Being Wyoming’s sole professional classicist evokes the image of Atlas holding up the world on his shoulders or Sisyphus laboring to roll a boulder uphill.
A colleague describes Philip Holt, associate professor in the UW Department of Modern and Classical Languages, as one “of the symbolic forces that keep alive the spirit of inquiry in a remote state university like Wyoming.” This colleague goes on to classify Holt as that hero of a later age, the Renaissance man.
A former student puts it less metaphorically but just as sincerely: “He’s the hardest working teacher I’ve ever seen.”
Most descriptions of Holt start with marvel at his wide-ranging knowledge, but this is quickly followed with the highest praise for his ability to communicate that knowledge to his students. “To hear him speak is to have an intellectual adventure,” says a professor in the English department, “he shows our students and reminds our faculty of the joys of the scholarly life.”
Students speak of his clarity and patience in teaching what most of them see as difficult, even “terrifying,” material -- Latin language, and the literature and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. These students note how Holt moves them toward success, “not only in Latin, but in all aspects of their lives.” They call him “jolly, approachable and sincere ... one of the kindest and most genuine professors on campus,” whose willingness to make time to be sure his students understand the material takes it beyond the rote memorization sometimes associated with studying the classics.
Even Wyoming’s public school students benefit from Holt’s knowledge and skill when their teachers attend the classics institute he coordinates each summer.
A student in her fourth semester of Latin reflects a common attitude among veterans of Holt’s courses. She admits to finding the subject hard but thanks Holt for her enjoyment and ability to excel in it. “Ancient Rome is perhaps more real to me than modern Europe, thanks to Professor Holt,” says this English literature major.
This demonstrates what a colleague means when she says, “Talk to Phil and you will never say that Latin is a dead language.”
Receiving the Ellbogen award fulfills the hope of one student that “he can know how much we appreciate him,” a way of saying, in the words of another student, “Thanks for being wonderful at your profession.”
Holt received his bachelor’s degree (1969) from St. John’s College (Annapolis, Md.). His Ph.D. (1976) is from Stanford University.
Philip Holt