Sunoikisis: Computer-Mediated Communication in the Creation of a ...

Sunoikisis: Creation of a Virtual Department
each other in the context of one of the weekly discussions normally reserved
for the study questions. Over the course of the semester, a strong
sense of community among the entire group of students never emerged.
For example, the Deversorium and the Servus Oracularius went unused.
However, the need for establishing community among the students at the
different campuses was not as great as with the archaeology practicum.
The course was designed to increase the range of views and interpretations
of a period of Latin literature for students who already had considerable
experience in Latin, not as a preparation for a later activity such as a
field school.
Students also developed greater ties to their colleagues at their own
institutions for three major reasons. More students from each campus
enrolled in the course than had in the practicum. As a three-unit course,
the course also included the additional on-campus tutorials. Finally, the
interinstitutional collaboration only lasted for 11 weeks during the fall
semester. Since the semester calendars at all of the institutions extended
beyond the schedule of collaborative events, faculty members and students
met independently and addressed topics and texts suited to the needs
and goals of the individual students and programs.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Current plans call for a further expansion of offerings to include an
elementary sequence in ancient Greek, which will debut in spring 2001,
and advanced courses in Latin and ancient Greek in fall 2001. Discussions
are also underway concerning a more comprehensive elementary
course in archaeology and revising the practicum to address topics at a
more advanced level. The evolution of the project up to this point has,
however, revealed some issues that will require attention if Sunoikisis is
to meet its more ambitious, long-term goals of establishing itself as a viable
academic structure that can directly compete with larger programs at
research universities. As Sunoikisis expands and other collaborative initiatives
get underway, the different academic schedules and calendars at
the member institutions of the consortium will pose increasingly substantial
barriers to interaction. For example, of the five institutions that participated
in the Latin reading course described above, no two institutions
had the same daily schedule nor the same academic calendar. While merging
the schedules and calendars seems unlikely, the project has suggested
that the colleges explore the possibility of designating a period of time
during the week for interinstitutional collaboration.
One of the goals of the second phase of the project was to determine the
level of financial support required to sustain Sunoikisis and a formula for
distributing those costs among the participating institutions. Within this
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