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Academic Departments. Classical Languages Department Records

Finding Aid & Inventory

WFU's Department of Classics offers undergraduate students a major or minor in Classical Languages, Classical Studies, Greek, and Latin; it was previously the Classical Languages department. This collection includes the department's planning and administrative materials. The collection also includes audio reels of scholarly commentary and lab readings.

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Biographical and Historical Note

WFU's Department of Classics offers undergraduate students a major or minor in Classical Languages, Classical Studies, Greek, and Latin.

Instruction in Greek and Latin languages and literature began when Wake Forest College opened in 1834. In 1859, there was a Department of Latin Language and Literature and a Department of Greek Language and Literature. Over the next one hundred years, the administrative structure and organization of the department shifted many times. After 1956 and the school's move to Winston-Salem, the Classical Languages Department formed. It became the Department of Classics around 2018 or 2019.

Currently, the department's central focus is the study of the ancient Greek and Latin languages and of the literature written in those languages. The department also teaches and facilitates research on broader cultural issues. The faculty advises students on study abroad programs.

Sources:

"Department of Classics," Wake Forest University. Available online here.
Ulery, Robert W., Jr. "History of the WFU Department of Classical Languages." Wake Forest University, 1983. Available in the Sesquicentennial Commission Record Group, Committee on the First 150 Years (RG29.3).

Collection Overview

This collection includes the WFU Department of Classic's planning and administrative materials from as early as 1985. The collection also includes audio reel of lab readings from 1976 and scholarly commentary, both undated and circa 1962, recorded on audio reel and compact disc.

Collection Inventory

Classical Languages department five-year planning statement (1985) box 1 folder 1
Draft letter in support of students against institutional racism at WFU (2019 March 14) box 1 folder 2
Faculty resolution memorandum regarding leadership evaluations (2002) box 1 folder 3
Latin 111 lab readings and pronunciation drill (1 audio reel) (1976) box 1 folder 4
Virgil's Aeneid BBC segment by Catharine Edwards, Edith Hall, and Phillip Hardie (1 compact disc) (undated) box 1 folder 5
WFDD Radio reel, Catullus and Carmina readings by Harry J. Leon (1 audio reel) (1962, undated) box 1 folder 6
WFDD Radio reel, "Roman Love Poetry" program by John F. C. Richards (1 audio reel) (undated) box 1 folder 7

Summary Information

Repository: Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives
Title: Academic Departments. Classical Languages and Classics Department Records
ID: RG16.7
Date [inclusive]: 1962-2019
Quantity: 1 half-document box
Extent: 0.21 Linear Feet

Administrative Information

Publication Information: Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, 2017 November
Revision Description: Revised by Ashelee Gerald Hill, 2019 September
Revision Description: Revised by Emily Houlditch, new items and title, 2023 October
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for use.
Copyright Notice: The nature of the WFU Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The Archives and Special Collections of ZSR Library claims only physical ownership of most materials. The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to the U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Preferred Citation: Academic Departments. Classical Languages and Classics Department Records (RG16.7), Z. Smith Reynolds Library Special Collections and Archives, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.

Other collections that contain materials related to the Department of Classics include:

Photographs of faculty associated with the Classical Languages Department in the University Archives Photograph Collection (RG10.1)

A paper on the "History of the WFU Department of Classical Languages" by Robert W. Ulery, Jr., (1983) exists in both the Bynum Shaw Papers (MS397) and the Sesquicentennial Commission Record Group, Committee on the First 150 Years (RG29.3)

The Academic Administration Records (RG24.1) include a "Self-study department report: Classical Languages, 1974."

Office of the Provost. Edwin Graves Wilson Records (RG22.1.1) include "Classical Languages Department reports, 1968-2000."

Dean of the College. Edwin Graves Wilson Records (RG4.1.8) include "Classical Language Department materials, 1963-1967."

Vertical Files (Printed Materials) Collection (RG15) include materials related to the "Classical Languages and Literature Department, 1971-1972."

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