Classics Day Festival

10/04/2026

Classics Day went GREAT yesterday! Thanks to the hundreds of you who put on events of a whole range of sorts and who took enthusiastic part in the 50+ events on offer. You all contributed to a fun and illuminating event.

10/03/2026

Prof. Bob Holschuh Simmons and Classics Day Leadership team members Mohammad Alsheikh '27 and Calvin Wellman '28 were on WRAM Radio Friday morning with Vanessa Wetterling to talk about today's Classics Day. Give it a listen, and come to Classics Day, from 1-3 PM in the Huff Athletic Center fieldhouse on Monmouth's campus!

It is Classics Day on the Monmouth College campus, Saturday, October 3rd. Over 50 interactive events will be set up behind the Center for Science and

09/30/2026

Classics Day will be happening inside on Saturday! Find us in the fieldhouse on the ground level of Monmouth's Huff Athletic Center from 1-3 PM. More details to follow!

Send a message to learn more

09/25/2026

Monmouth posted a story on Classics Day this morning! It will be happening just 8 short days from now!

Monmouth College to host immersive, interactive event that will help attendees experience practices from 2,000 years ago.

09/21/2026

Classics Day has a flyer! Check it out, and plan to come to Classics Day itself, on Saturday, October 3, from 1-3 PM, behind the Center for Science and Business at Monmouth College.

08/18/2026

Classics Day will be back this fall! Saturday, October 3, from 1-3 PM on Monmouth College's campus! While there are still many details of this year’s Classics Day to be resolved, among its 50+ separate interactive opportunities will almost certainly be the following, all based on practices from one or more peoples from the ancient world: sporting events; military activities; tabletop games; clothing; stone-carving; languages, including modern ones and their ancient antecedents; mythologies from around the world; mosaic-making; hair-dyeing, hair-styling, and cosmetics; various technologies, including a catapult; magical practices; red- and black-figure vase-painting; weaving; appearances by people from the ancient world; and a host more. DM any questions you have!

Send a message to learn more

11/22/2024

This is WAY overdue, but better late than never. Here are photos from Classics Day VI (September 30, 2023), taken by Monmouth's incredible Office of Communications & Marketing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/monmouthcollege/albums/72177720311593236/page2 . Enjoy!

Explore this photo album by Monmouth College on Flickr!

07/26/2024

One more National Endowment for the Humanities at Monmouth College Summer Institute post: Karli Strom of Tri-States Public Radio just posted over-the-air and print stories on the institute here: www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/2024-07-26/educators-explore-ancient-olympia-at-monmouth-college. Ms. Strom's excellent work was a product of an internship at TSPR through the Department of Communication Studies at Monmouth College. Thanks, Karli and TSPR! Nathalie Roy Mitchell Micheal Posey Olivia Matlock Elizabeth Proctor Kezia Dearden Janis Mars Wunderlich.

At the two-week summer institute, “The Ancient Olympics and Daily Life in Ancient Olympia: A Hands-On History," K-12 teachers from around the world explored the cultural significance of the games and learned how to teach students about the Olympics as well as everyday life in ancient Olympia.

07/23/2024

The two-week National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute that Nathalie Roy and Prof. Bob Holschuh Simmons recently planned and carried out, along with Micheal Posey, Olivia Matlock, and Megan Dailey, was covered today by Monmouth College's Barry McNamara in the story linked below. The institute had the ancient Greek Olympics as one of its foci, but also practices of daily life that would have been carried out around the Games, among them weaving; concrete-making; baking; construction of papyrus paper and ink with which to write on it; pottery creation and painting; crop-raising; bee-keeping; religious approaches; and more. The participants' energy and inclusive kindness were palpable, the projects through which these extraordinary teachers will apply what they have learned to their own classes were inspiring, and Monmouth's small-town setting and hospitality served our group and the institute's focus wonderfully. Greatly rewarding experience. Cristin Haake Lori Thompson Kezia Dearden Elizabeth Proctor Sonya Shockey Jared Ciocco Ryan Sellers Brad Savage Janis Mars Wunderlich Dan Leon Danielle Steen Fatkin Tara Ligon Catherine Daun

Monmouth College’s two-week, NEH-funded workshop for teachers from across the nation was ‘rewarding, stimulating, satisfying.’

09/29/2023

We have a program for tomorrow's Classics Day! I'm pasting below all that there'll be to do, and the times when things will be happening on the main stage. See you tomorrow between 1 and 4 PM on Monmouth's campus for Classics Day!

Greek, Roman, and Macedonian Military
Olympic sports:
Akon (Javelin)
Olympic Diskos (Discus)
Halma (Long Jump)
Running Events:
Stadion
Diaulos
Dolichos
Hoplitodromia
Combat Events:
Wrestling (Pale)
Boxing (Pyx)
Pankration
Chariot Racing
Roman Gladiators
Language Trees:
Arabic
Bengali
Ancient Greek
Hindi and Henna
Latin
Russian
Sanskrit
Spanish
Twi
Ancient Timekeeping and Science
Ancient Technology: Construction, Food, Writing, and Art
Brains: Ancient vs. Modern Conceptions
The Ancient World in Virtual Reality
Riddle Me This! Puzzles
Greek Vase Forms
Roman Stone Carving
Making and Writing on Papyrus (University of Illinois)
Italy Today
LGBT in the Classical World
Ancient Greek & Roman Clothing
Need Advice? Ask a Greek Natural Philosopher!
Make a Catapult!
Origami! Xiphos Swords (Greek), Koi Fish (Japanese), and Laurel Leaf Crowns (Greek and Roman)
Call Me Meddy: A Bilingual (Spanish/English) adaptation of Euripides’ play Medea (Rockford University)
Ancient Coins
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
Ancient Games: Senet, Latrunculi/Petteia, and Tabula
Classical Scavenger Hunt
Classical and World Mythology

Schedule for the Main Stage
12:55-1:00 PM: Bagpipe Invitation to the Trubeck Amphitheater
1-1:15 PM: Welcome and Introduction to Classics Day
1:15-1:35 PM: Monmouth College Wind Ensemble, directed by Dr. Justin Swearinger
2:00-3:00 PM: “Call Me Meddy,” an English/Spanish adaptation of Euripides’ Medea, written and performed by Rockford University students and faculty, led by Dr. Yoandy Cabrera
3:00-3:45 PM: Greek, Macedonian, and Roman Military Demonstration