Dr. Hittinger is a new addition to the MLHS crew, having recently moved from New York to New Jersey. (I will later attempt to discern why anyone would ever do that). A lover of the classics, he inspires students to see “how fascinating [Latin] is,” while simultaneously inspiring them to “want death” (as per the eloquence of Madison Orlofski, class of ’19). I recently sat down with Dr. Hittinger, knowing little about the classics beyond carpe diem being a fun phrase from Dead Poets Society, and Aristotle having been famous for being wrong about everything. Here are some things that I learned about our new Laker:
What do you teach at MLHS?
“I teach all of the Latin classes, and I teach World Cultures. And next year I’m teaching a class about Philosophy and Western civilization.”
What caused you to willingly live in New Jersey?
“My wife is from New Jersey. We were living in New York because I was doing my Ph.D. at Columbia, and my wife is from Denville. We had kids, and we were like: ‘better move to New Jersey.’”
So you study the classics?
“I did my undergraduate degree in Classics at the University of Chicago, MA at Notre Dame, and then I did my Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Society, with a focus in Medieval studies and Italian Studies”
How many languages do you speak (dead and alive)?
“I do Latin, I do Ancient Greek, I speak Italian, I can understand Spanish, and I’ve also studied Russian and German.”
What do you think is the most important thing to be learned from studying the classics?
“I think that the most important thing to learn is that there’s almost nothing new under the sun. That’s a phrase, ‘nihil novi sub sole,’ which means that every generation has to discover that there are some things in life that are always being recycled and if we don’t go back and learn about the past and learn about ancient societies and their cultures–which may appear boring at first to some students–then we’re bound to repeat the mistakes of the past or suffer from a lack of wisdom about things that all of those people had learned before us. So I look at my job as kind of providing those things, so that when everyone goes off to college and life they can benefit from it.”
What’s your favorite Latin phrase?
“Can I say carpe diem, because everyone likes that one? I also like caveat emptor, buyer beware, because it’s good advice to think critically before you ‘buy into’ something. ”
Do you have a favorite book of all time? Or maybe a few favorites?
“That’s a hard question. I do think my favorite book of all time is a book by Aristotle, called the Nicomachean Ethics. I’ve always been more into historical-philosophical books, though I appreciate literature deeply.
Do you have a favorite musical artist?
“I do like 80s music, just as a genre. I actually love 80s music.”
What’s the worst part about the Latin language? What’s the best part?
“The worst part is that it’s actually hard, so a beginning Latin student may feel like they’ve gotten themselves into something that they didn’t want to do, because they feel like they shouldn’t have to work that hard. But what’s really great about it is that after students get over the hump of learning how to study for it and then start to see how much their minds are expanded by it, then I feel like a lot of students actually start to enjoy it, because it’s fun to be smart. It’s fun to do hard things, and that’s actually the thing about academics, right? We want to get to a place where it’s fun. I always had fun with it, because I always liked words and I like patterns, and basically learning Latin is all about words and patterns. And so if you’re good at words and patterns and you enjoy a challenge, then it’s for you.”
What can students expect from your Western Civilization seminar next year?
“They can expect to have their minds totally blown and expanded. They can expect to have a totally life-changing experience, and see the world a different way. I do promise that.”
Greece or Rome?
“I can’t. I can’t choose.”
Which film in pop culture–if any–gives the most accurate representation of the periods you study?
Hollywood films about the ancient world are more special effects and fun than accurate; however, there is some accuracy to the battle scenes in Gladiator, but not much else.
What’s the best thing on TV right now?
“There’s so much good stuff on tv right now…I really like Westworld; it’s pretty philosophical. I also like this time-traveling show called Travelers on Netflix. Also Homeland. ”
Coffee or tea?
“Coffee.”
If you could have dinner with any 5 people, dead or alive, real or imagined, who would they be?
“Part of me would want to invite over some great philosophers and literary giants, but I think it would be most awesome to have over all five original members of the 1980s new wave British band Duran Duran!”
What’s your favorite place you’ve ever traveled?
“The most formative place I ever traveled was Rome. I must have gone there when I was 15, and that was life-changing for me. But the most fun place I’ve ever traveled was probably to Guanajuato, Mexico, which was awesome. I studied Spanish there in 2008, and I had so much fun there. People were really nice.”
Where do you most want to go that you’ve never been?
“I really want to go to Asia. So I really want to go to Korea, Japan, and China. I’ve traveled a lot in Europe and I’ve been to most or all of the Western European countries, plus Russia and Ukraine and Lithuania. I’ve been to Latin America, Mexico, and Guatemala–although I haven’t been to South America–but I would really like to go to Asia.”
0
0
Average Rating