Honors students get a hands-on appreciation for Greek Classicism through the Greek Ceramics Project. Honors Worlds of Greece and Rome students come in to the ceramics studio led by Professor Hoon Lee for a process lasting two weeks, designing and creating their own Greek ceramic masterpiece. Arriving at the studio on Fridays, they spend the first week brainstorming and conducting a plan for the project, and the next week they shape and decorate their pottery. The vases are then put in the kiln for firing and picked up. Lee shows the processes of coiling, carving, applying slip and polishing.
The students model their projects after ancient Greek red and black figure pottery, and have spent the semester studying original Greek artwork. They frequently take field trips to appreciate this ancient artwork to places such as the Toledo Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. The class has been partaking in this creation of pottery since 2001, and it has been headed by Hoon Lee since 2004. Some of the projects have been purchased by Grand Valley and put on display over the years on campus near the Classics Department and Honors College.
In addition to giving Honors Students a new perspective and appreciation for the civilizations they have spent time studying, it provides a fun and relaxed creative release, making for a more well-rounded curriculum that stimulates all areas of the mind.
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