what is sure to be a counter-offensive by some of the leading lights in US Classics education. Thanks for adding your names to the list.

Andrew Reinhard
Director of eLearning
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers

[mtflatina88]

Although I never took AP Lit (only Vergil) I think that students should be given the opportunity to get ahead in college, and just learn more, no matter what subject. The AP Latin Lit exam encourages high schoolers to more deeply understand the works of Catullus, Ovid, Horace, and others, so that they will be more prepared to study these authors in college. So please reconsider your decision to take this test away.

Michelle Fegeas
University of South Carolina
Classics Major

[Kristin]

Kristin Marker
St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Austin, TX (student then teacher)
College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA (B.A., Classics)

[Irina Greenman]

I would like to add my agreement that the recent decision by College Board to cancel the AP Latin Literature course and exam will have rapid and detrimental effects on not just high school Latin programs, but middle school and college/university programs as well. The lack of warning before this announcement is already causing problems for our school, which recently purchased new textbooks for the course, just to give a single example.
I recognize that College Board has a right to cancel these exams should they so choose. However, as a Latin teacher, I am seriously concerned for the ongoing health and availability of the program at my school, and for the benefit students can receive from studying the classics in high school. It is my hope that College Board will demonstrate that they share teachers' concern for student learning.

Irina Greenman
Hayfield Secondary School
Alexandria, VA

[Peter Lech]

Without an AP in Catullus, Horace and Ovid, it's less likely that students will get a chance to read these authors at an advanced level, one where they can really appreciate how wonderful these poets are. Catullus and Ovid are certainly more accessible than Vergil, and we risk turning students off to Latin poetry if they're only exposed to Vergil (I love Vergil, but let's be real: which author would *you* rather pick up and read for pleasure: Ovid or Vergil?). This could result in less people majoring in Latin, or Classics at the college level.

Peter G Lech
Instructor in the Classics,
Wheaton College

[Erica]

I am very distressed by the announcement that AP is going to discontinue AP Latin Literature beginning with the 2009-2010 school year. The message that this is sending to students, parents, and educators at k-12 institutions and colleges alike is simple and straightforward, "Latin is a sub-par language and it is not viewed as comparable to other programs."

I am very disheartened and saddened that AP has perhaps started yet another decline in the perceived worth of studying Latin . . . .I thought we had come farther than that.

Sincerely,
Erica Budd
Latin Teacher
The Montclair Kimberley Academy

[Jennifer Adams]

Unfortunately I was only ever able to take the AP Latin: Vergil exam in high school, but I always regretted that I was unable to take AP Latin Lit. For many students whose Latin programs extend longer than mine did, having that 5th year of Latin available is crucial. Not to mention what others have said about some of the Latin Lit authors speaking more to students than Vergil did. I was lucky in that Vergil excited me enough to get me into Classics, but for some students, with the Latin Lit exam gone, that excitement will never happen. Even from a non-Classics standpoint, this decision is taking away an opportunity for students to gain college credit and challenge themselves in new ways. The cancellation of any AP exams (including the other 3 that are going down with Latin Lit) really narrows down the range of opportunities available for students to pursue their interests in different areas in a challenging fashion. The cancellation of these exams will be a great loss, and I hope that the College Board will reconsider its decision. (As for cost, I suspect that the devotion of Latin teachers/Classicists/etc. is such that, were cost a serious issue, alternate funding could be found. Having a dialogue on this matter would be much more productive than simply canceling the exam).

Jennifer Adams
Classics Major, Class of 2010
College of the Holy Cross

[Andrew Foertsch-Jans]

Having taken both AP Latin tests in the past two years, I speak from experience when I say that Catullus holds the interest of high school students much more effectively than Vergil. The cancellation of this test will be a grave blow to the classical consciousness of our country.

Andrew Foertsch-Jans
University of Chicago

[Ryan Manning]

Having the benefit of taking both AP Latin Exams truly prepared me and every Latin major I know for Latin courses at the university level. Not only did the AP Latin Lit exam really encourage me to become a Latin major, it also contributed strongly to my desire to being a Latin teacher in the future. The cancellation of this exam will definitely lead to a decrease in prospective high school Latin teachers, a group that is already small enough.

Ryan Manning
University of Missouri, BA Latin '09
President, Massachusetts Senior Classical League
Treasurer, Missouri Senior Classical League

[jethomas]

I'm glad to see the great unified response to this crisis by all levels of our field, and, hopefully, we can keep an egregious error from being made. Save AP Latin Lit!

Jennifer E. Thomas
Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics, Oberlin College

[Steve Perkins]

I post the following on behalf of, and with permission from, one of my former students...

Steve Perkins, Indianapolis, IN

Quo usque tandem abutere, College Board, patientia nostra?! Now four years on from AP Latin Literature, I've remembered the strangest and most wonderful things: Catullus's distaste for the cacata carta, his love for that little sparrow, Ovid's ever-relevant advice for the young man in need of a line, the eternal sorrow of Orpheus, and how the gods pass along the path of the Milky Way. Money, time, or what seems like necessity may be behind your plan to cancel the exam. Don't forget life's other necessities.

Yours,
Matthew Sledge,
Brown University senior,
North Central High School graduate

[Changj]

I agree with the other posts, this will most definitely decrease the amount of participation as well as hurt the classics in general.

Jon Chang
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN
NJCL 2VP 0607

[Steven Schaffer]

Please add my name to the petition.


Steven Schaffer
Instructor of Latin
Southern Regional High School
Manahawkin, NJ