About Us

What’s in a name? Non Scholae comes from the Latin proverb Non scholae, sed vitae discimus, which roughly translates to ‘we study not for school, but for life,’ a tenet we abide by.

We are a dedicated team of current and former Latin learners working to make the language and classical knowledge more accessible for all. Originally a shower-thought initiative of four high-school students, Non Scholae is now the common endeavour of more than a dozen high-schoolers and undergraduates from Hungary and Poland, besides various collectives, organisations, and university departments:

• Hungarian Society for Ancient Studies
  (https://okortudomany.hu/)

• Latin Department, ELTE Faculty of Humanities
  (https://www.btk.elte.hu/en/units/latin-department)

• Greek Department, ELTE Faculty of Humanities
  (https://www.btk.elte.hu/en/units/gorog-tanszek)

• The Palladion
  (https://www.palladion.hu/en/)

• Department of Classical Philology and Neo-Latin, SZTE Faculty of Humanities (https://klasszika.hu/)

• Department of Egyptology, ELTE Faculty of Humanities (https://www.btk.elte.hu/en/units/department-of-egyptology)

Student-led, we are committed to forging a community of students with a passion for antiquity. We firmly believe that understanding the classical era in all its complexity is crucial to making sense of and appreciating the emoluments of our present. Our goal is to make the classicising cultural canon surrounding us legible for students from all backgrounds. It pains us to see such enlightening disciplines struggle for survival in a world geared toward stone-cold rationality. Latin language education in non-ecclesiastic contexts is on the decline not only in Hungary but the world over, and we seek to draw in and bring its benefits to as many students as possible.

Last year, we organised a day-long conference for young Latinists and lovers of classical cultures that included student presentations, expert lectures and colloquial Latin workshops. With help from the Hungarian Society for Ancient Studies and the Latin and Greek Departments of ELTE University, we filled Faculty premises in Budapest with more than 100 attendees from all around the country.

This year, we strive for more. Besides the Festival itself, we are launching a research-based mentoring programme for high-schoolers, connecting them with professors in the field. Furthermore, we offer free-of-charge online Latin classes for those without access otherwise.

We hope that our efforts will bring the classics closer to high-schoolers and contribute to a fairer culture.

The exact date of the May 2025 Festival will be announced here soon!

In the meanwhile, feel free to get in touch:

e-mail: nonscholaefeszt@gmail.com