Classical Studies Institute of Louisville

His doctoral thesis was published as Xenophon's Sparta: An Introduction (1987), and his first eight years in teaching were in political science at the university level (SUNY at Oswego, New York; University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; University of Dallas). During this time, he also published interpretive essays on Thucydides and Plato. But his major 'bridging' work began when he was a Tutor at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1990-97), where he did extensive study and teaching in music theory, Euclidean geometry, philosophy and the history of science as well as ancient Greek.

Meanwhile, the ways in which modern psychology investigates the soul and the mind had also become a compelling interest; so he took up graduate studies in psychology and neuroscience at the University of New Mexico, while teaching part-time in their University Honors Program. Upon reading the philosopher Husserl's critique of modern psychology, he began writing a commentary on Plato's Republic as the foundational work of western psychology. Although Plato's work is all but unknown to modern psychologists, this commentary seeks to show how Plato can offer some critical guidance for modern humanistic studies in psychology.

In 1998, Dr. Proietti also began teaching GED and pre-college mathematics courses. This work, too, opened up many new windows for him on the human appetite for learning as well as on the multitude of 'blockages' that people encounter in their efforts to learn. When his family moved to Louisville in 2001, he sought more of this work through Jefferson Community College. In Albuquerque and Louisville, his teaching work in pre-college mathematics has taken him into diverse community centers and prisons as well as traditional college classrooms.

In 2003, when his daughter entered Highlands Latin School, Dr. Proietti began teaching there as a part-time instructor in K-2 music, Euclidean geometry, ancient Greek and classical studies. There, he developed a visionary primary music program of early training in music fundamentals, and his outstanding young choirs are a testament to its excellence. He also teaches music and a junior great books seminar at the acclaimed West End School.

Gerald Proietti PhD, Political Science Boston College

Gerald Proietti bridges the worlds of music (BA, SUNY Fredonia), the language and literature of ancient Greece (MA, Boston College), the history of western political philosophy, the foundations of our own political institutions (PhD, Boston College), and modern psychology and neuroscience (graduate studies, University of New Mexico).