MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS (September 24, 2026) — The Roman numerals are starting to add up for Classics Day at Monmouth College.
Led by professor Bob Simmons, who brought the event with him from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro when he joined Monmouth's faculty in 2014, the college's classics department will put on Classics Day VII, 1-3PM, October 3, in the quad area north of the Center for Science and Business. The rain site is the adjacent Huff Athletic Center.
Free and open to the public, Classics Day is a multi-award-winning festival that immerses attendees into the global classical world in a range of ways. Among its more than fifty separate interactive opportunities will be the following activities, all based on practices from one or more peoples from the ancient world: Sporting events, military activities, tabletop games, clothing, stone carving, languages (including modern ones and their ancient antecedents), mythologies from around the world, mosaic-making, hairstyling, various technologies (including a catapult), magical practices, red- and black-figure vase-painting, weaving, and a host more.
Eta Sigma Phi, the undergraduate honor society for classics, is one of several organizations that have taken notice of the educational value that Classics Day provides, naming it as an award-winning program. Others include the Society for Classical Studies — the largest and most prestigious organization for classics in the United States — and the Classical Association of the Middle West and South.
"One of the things that makes the classics program at Monmouth College distinctive is, first of all, the number of leadership opportunities that we offer to students in the various things we do," said Simmons, who's also put on a very successful interactive two-week session for teachers, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, during two of the past three summers.
"We have a range of classics courses, and these classes are tied into opportunities to develop skills and to plan and carry out events so that people can bring their learning to life."
The most up-to-date information on the day can be found at the Classics Day Facebook page: facebook.com/classicsdayfestival.
