Teacher Wins Federal Grant
Ms. MaryJane Rice is one of only 16 teachers nationwide to be chosen to attend a seminar in Italy.
Upper school member of the English and theology faculty Ms. MaryJane Rice has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to study in Siena, Italy this summer. She is one of only sixteen teachers nationwide who were selected for this program.
Ms. Rice will attend a five-week summer seminar entitled “Dante’s Commedia” (or The Divine Comedy). Thanks to the NEH grant, the seminar is tuition-free; in addition, the grant will help cover travel costs, living expenses and books and research materials, as Ms. Rice spends five weeks in Siena amidst the artistic and cultural monuments of Dante’s world.
Ms. Rice was selected to receive the NEH grant out of more than 250 applicants after submitting an application, including a four-page essay describing her years of experience teaching Dante to students in AP Literature and Philosophy. The NEH summer seminars aim to enhance the intellectual vitality of participants, provide models of excellent scholarship and teaching, and promote connections between teaching and research in the humanities.
In her application essay, Ms. Rice described the benefits to her students from this opportunity to immerse herself in The Divine Comedy. “I am my students’ ‘Galeotto,’” she said, referring to the go-between for Lancelot and Guinevere referenced in Dante’s work. “I introduce the work to them and act as a messenger, and therefore I know that having my own Galeotto for the entire text would be invaluable.”
Congratulations and good luck to Ms. Rice as she prepares for her summer seminar.
An independent school for girls in grades 6-12
Inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church
Inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church
