Class II’s Golden Symposium: Ancient Cultures Come to Life

This year, Class II’s traditional Greek Symposium was expanded into a new, multi-dimensional event known as the Golden Symposium. Students sporting hand-sewn chitons and hanfu—historical Greek and Chinese robes—gathered in the gym Wednesday, May 13, to present topical research on golden ages in ancient China, Greece, and Rome. 

The annual Greek Symposium was launched by History Faculty Josh Constant in 2009. This year’s Golden Symposium was devised as a cumulative project to weave together all of the ancient civilizations studied in Class II this year. Each student project centered on a single theme, such as medicine, economics, or fashion, in order to compare and contrast across cultures. 

“We’ve been doing some version of this for almost 18 years,” explained Mr. Constant. “The focus has always been a research-driven project, where the students develop a research question and then create a thesis statement to respond to that research question. It’s always been collaborative.” 

Groups of 2–3 students begin with a topical research question, for example, “How did inventions of the Tang dynasty impact the people’s daily life and future dynasties?” Next, students learn about their topic through research—using books, online databases, and websites. Students also meet with Assistant Director of the Virginia Wing Library Danielle Smogard to learn skills like evaluating websites, citation formatting tools, and searching Winsor databases. Finally, students develop a thesis and prepare for the event. Through the Symposium, students have an opportunity to demonstrate their learning in a different way than writing a traditional paper.

This year’s Golden Symposium was organized by Mr. Constant and History Faculty Amy Lieberman, and the days leading up to the event were full of excitement. Students gathered in history faculty classrooms to decorate poster display boards and sew last-minute costume alternations. The morning of the symposium, students donned their ancient clothing, set up their poster boards, and arranged themselves in the gym for all to connect, learn, and have fun. Lower School and Upper School students as well as faculty and staff dropped in to peruse the displays. From a DIY boardgame on trade routes to air-dry clay pottery, student projects encouraged hands-on learning in order to truly bring ancient cultures to life. There was even an archery game to explore ancient militaries.

“This is always one of the memories seniors reminiscence about as they approach the end of their time at Winsor,” said Ms. Lieberman. “The opportunity to dig deeply into a subject of their choosing, become an expert, and then share that new knowledge with an engaged Winsor audience in a dynamic way is a treasured experience and part of what makes learning here truly special.”