Classical Studies Major Now Offered At Southern Virginia, and It’s All Thanks to a Determined Few
By Dallin Hunt
On March 7th, Classical Studies became an official major at Southern Virginia University, largely thanks to the determination of one professor and two students.
Marcel Widzisz, Assistant Professor of Classics, came to Southern Virginia University in Fall 2016. By introducing Greek and Latin classes, he doubled the number of languages offered at the university — French having been added the previous semester, and Spanish being the one language offered before that. Widzisz had initial hopes to see Classical Studies become a minor, and those hopes were fulfilled in November of 2016.
He considered working towards creating a major eventually, but would not have done so this quickly had it not been for two very interested and persistent students, Aurora Pack and Serenna Fly.
Pack and Fly approached Widzisz, as well as Provost Scott Dransfield, and expressed their interest and dedication to the idea. Inspired, Widzisz went to work immediately.
Widzisz said the process involved three months of writing, revising, and rewriting proposals for presentation to multiple committees, such as the Curriculum Committee and Academic Affairs Committee (AAC).
In creating these proposals, Widzisz examined the curricular standards of 14 of Southern Virginia’s peer institutions, making sure the major’s requirements were in line with these universities. Each of these peer institutions already offer not only Classical Studies, but also Greek, Latin, and the more intensive major known as Classics.
The major was finally approved and officially created last month.
“There was a lot of nail-biting towards the end,” Widzisz said.
Widzisz will be taking on the bulk of responsibility, teaching nearly every class required for the major — five or six classes every semester. The major requirements include two years of Latin and two years of Greek, in addition to cultural and historical studies, literature, and electives.
The major “requires a lot of hard work and discipline,” he said, but a handful of students, including Pack and Fly, have already signed up.
Traditionally, the field of study known as Classics has been a very rigorous institution throughout Great Britain and Europe, ever since the Renaissance. According to Widzisz, European students of Classics often begin an in-depth study of Greek and Latin as children. “Classical Studies” was developed within the last forty years as a less intensive and more rounded course of study, including history and literature.
Classics, said Widzisz, is the “core of the core of the core” of the traditional Liberal Arts university. “A Liberal Arts University without it is odd.” He explained that in its first few years as a university, Southern Virginia’s curriculum was modeled after a nationwide classical studies curriculum called the Great Books Program.
The creation of the major occurred in line with a goal of the AAC, which in 2004, set forth a plan to create five new majors as the student body grows to 1200. These majors include Classical Studies, Political Science, Economics, Mathematics, and Psychology. The only one of these majors which has yet to be offered at Southern Virginia is Economics.
The Herald interviewed Aurora Pack and Serenna Fly as they were preparing for Widzisz’ Latin 4 class, for which they have been studying and translating Book Six of The Aeneid.
Fly, who had been in close communication with Professor Widzisz and Provost Dransfield throughout the entire process, said, “I definitely hope Classical Studies will become more popular, and it likely will now that it is a real major… [There’s] no doubt lots of students will sign up for the classes even if they aren’t in the major.”
Pack first took Latin at Southern Virginia because she needed to fulfill her language requirement, but she soon fell in love with the language. After becoming eligible to graduate as a history major, she stayed at Southern Virginia an additional year in order to take more Latin classes, required for acceptance into her preferred graduate program.
She said the Classical Studies major came about “not just because of some crazy professor, but because the students really wanted it.”
Both students expressed gratitude for all of the effort taken by Professor Widzisz. “Even if the major hadn’t been approved, he probably would have taught all of these classes for us anyway,” said Fly, “He really cares.”
