In this episode of the ClassicalU Podcast, Jesse Hake talks with Karen T. Moore and Grant Horner, PhD about their CU course: Teaching Through Italy: A Guide to In Situ Studies and the transformative power of encountering great books, art, history, and faith in the places that shaped them. Drawing on decades of teaching and travel, Karen and Grant describe how standing before the Laocoön, walking through Pompeii and Ostia, or reading Vergil’s Aeneid on location can collapse the distance between books and the world and awaken fresh wonder in teachers and students. They discuss their developing book and ClassicalU course, both designed to help educators integrate literature, history, theology, language, art, and material culture whether they travel to Italy or bring Italy into their classrooms. Karen and Grant also preview their Teaching Through Italy study program with The Vergilian Society, December 28, 2027–January 8, 2028, which will lead educators through Rome, Campania, and Florence while pairing texts with archaeological sites, museums, works of art, and conversations about how to bring these experiences back to students. Applications are now open for this In Situ study program and the Vergilian Society’s other 2027 tours and workshops; visit the tour application to apply, and scholarship opportunities are also available. Throughout the conversation, Karen and Grant return to the contagious wonder and delight of the lifelong learner and to the ways teachers can carry that enthusiasm back into their own classrooms. 

Listeners may also be interested in Junius Johnson’s free webinar, Finding Theology in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, on October 15, 2026, from 5:30–6:45 p.m. CT, exploring how to read C. S. Lewis’s Narnia stories theologically.