LECTOR: An Educational Project on Classical Receptions in the Netherlands

Leiden University is developing an online learning environment aimed at helping students to improve their understanding of modern cultures’ engagement with antiquity. It is its primary aim to stimulate awareness of classical receptions among pupils and students, to enhance the teaching of classical receptions in Dutch secondary and tertiary education, and to improve the connection between these two domains of education in the Netherlands.  

The development of the platform is based on two current projects, the collection of receptions in German literature since 1945, which started under the supervision of Bernd Seidensticker at the Free University Berlin in 1995, and the collection of Dutch and English-language Receptions, which started at the University of Leiden in 2020. The educational platform, LECTOR (“Learning Experience Computer-based Tool for Classical Receptions”, in Dutch: OudheidReceptie), will make use of the database developed by these projects (see receptions-of-antiquity.com).

The platform’s Learning Management System is tailored to give access to the database by means of adaptational playful learning tools. These will make receptions of antiquity accessible for various users with different backgrounds and interests, ranging from school pupils and students to school teachers and university lecturers, as well as to other people interested in working with Classical Receptions, such as artists and people working in the cultural sector.

LECTOR will give access to contemporary receptions in Dutch, German, French and English literatures as well as their classical sources, in the original languages, i.e. in Latin and ancient Greek, and in accessible Dutch translations. It will introduce these materials with texts and videos, and enhance further understanding by means of adaptational quizzes and playful learning tools, such as games; it will also allow for the integration of these tools into existing teaching practices, providing feedback and a certification path.

On the one hand, the interface will provide users with quizzes, games, and teaching packages which can be freely used for private study, for example, when writing papers, as well as during classes at school and university. On the other, the platform will allow for active participation in the further development of these material and tools. Hence, LECTOR will attribute specific roles to pupils/students and teachers/lecturers, allowing them to either add or edit new materials. In this way, educators can invite students to develop their own quizzes under their supervision, and stimulate active learning in their teaching.

The project is developed by prof. Antje Wessels and dr Amaranth Feuth, Leiden University, the Netherlands.