ISU students celebrate Latin

Students wore togas to celebrate Latin Fest Friday in the Cunningham Memorial Library Events Area.

Students presented fact-filled presentations about the history and culture of Rome, including pictures of Roman ruins, wildlife and artwork.

The students have been working for months on these projects and some have previously visited Rome.

Marilyn Bisch, a Latin classics and ancient Greek instructor, said, "It's a chance for all of my students to come together and celebrate classes and an opportunity for alumni to talk about their experience and see what the students have been doing." "It always feels good to come back and keep up with things," said Don Shorter, a high school Latin English teacher of 42 years and 1967 graduate of ISU who was also wearing the traditional Roman clothing style.

In addition to the slideshow presentations, students from Bisch's Language, Literature and Linguistics 250: Literature Life and Love class hung hand-made posters with Greek poetry analyses.

Students ate cookies and popcorn while celebrating Roman culture.

"I feel really comfortable," said Andrew Borden, a junior history and political science major. "I think we should bring back the Roman style."

Some students said the trip to Rome was a great source for their presentations.

"It was awesome," said Kyle Hughes, a senior English and psychology major who did his presentation on the Great Sewer and visited Rome last spring. "I learned a lot more than I would have in a traditional class."

This was the sixth year for Latin Fest.

"It was our first time hosting this event, and the costumes were very interesting," said Carol Jinbo, the Public Relations Representative for Cunningham Library.

( Cinnamon Kilburn is a freshman political science major. She can be reached at sascamed@isugw.indstate.edu.)