MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College classics professor Tom Sienkewicz and two of his students will be presenters Oct. 11 at the 2003 Illinois Classical Conference at the University of Chicago.

Sienkewicz, MC’s Capron Chair of Classics, will describe an experimental course offered at Monmouth for the past two years, entitled “Understanding Spoken Latin.” He will also explain the course format and goals.

The students, Michael Fanucce and Matthew Katsenes, will provide their perspectives on the course and then conduct a sample class consisting of a video newscast presented entirely in Latin about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii in 79 A.D. The students will ask the audience to answer questions about the newscast and will administer a dictation exercise.

Fanucce, of Oregon, Ill., is a senior majoring in English and Latin. He has twice taken the spoken Latin course, and last year he gave a presentation on his experiences at the American Classical League Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Katsenes, of Frankfort, Ill., is a senior majoring in mathematics and Latin.

The Illinois Classical Conference is the statewide organization for high school and college classics instructors.