Q. Your name suggests you spend most of your efforts on the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome. Is this true?
A. It used to be true more than it has been lately. Recently we’ve offered classes and reading groups on American, Irish and French literature, as well as philosophy through the ages. One of the by products of reading the ancients is that one likes to see the influence they’ve had on subsequent writers.
Q. How often do you have meetings that members can attend?
A. We have movie nights 2 or 3 times a year, and a regular open board meeting once a month. We also sponsor 2 or 3 lectures a year. Classes meet once a week. Around the time of the holidays we have a lecture/party.
Q. If I write something for the Armchair Classicist will I get help with content and editing?
A. Yes. We can provide as much or as little help as needed.
Q. Are you associated with the University of Washington?
A. No. But Alan Rawn received his Ph.D. from the UW (1993), and we often use classroom space on campus. Many of our lectures are in Kane Hall on campus.
Q. I have no formal training in the classics and haven't read much. Will I fit in?
A. Most definitely. To a lot of people the classics are somewhat frightening because they have been held up as shining examples of cultural achievement. But we at the NCS prefer to knock them off their pedestal and just read them in all their nitty-gritty detail. Inexperience in the field is the norm. The only hope is that members enjoy the encounter.
Q. I read the Iliad or the Odyssey (or other work of the classics) in Junior High and hated it. What shall I do now?
A. Join the NCS, and start taking classes which are always designed to be an introduction to the topic. Often, experiences with literature when young can leave the reader hesitant to go through THAT again. But at the NCS we have no tests, no papers, no pressure. The rereading of these dusty works as an adult often is an amazing experience.
Q. Well, I do have experience reading the classics, and am wondering if this NCS thing isn't beneath my level.
A. Oh, no. We have a wide variety of members devoted to their chief areas of interest. We offer Homer in Greek! (And there is no greater experience than reading him in Greek.) We offer Latin. We are the gathering place for all sorts of interests and passions that members share freely. We bring in some of the leading academic authorities to speak.
Q. My child needs a home-schooling tutor in the classics. Are you a good resource for helping us find one?
A. Yes.
