The Patrologist news, December 2020
End of the Year wrap-up
I don’t need to tell you all what a year it has been. Most of you have probably suffered it far worse than I did. So instead I’ll focus here on primarily what I’ve been doing and what I will be doing.
This year represented a fundamental shift for me. I had been balancing a rather high adjuncting load involving a lot of marking, and then doing some of my own teaching on the side. 2020 has seen me shift to generating almost all of my own teaching out of online courses and tutoring. In short, I turned a small part-time business into a full-time one.
And, thanks to my many students, it’s going quite well for a 6 month-old full-time venture. I’m also a lot happier, and enjoying teaching so much, and so much communicatively.
Upcoming 2021 Term 1 plans: Starting Jan 31st
I’ve put up most of what I’m planning for the start of next year already, though I’m always open to other ideas. I’m particularly excited to be offering a range of more intermediate level reading groups throughout the year, with in-language reading and discussion of Greek and Latin texts from all periods.
You’ll notice too, that I’ll be offering for the first time a Greek class geared towards a European time-zone.
LGPSI
Is going slowly, indeed. But it’s benefited greatly by having a group using it as their primary course text. That’s enabled me to spend time revising the first 7 chapters. And I’ll be carrying that work forward in the new year by running more LGPSI courses, and both writing and revising new materials
Research
Thanks to Covid-19 and associated impacts, I basically abandoned all hope of doing any research work this year. That was kind of liberating, actually. Next year I have a full day spare to dedicate to writing projects, including research but also Greek/Latin projects (like that above one)
Incepta Nova
Inevitably, I have some new projects underway, but I try to be at least a little bit reticent about them, until they manifest as something more tangible. You’ll know when you know though!
Vacation
Lastly, it’s the holiday season in Australia, as Christmas aligns with Summer. I’ll be taking a few weeks off, and not even teaching intensive Greek this year. Looking forward to recharging, and facing 2021 anew.
curate ut valeatis, amicissimi amicissimaeque, Seumas / Iacobus / Ἰάκωβος