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Join us for our Western regional CLSA teacher training conference in Phoenix

Join Memoria Press, in conjunction with the Classical Latin School Association, at its fall teacher training conference in Phoenix, AZ, on Oct. 11-12. Hosted by Highlands Latin Cottage School: Phoenix, the 2018 Fall Regional Conference will help equip teacher and homeschool parents to teach classical Christian subjects classically. Plenaries will cover everything from what classical education is to how to ensure order in the classroom. Breakout sessions will address particular subjects such as Latin, grammar, Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Can classical schools do what colleges won’t?

If you’ve ever read C. S. Lewis’ That Hideous Strength, you will have an inkling (pun intended) of the philosophy that tends to dominate many of our cultural institutions. His “N.I.C.E.” (the evil “National Institute for Coordinated Experiments”) was a perfect portrayal of the technocratic mindset that has taken over higher education in particular―the idea that “useful knowledge” is the only kind of knowledge worth having. If you want a portrayal of this in poetry, Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Unearthing a Double Standard

Archeologists excavating a part of the ancient city of Olympia in southern Greece have unearthed what they believe to be a 3rd-century tablet containing twelve lines from Homer’s Odyssey. One of the reasons the find is so significant has to do with a fact that many people don’t know; namely, that the vast majority of ancient works are known to us by copies made many years after the actual writing of the work. A third century document Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

The Real Story Behind the “Underemployed Liberal Arts Graduate” Narrative

According to the Atlantic magazine, it isn’t primarily liberal arts graduates who are getting marooned on the shores of underemployment: When you do the math on the supposed underemployment number against the number of degrees awarded by major, “Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services” left far more people high and dry on job success. With a five-year 31% underemployment rate according to Burning Glass, and a massive 601,092 degrees passed out in 2016, business Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Three Classical Words

My article in the most recent issue of the Classical Teacher magazine: I have given many speeches and written many articles on the subject of what classical education is. One of the things I have realized in doing so is that, among the many impediments to understanding what classical education is, there is the simple problem of the lack of clarity in the words we use to talk about it. There are three terms that Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

The Greatest Book by the Greatest Thinker of the Twentieth Century, on His Birthday

Today is G. K. Chesterton’s birthday. He was born on this date in 1874 and died in 1936. He wrote over two hundred books–novels, essays, and poetry. He even, at the behest of his friend, the playwright George Bernard Shaw, wrote several plays. His writings were featured in numerous British newspapers and journals, and he wrote a weekly column for the Illustrated London News from 1904 to 1936, with one interruption for several months in Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Half of American students now graduate with an A average

According to a new article in the Atlantic, colleges are having an increasingly difficult time distinguishing between students who are academically accomplished and those who just look like they are. College entrance exams like the SAT are harder to rely on because of renorming, which makes it harder to judge scores from year to year. In addition, it says, “half of American teenagers now graduate high school with an A average.” This is forcing admissions Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

The Four Questions You Can Ask About Anything

From the new issue of The Classical Teacher: The most basic question we can ask about anything is “What is it?” Young children explicitly ask this question all the time. But even adults do it, although they may not do it explicitly, or even think about doing it at all. We ask this about words we don’t know, and things we encounter for the first time. We even engage in definition when we write a Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

Three Blind Mice: The Plague of Politically Correct Children’s Music

by Carol Reynolds This article appears in the spring, 2018 issue of The Classical Teacher magazine. Professor Carol is the author of Discovering Music, Early Sacred Music, and Exploring America’s Musical Heritage, all of which are available from Memoria Press. They all went after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife … Not any more, it seems. Apparently, in today’s politically correct world, toddlers aren’t supposed to hear about tails Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

The Villa of the Papyri

The Letter from the Editor in the spring issue of the Classical Teacher magazine: In 79 A.D., the catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in eastern Italy covered nearby towns in ash and completely buried many of them. Accounts of the ancient eruption paint a horrific scene: Volcanic pumice rained from the skies and waves of searing hot gas and debris swept over the nearby landscape. Thousands died where they stood, and others fell while in Read more…

By Martin Cothran, ago

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