Peripatos 2024—Statement of Purpose & Overview
— Amy Hackney Blackwell & Christopher Blackwell
περίπᾰτ-ος. περίπατος, ὁ. (peripatos) [among other meanings] “discourse during a walk, discussion, argument”, Ar. Ra. 942, Bato 2.3; π. περί τινος Ar. Ra. 953; ἑωθινὸς π., δειλινὸς π., Aristotleʼs names for his morning and evening lectures, Gell. 20.5.5.
This is the story of a sabbatical trip. We posted a statement of purpose, of sorts, beforehand. This is the after-action report!
A sabbatical (from the Greek adjective Σαββατικός, ή, όν) is meant to be a break. The word itself is related to “sabbath,” the seventh day of the week dedicated to resting from labors. University faculty receive the incredible gift of time off every seventh year, a break intended to let them rest, reflect, and then resume their professions with renewed vigor and interest. It’s a time for research, for pondering the deep problems of the field, and for updated education.
The two of us had the great good fortune to be able to spend two months in Greece in September and October of 2024. The stars aligned in every possible way—Chris had a sabbatical, the kids were grown, our son’s wedding wasn’t until December, we were both still young enough and fit enough to pull off a lengthy and physically challenging journey. There was funding and Greece is cheap. We get along. Chris can drive a stick shift. All the pieces were there.
But for a trip to qualify as a sabbatical journey, you can’t just say “I think it would be fun to go to Greece!” Which might be true, but isn’t “improving”.
So we put together an itinerary designed to make Chris a better classicist and to create a body of material that he could use to make students better classists as well. That the trip turned out to also be incredibly fun was hardly beside the point—reading Greek is a luxury, and so it should be a pleasure!
Here’s how we did it.