DR. WALTER MELVIN ROBERTS III BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Walter M. Roberts III was born in Detroit Michigan in 1959. He earned degrees from Columbia College (B.A. Philosophy and Classical Greek, 1983 summa cum laude), the University of Chicago (M.A. Philosophy, 1990), and UC Berkeley (M.A. Latin, 2000; Ph.D. Classics 2006). In 2011 his dissertation, Cicero's Political Imperative: A Reading of On Duties, was published by VDM Verlag (cf. link to Amazon.com for complete dissertation). The following year he resigned his tenure-track position as Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Vermont in order to found Detroit Greek and Latin and the Polebridge Institute at Glacier National Park, Montana. Most recently, he served as Amendments Coordinator for the Senate in the 2013 session of the Montana Legislature. Since 1991, whenever possible, he has spent summers in Polebridge, MT, the primitive NW corner of Glacier National Park. He is an avid chess player, cyclist, and outdoorsman. He is presently at work on the inaugural edition of DGL Aids, Three Quarrels: Lexical-Grammatical Aids to Iliad I, and collection of social-critical-philosophical reflections, Stray Thoughts (2006-2014).

The prohibitive cost of academic titles and the obscurity to which this work has been consigned (despite its outstanding merits in the eyes of its author) compel to offer it here in its entirety for the curious. The opening section of the Introduction introduces Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) to persons unfamiliar with Roman History. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 are the core of the heavy philosophical lifting. (I am most proud of chapter 5 Cicero's Political Imperative: Natural Slavery Rehabilitated.) Chapter 4 Cicero's Ideal Politician is a stand-alone piece. The Conclusion summarizes the whole argument chapter by chapter. The remaining parts consist of academic gyrations; though Reading On Duties might be of interest to students of Hermeneutics—the art of interpreting texts, named after the god Hermes (to whom the ancients prayed when hoping to decipher an ambiguous godly message.) Kudos to A. A. Long, a dissertation director such as one can only dream for!

Cicero's Political Imperative, Introduction (Opens as Word Doc)
Cicero's Political Imperative (Opens as PDF)



Chillin'-The first day of hunting season (2013) in the North Fork. What was I reading? (Answer: Glaucon's Rebuke of Hector: Illiad 17. 143-187)


My Carthusian Experience (opens as PDF)


PURPOSE STATEMENT

The rationale, methods, and overall purpose of DGL are expressed in our three founding documents:

The Plight of the Gifted Child, Greek the DGL Way

Prelude to Latin: an overview of the DGL curriculum

An additional document: To the Mountaintop: The Idea of Pinnacle Curricula (DGL's submission to the Goldman Sachs Education Innovation Essay Contest of 2012) expresses the DGL remedy vision in its widest terms, but with an ending too harsh on the educational professionals.

DGL's Proposal to The Detroit Public Schools provides a blueprint for implementation of the DGL idea.

View resume for Dr. Walter Melvin Roberts III