HERITAGE

SUSTAINABILITY

Classicist Fellow

An ISLAND as CLASSROOM

Hvar has been inhabited for at least ten thousand years. Illyrian hill forts crown its ridges. The ancient Greek colony of Pharos — founded in 385 BC — sits at the heart of the island in Stari Grad, its agricultural plain farmed today along the same grid that Greek colonists laid down two and a half millennia ago. Older still, Mesolithic and Neolithic people have left hints of their world in caves above the sea.

This many-layered canvas is where our learners, ages two through fifteen, will explore the story of European civilization through site visits, stories, and hands-on activities. Our chronological focus in the upcoming year is the ancient world - from the deep past to the fall of the Western Roman empire.

In the fall of 2026, we are looking for a historian who is excited to explore the urgency and wonder of the past with children, with a particular focus on boats, apparel, and The Odyssey.

The Fellowship

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    Role

    Field Fellows join our community as a participant — enrolling your own children in the program alongside other Field School families — and as a contributing expert, mentoring our faculty on boatmaking. You will be expected to contribute about 5 hours each week of organizing, problem-solving, and direct instruction.

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    Reciprocity

    In return, we offer a full scholarship covering your children's tuition for the term. We aren't able to cover travel or accommodation, so this works best for families who have the flexibility — whether that's a homeschooling lifestyle, a sabbatical year, or simply the appetite for an unconventional fall.

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    Storytelling

    We'd love to be part of your story if this experience moves you, and we ask for one long-form piece (a podcast episode, Substack essay, or video) within 90 days of your residency, provided that it feels like a natural fit.

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    Dates

    The fall session runs September 7 through November 28, 2026. A shorter summer session is available August 8–22 for those who can't commit to the full term.

THE PROJECT

Field School's 2026–27 curriculum integrates the ancient world across all of our academic subjects: Aristotle’s invention of natural science on Lesbos, the luminous reasoning of Euclid in math, the Odyssey and ancient tales of the sea in language.

This Fellow may be asked to provide some professional feedback on all of these topics, but his or her main area of focus will be on our humanities program, where children will be learning about the ancient world, with a special emphasis on apparel. They will use their research into the meaning and methods of clothing in the ancient world to design a contemporary school uniform for our zero-kilometer schoolwear project. We are not expecting an expert on material anthropology, but rather an individual who understands the tools and resources for interpreting early and classical history well.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

The right fellow is a genial historian — someone with expertise in the ancient Mediterranean world and a gift for making it accessible to children and curious adults. Formal academic training in Classics, archaeology, ancient history, or anthropology is a plus, but we are also interested in meeting independent scholars, classical homeschoolers, and social studies teachers.

An important part of this project is translating deep knowledge into hands-on experience for beginners — some as young as five — so warmth, patience, and creative teaching are essential.

Learning designers in the Charlotte Mason and classical homeschool traditions, authors and storytellers working with Greek and Roman mythology, and practitioners with living history or museum education backgrounds are warmly encouraged to apply.

NOMINATE

If someone comes to mind when you read this, please share this page or send us their name and a line about why you think they'd be a good fit. If this sounds like your kind of project, we'd love to hear from you directly.

There's no formal application — just reach out to Field School Director Carolyn or book a call.

Interested in a faculty role? We are also hiring a more generalist boat lover for our Summer Boats Guide position.