Oakcrest classical languages teacher Paula Rondon-Burgos will deliver the school’s Fifth Annual O’Donovan Humanities Lecture on March 16, 2019. Paula will speak on “The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: The Life of Cicero—Roman Statesman, Philosopher, and Friend.”

The O’Donovan Humanities Lecture is an annual event featuring scholars and artists from around the country which aims to instill a deeper appreciation of the importance of the humanities in everyday life. This year Ms. Rondon-Burgos will be reflecting on the writings of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a first-century B.C. Roman politician and author. She will examine how the life of Cicero provides a much-needed mirror for our times, one which reflects back the truth of the human person, both in its inherent fallibility and in its capacity for greatness.

Ms. Rondon-Burgos has a B.A. in Classics – Latin (UVA) and an M.A.T. in Latin and the Classical Humanities (UMass Amherst). She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Classics and Ancient History (Durham University). She has been teaching since 2009 in a variety of settings, including rural Ethiopia where she served as a lay missionary with the Salesians of Don Bosco.