In college at the University of Mary Washington, formerly Mary Washington College, she took
courses in all areas of the liberal arts, especially languages, philosophy and religion, and music. She emerged with a music degree, summa cum laude, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year.
Choosing the teaching of language over a career in music, Mrs. Proietti entered the Peace Corps to teach English in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Following that service, she taught English in a rural high school in North Carolina, where she implemented the county’s first advanced placement course. There, she realized that her students’ deep deficiencies in basic cultural literacy limited their ability to understand literature beyond the most obvious literal level. Her courses, thereafter, began with “The Big Picture” lectures in history going back to ancient Greece, in an effort to explain why the Western mind perceives the world as it does. A crash course in Greek and Roman mythology and the Bible introduced advanced placement English, as these works are common to all great writers of English literature and are the sources of most literary allusions.
Wishing to advance her own education, Mrs. Proietti entered the
Graduate Institute of St. John’s College, often referred to as “the most intellectual college in the country.” St. John’s, the “Great Books” college, has no academic majors. Instead, all students undertake a rigorous study of the great authors in many subjects. Mrs. Proietti received a Master of Arts of Liberal Arts after undertaking a curriculum of philosophy, literature, history, and politics. She was awarded the graduate essay prize for a distinguished essay, a study of how Shakespeare’s history plays illustrate an evolving concept of monarchy.
Her passion is helping students to read carefully and faithfully and to write clearly and persuasively. Though she came to Louisville in 2002 for an opportunity that employed business writing skills, she also found time for teaching at
Highlands Latin School, where she offered its first AP English course, and at
Bellarmine University.
Mrs. Proietti’s classroom style is relaxed, lively, and highly participatory. Her references and allusions range from Aristotle, Lao Tzu, and the Old Testament to Harry Potter, Star Trek, and The Wizard of Oz. Her vision for education has been honed by her daughter,
now in 6th grade at the Academy, and her husband Gerald Proietti, a classical scholar and political scientist who is also her Academy colleague.
Amanda Proietti
MA, Liberal Arts St.
John's College
Amanda Murphy Proietti was born with a classical spoon in her mouth. Her father, who had been thoroughly educated in the classical tradition by Irish monks in the 1920’s and 1930's, was himself a teacher of Latin, literature, mathematics, history, and logic. Mrs. Proietti attended high schools in New York and England, where literature and music were her primary areas of study.
