Richard A. LaFleur, professor and head of the Department of Classics at The University of Georgia, describes himself as "simply a Latin teacher."
He explains, "My first passion is teaching the Latin language, literature, and poetry. I love teaching the elementary courses in particular: it's a way to get to the students right at the beginning." LaFleur, who has been with UGA since 1972, enjoys teaching his four courses through the University System of Georgia Independent Study Program, in addition to four classroom courses a year. He has been head of UGA's Department of Classics since 1980, and is now senior department head in the College of Arts and Sciences.
LaFleur credits Wyatt W. Anderson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, with being "very supportive of our (Classics) program." "He's a great believer, too, in senior faculty teaching freshmen and sophomore courses -- a position I enthusiastically endorse," LaFleur said.
LaFleur's love for Latin began when he was in the seventh grade, saw the movie Ben Hur starring Charlton Heston, and took his first Latin course in junior high. "That's when I developed a fascination with classical civilization and mythology," a fascination that LaFleur says is pervasive even in today's society.
It was also in the seventh grade that LaFleur had an opportunity to choose elective courses for the first time. He took his first Latin course. Since then, he has stayed with it. "Being a creature of habit, when I find something I like I can never quit," he said.
LaFleur joined the University System of Georgia's Independent Study Program, which is administered through the Georgia Center's Division of Academic Credit, as an instructor in 1973.
"While I enjoyed this program at the beginning, I've grown, over time, to enjoy it even more. The Independent Study courses were a minor part of my responsibilities at first, but now it's a significant part of my professional life. Grading my correspondence lessons is the first thing I do every day."
Over his 24 years with the program, LaFleur has frequently revised his course study guides and methodologies, aiming always to create more personal approaches to teaching the lessons. One of the greatest challenges for an Independent Study course instructor is to see the student as a person, and for the student to know that there is a real professor on the other side, LaFleur said.
His Independent Study students have been from 5 to 5,000 miles away. As a way to provide more personal attention to the students, LaFleur suggested to the Independent Study Program the inclusion of an instructor photo in each study guide so that students can place a face with the name, and he encourages his students to send in their photos. Tape recordings, the phone, and the Internet all contribute to facilitating communication and creating linkages in his courses. In addition to written work, students send in tapes, which LaFleur checks for pronunciation and uses to help students develop speaking and listening skills. Normal turnaround is ten days to two weeks, but LaFleur's students may transmit questions and portions of their lessons via e-mail for immediate feedback.
An advantage for Independent Study students, LaFleur said, is that they sometimes get even more attention than they would in a regular classroom. In a classroom, individual students may or may not be called on for their daily work. But Independent Study students are actively engaged in every lesson, and they can expect to receive detailed responses from their instructor, as well as bookmarks, stickers, and pencils with Latin quotations, smiley :-) faces, and other positive reinforcement.
LaFleur says that teaching is his number one passion in life, after family, of course. He starts his day at 5:30 a.m. to a cup of coffee and a stack of Independent Study lessons. "What I appreciate the most about correspondence students is that they are nearly always highly motivated, even more than classroom students. Most are adult learners."
Approximately 300 registrants have enrolled in his four Independent Study Latin classes in the last five years. Approximately 80 of them have been teachers of English, history, French, or other high-school subjects, who are seeking to acquire or update their certification in Latin. Being a "teacher of teachers has been very fulfilling for me," LaFleur said. He has worked extensively with elementary-, middle-, and high-school teachers through a variety of professional activities, including a National Latin Institute which he directed with National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding in the mid-1980s and which has evolved into his department's "Georgia Classics Summer Institute." The institute draws teachers from throughout the United States each summer who need Latin courses for certification or who are working toward the program's unique summers-only M.A. degree. LaFleur also works closely with colleagues in the Department of Language Education, which administers M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ph.D. programs in Latin language education.
Some of LaFleur's Independent Study students over the years have included a man in his 50s in early retirement who wanted to study Latin. Because of a heart condition, he is homebound and works primarily on the Internet. There was also a Wall Street stockbroker in his 50s, who was studying Latin to prepare for a second career in teaching; he and his wife recently visited LaFleur while in Georgia this summer.
LaFleur has taught UGA students who had scheduling problems with regular classroom courses; many of them are self-pacers who are highly competent students and finish in six weeks. Also, he has helped those with disabilities.
Other students have included a poet in California who wanted to enhance her English, Catholic priests in need of refresher courses, a musician who recognized that there is a lot of Latin in music, editors, librarians, a book restorer, and a diplomatic courier who mailed her lessons from countries all around the world.
Latin is far from being a dead language, LaFleur said. "Latin lives.... in 60 to 70 percent of our English vocabulary, and in the study of Roman literature and civilization, which have exerted powerful influences on Western culture." There is much to be learned from the Romans of relevance to our own increasingly multicultural society, LaFleur emphasized: "Greco-Roman civilization was perhaps the archetypal `multiculture.' "
Editing is another of LaFleur's loves. "I believe I was born with a red pencil in my hand." He has been the editor of The Classical Outlook, the journal of the American Classical League (ACL), the major national professional organization for teachers of Latin, Greek, and classical civilization. LaFleur is also a past president of ACL (1984-86).
The Virginia native resides in Athens with his wife, Laura, whom he met at the University of Virginia. She is the unit director for the mother-baby and newborn special care units at Athens (Georgia) Regional Medical Center, and has also worked as a nursing instructor. The LaFleurs have three children, now adults: Kimberley, Caroline, and Jean-Paul.
"I would never want to be completely out of the classroom. I like the variety of teaching, research, publishing, administration, and service that I have in my position as academic department head," he said. "A lifelong teacher is a lifelong learner. Teaching is not just a job for me -- it's a passion."
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