Classics CV

(NB: References are available on request.)

Thor Polson was born in Kansas City, Missouri and in his early years lived with his family in India and Norway.  His academic credentials are as follows:

M.A. in Latin from the University of Illinois in Urbana  (1984)

M.A. in Ancient Greek from the University of Missouri in Columbia with minors in ancient studies and archaeology (1989)

M.Phil. in Ancient Greek from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (2000)

– B.A. degrees in English literature and music from Grinnell College in Iowa (1980)

– M.A. in German from Middlebury College in Vermont, a program requiring two semesters spent at Gutenberg University in Mainz (1993)

Work Experience

– Latin teacher at St. Mary’s School in Medford, Oregon (2010-17): responsible for teaching Latin at all levels, including Advanced Placement Latin

– Adjunct professor at St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota (2005-07): responsible for teaching undergraduate Latin and Greek courses

– Latin teacher at St. Paul Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota (2003-05): responsible for teaching fourth-year Latin (Vergil’s Aeneid) and the fifth-year Advanced Placement curriculum (Ovid and Catullus)

– Adjunct professor at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota (2001-02): responsible for teaching first-, second-, and third-semester Latin

– Latin teacher at St. Mary’s School in Medford, Oregon (2000-01): responsible for teaching third-year and Advanced Placement Latin

– Adjunct professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota (Sept. – Dec. ’99): responsible for teaching an undergraduate seminar on Cicero and Sallust

– Professor of classics (sabbatical replacement) at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota (January – May ’99): responsible for teaching classical mythology, second-semester Latin, and a course on Vergil to undergraduates; also responsible for helping to organize a state-wide Latin convention for high-school students

– Teaching assistant at the School of Greek, Latin, and Ancient History at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (1997-98): responsible for teaching classical-studies tutorials on Aristophanes’ Clouds, Greek cultural attitudes, and Greek and Roman art and archaeology; also responsible 1) for teaching Latin tutorials on Plautus’ Menaechmi, Ovid’s Amores, and the Carmina Burana and 2) for grading Greek translation and scansion tests

– Substitute teacher of Latin at St. Paul Academy in Minneapolis (fall ’95)

– Latin/History/English teacher at Key School, an independent school in Annapolis, Maryland (1994-95): responsible for teaching first-, second-, and third-year Latin and Ancient & Medieval Civilizations, a team-taught, interdisciplinary history/English course; other duties and activities: Greek and accelerated Greek offered as ninth-period activities; extensive participation in a decennial curriculum self-study

– Classics teacher at Thomas Jefferson School, an independent school in Saint Louis, Missouri (1989-1992): responsible for teaching second- and third-year Greek as well as first- and second-year Latin; other duties: director of standardized testing; director of athletics; boys’ and girls’ basketball coach; work-related activities: academic advising and tutoring; Greek reading group; basketball clinics; native-American archaeology workshop; grader of National Junior Classical League essays; attendance at various conventions (ISACS, CAMWS, and CLC) and support in organizing the annual convention of the Missouri Junior Classical League

– Teaching assistant at the Department of Classical Studies, University of Missouri at Columbia (1987-89): responsible for teaching first-, second-, and third-semester Latin and an independent-readings course in advanced Greek (Plato)

– Latin teacher at the Department of Foreign Languages, University High School, Urbana, Illinois (1983-84): responsible for teaching first-year Latin

– Teaching assistant at the Department of Classics, University of Illinois at Urbana (1982-84): responsible for teaching first- and second-semester Latin and a vocabulary-building course

Related Education and Other Qualifications

– Two audited courses on Greek medicine and Greek literary history at Gutenberg University (fall ’92 and spring ’93)

– Six-week archaeology program at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (summer ’91)

Awards, Honors, Professional Associations and Activities

– £4,500 research scholarship (granted and renewed by the British government) at the University of St. Andrews

– £1,500 departmental award (granted and renewed by the School of Greek, Latin, and Ancient History at the University of St. Andrews)

– Participant at the 1993 International Summer School for Teachers of Classics held in St. Andrews, Scotland

– $1,300 Culpepper and $1,000 McKinley grants for summer study at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens

– Numerous trips to Greece and Italy

– Two Superior Graduate Achievement Awards from the University of Missouri in Columbia (UMC)

– $6,000 UMC Doctoral Fellowship; $1,000 UMC Arts & Sciences Fellowship (renewed)

– Ranked as one of the University of Illinois’ outstanding instructors on the student news-paper’s “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students”

– Current member of the American Classical League

Related Activities and Interests

– Co-organizer of Concordia College’s Latin Days, a state-wide convention for high-school Latin students

– Lecturer on dissertation-related topics at the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews

– Classroom observer of Latin courses at St. Leonard’s School and Madras High School in St. Andrews

– Judge at a regional high-school Latin contest in St. Andrews

– Former member of the Tayside Classical Association, the Classical Association of Scotland, and the Scottish Hellenic Society

– Participant in the Scottish Postgraduate Conference and the Higher’s Conference for Scottish Classicists

Thor Polson painting by Joe Paquet

Thor Polson (portrait by Joe Paquet)