UT’s Latin Day Brings Hundreds to Knoxville Campus
The Department of Classics shows middle and high school students from East Tennessee the wonders of the ancient world and career opportunities in classics.
The annual Latin Day at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has been inspiring hundreds of young scholars from area middle and high schools for generations and supporting their teachers.
“The event gives students a chance to explore the ancient Mediterranean world with their peers from all over Tennessee in a university setting,” said Assistant Professor Jessica Westerhold from the Department of Classics, which hosts the event.
Jenny Fields first attended as a student in the late 1980s and now brings her students from Webb School of Knoxville. “I loved it, in particular seeing someone dressed up in a Roman army costume,” said Fields. “It definitely ignited my interest in becoming a Latin teacher.”
Webb usually brings more than two dozen students to the event, and in 2025 Fields and her class members were among nearly 400 students, teachers, and chaperones attending Latin Day XLIII. They came from schools and homeschool groups ranging as far away as Murfreesboro.
“Several of my students have gone on to major in classics and even to teach Latin, in part because they have enjoyed events like these,” Fields said.
Fueling a Love of Humanities
“On the bus ride home, I always hear them discussing the various topics presented by UT professors,” Fields said. “They also love hanging out with their friends on a college campus for the day.”
Students who attend Latin Day at UT encourage classmates to sign up in following years.
That was the experience of Charlie Wilkes, now a first-year classics major at UT, who attended all four years with Latin students from Farragut High School. Wilkes grew up loving Greek and Roman mythology, and in classes taught by Lizzi Kersey (‘07) discovered a love of linguistics and Roman history.
“Latin Day provides invaluable opportunities,” Wilkes said. “As a high school freshman, I was able to learn about a lot of career routes that I otherwise wouldn’t have thought of, like archival work or archaeology, and research.” Wilkes first learned about work with medieval manuscripts at a Latin Day lecture.
Latin Day brings together young students who are passionate about the same things and shows them there is a way to channel that into their futures, said UT sophomore Virgil Voyles, who first attended as a senior at Bearden High with teacher Sandy Hughes (’05).
“I absolutely loved it,” Voyles said. “Being able to go to all of these college lectures about the topic I was so passionate about was amazing. It really solidified that I wanted to go into classics.”
Experiencing the Ancient World
Latin Day offers students nearly a dozen workshops on topics encompassing history, literature, and art. For example, they may learn about Bronze Age pirates, gladiators, mythology, and current archaeological research being done by UT faculty.
“Hands-on workshops like making curse tablets and mixing ancient perfumes are always very popular,” Westerhold said.
UT’s Classics Club also offers an activity, such as a trivia game with questions covering Greek and Roman history, language, and myths. For the 43rd annual Latin Day, held the day before Halloween in 2025, the UT students judged a costume contest featuring Greek- and Roman-themed characters.
Students are not the only ones benefitting from the experience. “Because Latin Day draws schools from different parts of Tennessee, the business meeting offers teachers and UT faculty a rare opportunity to discuss student success, teaching strategies, and new challenges,” Westerhold said. “The goal is to develop shared resources that educators can use.”
For example, this year Bearden High’s Hughes led a discussion about how to communicate the value of studying the ancient Mediterranean and the Latin language to students, parents, and administrators.
UT’s Latin Day is evidence of a community of people who love the ancient world and can’t wait to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with the next generation, Fields said. “I hope it goes on for another 43 years and beyond,” she said.
Latin Day XLIV is scheduled for Thursday, October 15, 2026.
By Amy Beth Miller