Laura Manning

Availability

Office Hours (via zoom) Mondays 10:30 - 11:30 AM; Tuesdays 9:00 - 10:00 AM and by appointment. Email me for the zoom link.

Education

2021 Ph.D. University of Kentucky, Education Sciences

2016 M. A. University of Kentucky, Classics

2016 Graduate Certificate in Latin Studies, University of Kentucky

2014 B.A. Montclair State University Latin, Classics

Biography
I have three sons, who are 32, 31, and 26 years old, and I have six grandchildren. Our dog is named Regina (Regi for short) and our cat is named Cloe (short for Cloelia.)
 
This is the eighteenth year that I have been teaching, and I can say unequivocally that I have the best job anywhere. I love the fact that my students choose to study with me. Teaching and working with future teachers: both of these keep the flame of lifelong learning burning in my heart. I am grateful and joyful.
 
I hold teaching certifications in several US states, including Kentucky and New Jersey. I didn't become a Latin teacher because of some innate love of grammar. Twenty-five centuries of Latin-speaking people got me hooked. The fact that people living from very a long ago and on down through the centuries felt the same emotions and shared many of the same experiences that we face today - and spoke and wrote so vividly about them - made such a deep and lasting impression on me that I had to read more. Now I get to share with others! Eugepae!
 
In 2021, I earned my PhD in Education Science. I study how we have taught Latin for centuries while it was a so-called dead language. My dissertation is available online through the UK library. In 2016, I earned my MA in Classics and a graduate certificate in Latin Studies (spoken Latin) at the University of Kentucky. My MA thesis is available online through the UK library.
 
I enjoy a second hobby: When I am in NJ, I play the piccolo in two adult marching bands with my sons, and I play the flute and piccolo in three concert bands.
Research

My research interests include pedagogy of the Latin language, and Classical reception in Renaissance pedagogical oration. My research focuses on the Active teaching of Latin, in order to answer such questions as, "How do teachers and students communicate in an active Latin classroom?" and "How and why do teachers engage in active Latin pedagogy?" framing the research to place it in the tradition of centuries of Latin pedagogy.

Selected Publications:
Hunt, S., Letchford, C., Lloyd, M., Manning, L., & Plummer, R. (2018). The Virtue of Variety: Opening the Doors to Wider Pedagogical Practices in UK Schools and Universities. Journal of Classics Teaching,19(38), 53-60. doi:10.1017/S2058631018000466
 
Manning, L. A. (2016). Duae Orationes Paedagogicae Marci Antonii Mureti De Praestantia Litterarum Humaniorum in Universitate Saeculo Sexto Decimo. MA Thesis. University of Kentucky. Lexington.
 
Manning, L.A. (2021) "Active Latin in the Classroom: past, present and future." In Lloyd, M and Hunt S. (eds). Communicative Approaches to Teaching Classical Languages. Bloomsbury Press. London.
 
Manning, L.A. (2021), "How Sweet That I am the One to Whisper These Things:" A Comparative Case Study of Active Latin Teaching and Learning. Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences. 91. University of Kentucky. Lexington.