About the VRoma Project
The VRoma Project was funded by a $190,000 Teaching with Technology Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities covering the period from 1997-1999. During this time, the virtual world of the VRoma MOO was constructed, three summer workshops for college and pre-college faculty were held, and many teaching materials were created and tested in courses. The initial team which developed the VRoma Project comprised Project Director Suzanne Bonefas (then at Miami University and the Associated Colleges of the South), Michael Arnush (Skidmore College), Barbara McManus (The College of New Rochelle), Kenneth Morrell (Rhodes College), and Stephen Nimis (Miami University). Many other teacher-scholars from pre-college to university levels have contributed to the project. Barbara McManus (Professor of Classics emerita, The College of New Rochelle) continued to direct the project until her death in 2015. VRoma is currently governed by a Board of Directors and Advisors:
- Suzanne Bonefas, President
- Phil Gallagher, Advisor
- Liz Gloyn, Advisor
- John Gruber-Miller, Secretary
- Maria Marsilio, Advisor
- Mary Pendergraft, Advisor
- Ann Raia, Treasurer
- Jeremy Walker, Advisor
The following pages contain information about the goals and origins of the project:
- External Reviews of the VRoma Learning Environment:
- VRoma has been included in NEH's EDSITEment collection as well as MERLOT, the Multimedia Educational Online Resource for Learning and Teaching Online
- Several articles about VRoma appeared in the CALICO Journal, Volume 18.2 (2001)
- A case study about VRoma appeared in DigiCULT Technology Watch Report 2 (February 2004) on "Collaborative Mechanisms and Technologies"
- VRomans: Project Participants and Contributors
- VRoma Final Report to the NEH: This report provides an overview of the accomplishments and outcomes of the project during the three years of NEH funding.
- VRoma: Technology and the Standards for Classical Language Learning: summarizes the way that two 1998 Latin courses using the resources of VRoma fulfilled the language standards.
- Teaching and Technology: Our Pedagogical Objectives
- Initial Grant Proposal