Exeter, NH (January 31, 2007)—Phillips Exeter Academy will host David Potter ’75, the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan, as the 10th Harkness Fellow to visit the Academy in the year-long celebration of the 75th anniversary of Harkness teaching.

On Friday, February 9, at 7 p.m., Dr. Potter will give a talk to the local and campus community on “Why We Study Rome: A Classicist’s Look at Contemporary Culture.” This event will be held inside the Phelps Academy Center Forum, located on Tan Lane in Exeter, and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Potter will address the student assembly on his days as an Exeter student, and the career influences of his academic mentors. Afterwards, he will visit with students and faculty in classical languages and ancient history classes. Currently, Potter teaches Greek and Latin in the University of Michigan’s graduate classical studies department. He is the author and/or editor of several books on ancient Rome, including Literary Texts and the Roman Historian (London, 1999), and Life, Death and Entertainment in the Roman Empire (Ann Arbor, 1999). His academic and teaching specialties include Roman imperial history, Greek and Roman historiography, Greek and Latin epigraphy, classical religion and the early church, and the sociology of public entertainment.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1979, and a doctoral degree from Oxford University in 1984, Dr. Potter began his research and teaching career at New College Oxford in England in 1981. From 1984–1991, he held assistant professorships in classical language departments at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Michigan. In 1991, he was named associate professor in classical studies, and was promoted to his current position in 1996. From 1999–2004, Potter also served as director of the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Greek and Latin in the classical studies department.

Harkness teaching and learning began 75 years ago with an educational experiment that placed 12 students and one teacher around an oval table, and remains the hallmark of Exeter’s educational philosophy to this day. Philanthropist Edward Harkness, Principal Lewis Perry and a group of senior faculty together transformed almost every aspect of school life and influenced secondary school education throughout the country. The Harkness plan offers a generous opportunity for dialogue and the ability to hear the voice of each student. The Harkness table places students at the center of the learning process and encourages them to learn from one another.

For the rest of the school year, lectures, exhibitions and visits from a distinguished group of Harkness Fellows will be a part of the celebration for this historic Harkness milestone. Many of the featured guests are alumni/ae, who will each spend several days on campus attending classes, meeting with students and faculty, and giving talks.

For more information, please call Rick Schubart at (603) 777-3589. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. For more information on other events, contact the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309, or visit the Academy website at www.exeter.edu.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and 26 foreign countries.

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