LATIN 300 A Winter 2026: Introductory Latin, Accelerated
Instructor: Joseph Bringman
Email: bringj@uw.edu
Welcome to ancient Rome! First year Latin courses give you direct access to the thoughts and writings of the ancient Romans and allow you to explore the dynamic and often dangerous cultural, social and political world in which they wrote. Learning to interpret and use an ancient language requires you to explore unknown areas and think in new ways. Our focus is on Latin as a literary language. Course activities are designed to foster a collegial and collaborative atmosphere and to encourage you to make strong connections between the ancient language and literature we are exploring together and your other interests, passions, and pursuits. Students who complete Latin 300 will be able to enroll in Latin 103 in Spring.
Course Goals:
Through your work in the course this term you will demonstrate that you can:
- Read and translate short selections from ancient Roman authors and compose simple sentences in Latin
- Understand and explain the literary, historical and cultural context of texts by ancient Roman authors
- Analyze and explain Latin grammar and syntax, including subordinate clauses and the uses of the subjunctive
- Analyze and describe the influence of the Latin language on subsequent languages and literatures
By completing the first-year sequence you equip yourself to begin our second year courses (305, 306, 307), in which students begin to read some of the most influential Roman authors and continue to expand their familiarity with Latin. Our second year courses cover selections of Caesar, Horace, and Catullus (305), Cicero and Ovid (306), and Virgil (307).
Required textbook:
- Wheelock's Latin. (7th ed.) This book explains Latin grammar and syntax and contains many short readings from ancient Roman authors and many practice exercises.
- Thirty-Eight Latin Stories (5th ed.). This book contains Latin passages for translation and is designed to accompany Wheelock’s Latin.
- There is also an excellent free online Latin dictionary available via this link: http://logeion.uchicago.edu/.