Courses in Classics and Related Fields
Faculty |Fall 2009 Courses: Classics –
Latin –
Ancient Greek –
Modern Greek
Winter / Summer I & II Term Courses 2009 |
Study Abroad |
Special Opportunities
Classics Related Courses |
Citations/Minors |
Major |
Previous Semester Courses |
The University of Maryland offers many opportunities to study the worlds and legacies of ancient Greece and Rome through courses offered by the departments of Classics, Art History, Architecture, Communication, English, History, Jewish Studies, and Philosophy and in the honors program. This brochure describes the various courses relating to classical antiquity to be offered in the fall semester and the two summer sessions of 2009 by each of these departments. It has been prepared to help you plan your course schedule during the pre-registration period. For additional information on any of the courses listed, programs of study, or requirements for the major, students should consult the adviser in the appropriate department. Students interested in learning more about the study of classics should contact Professor Steven Rutledge, the chief undergraduate advisor in Classics (2407B, Marie Mount Hall, e-mail address: shr@umd.edu.
CLASSICS FACULTY
Lillian Doherty |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Chicago) |
Judith Hallett |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Harvard) |
Hugh Lee |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Stanford) |
Mary Pittas-Herschbach |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Maryland) |
Steven Rutledge |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Brown) |
Gregory Staley |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Princeton) |
Eva Stehle |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Cincinnati) |
Ken Tuite |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Texas) |
B. Woods |
Classics |
(Ph.D. Duquesne University) |
FACULTY IN RELATED FIELDS OF STUDY
Joan Burton |
Undergraduate Studies |
(Ph.D. Berkeley) |
Arthur Eckstein |
History |
(Ph.D. Berkeley) |
Robert Gaines |
Communication |
(Ph.D. Iowa) |
Kenneth Holum |
History |
(Ph.D. Chicago) |
Hayim Lapin |
History, Jewish Studies |
(Ph.D. Columbia) |
Elizabeth Marlowe (on leave) |
Art History and Archaeology |
(Ph.D. Columbia) |
Rachel Singpurwalla |
Philosophy |
(Ph.D. Colorado) |
Joseph Scholten |
Office of International Programs |
(Ph.D. Berkeley) |
Denis Sullivan |
Curriculum and Instruction |
(Ph.D. North Carolina) |
Vessela Valiavitcharska |
English |
(Ph.D. Texas) |
Lindley Vann |
Architecture |
(Ph.D. Cornell) |
Marjorie Venit |
Art History & Archaeology |
(Ph.D. Institute of Fine Arts) |
Jana Wasilewski |
History |
(Ph.D. Harvard University) |
CLASSICS COURSES FALL SEMESTER 2009
CLAS 170 Greek and Roman Mythology (3 credits)
Secs. 0101-0108: G. Staley (MW 10:00-10:50 + Discussion Section); Secs. 0201-0207: (MW 11:00-11:50 + Discussion Section)
Heroes, Monsters, Adventures and Quests, Goddesses and Gods: the syllabus of a course in Classical mythology almost sounds like the description of a computer game. Yet for the Greeks and Romans these myths were the sacred stories that recorded their history, explained their world, and supported their sense of identity as a people. Classics 170 explores the many roles of myth in Classical culture and the perennial fascination that these stories have held ever since. Taught in English, no prerequisites.
CORE Literature (HL) Course.
CLAS 170 will also be offered in the first 2009 summer session with H. Day (MTuWTh 10:00-11:40) and J. Edwards (M & Th 5-8:20), and in the second summer session with C. Malerich (MTuWTh 10:00-11:40) and B. Magee (M & Th 5-8:20). See p. 9.
CLAS 270 Greek Literature in Translation (3 credits). K. Tuite: MW 12:00-12:50 + Discussion Section.
An introductory survey of the rich and varied literature of ancient Greece from Homer to the Hellenistic age. The emphasis will be on epic poetry, dramatic poetry, and historical texts, but lyric, rhetorical, and philosophical texts will also be sampled. The focus of the course will be upon the complex Greek view of war. While the Greeks sought military glory and honored their great warriors, Greek writers were also distinctly aware of the cost (both personal and societal) of war. No knowledge of Greek or Latin required. CORE Literature (HL) Course.
CLAS 309 Classical Tradition in Modern Greek Literature (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: Tu 5:00-7:40.
How does classical tradition influence a modern nation? Do classical myths manifest themselves in modern literary works –and how? This course examines the role of classical tradition as an agent of continuity and discontinuity in the definition and negotiation of the modern Greek identity and its evolving relationship with the past. Readings and discussion will focus on a representative selection of classical texts and their modern “descendants”, including examples from fiction, drama, and poetry. All readings will be in English.
CLAS 330 Ancient Greek Religion: Gods, Myths, Temples (3 credits) E. Stehle: TuTh 11-12:15.
This course covers ancient Greek religion, including gods and myth, rituals and festivals, and the evolution of religious ideas from Homer to the Hellenistic period. During the classical period the main focus is on Athens, Delphi, and Olympia, then we turn to the Eleusinian Mysteries, Orphic conceptions of reincarnation, and the ideas of Plato, all of which were very influential in later times. At the end of the course, we discuss the interaction of Greek religion with Jewish and early Christian religions. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
CLAS 375 Ancient Comedy (3 credits) L. Doherty MW 3:30-4:45
What makes us laugh? Why do members of different cultures (and people within the same culture) laugh at such different things? How has comedy evolved--and stayed the same--over the two thousand years and more separating us from the ancient Greeks and Romans? We will consider these and related questions through a close comparison of specific comic dramas from classical and Hellenistic Athens, the Roman republic, and modern America.
LATIN COURSES IN FALL SEMESTER, 2009
LATN 101 Elementary Latin I (4 credits) K. Tuite: MWF 10-10:50 + F 9-9:50
A study of the basic grammar, development of reading facility, and an introduction to Roman life and culture in the classical period. A student who has completed two years of Latin in high school may register for LATN 101 for the purposes of review, but ordinarily not for credit. Meets four hours weekly.
LATN 102 Elementary Latin II (4 credits) B. Woods: MWF 10:00-10:50, W 9-9:50.
Prerequisite: Grade of C in LATN 101, or two years of Latin in high school, or by permission of the department. Continuing study of basic grammar, development of reading facility, and introduction to Roman life in the classical period. Meets four hours weekly.
LATN 120 Intensive Elementary Latin (4 credits) J. Hallett: MWF 10-10:50 + F 9-9:50
Prerequisite: permission of department. An accelerated study of basic Latin grammar, development of reading facility, and introduction to Roman life and culture in the classical period. Meets four hours weekly. Covers the material presented in both Latin 101 and 102. Recommended for graduate students as well as for highly motivated undergraduates.
LATN 201 Intermediate Latin (4 credits) K. Tuite: MW 2-3:50
Prerequisite: Grade of C in LATN 102 or 120, or three years of Latin in high school, or by permission of the department. Review of basic grammar; study of more advanced grammatical material; introduction to major Latin prose authors and poets through readings from Cicero, Caesar, Petronius, Pliny, Catullus and Horace. Meets four hours weekly. Successful completion fulfills the foreign language requirement in the College of Arts and Humanities. CORE Humanities (HO) Course.
LATN 303 Petronius (3 credits) H. Lee: MW 3:30-4:45
Prerequisite: Grade of C in LATN 201 or four years of high school Latin, or by permission of the department. Petronius' Satyricon is a comic burlesque of Roman values and literature which explores the underside of the Roman psyche. Written by the Emperor Nero's
advisor on "good taste", the Satyricon is one of the earliest surviving examples of what was later to become the novel. Primary readings in Latin and secondary readings in English.
LATN 415/605 Vergil’s Aeneid (3 credits) G. Staley: W 5:00-7:40 PM
Prerequisite: Latin 301, 302, 303, or 351, with no grade lower than a C, or permission of the instructor. T. S. Eliot said that the Aeneid was the perfect example of a Classic, a work which reflected the mature values of European culture. As we explore the Aeneid, we will also ask whether it reflects American values: our national mottoes come from Vergil and the Aeneid, the story of immigrants who seek a new world home, seems ideally suited to the American experience.
LATN 620 Archaic Latin (3 credits) J. Hallett: M 5:00-7:40 PM.
Prerequisite: Latin 301, 302, 303 or 351, with no grade lower than a C, or permission of the instructor. The Latin texts on which we will focus in this course document Roman society’s concern with social mores and political mission in the years between the second
and third Punic wars (202-149 BCE). They represent the emerging literary genres of comedy and oratory, and also include bureaucratic inscriptions and a fragmentary agricultural treatise. Our readings will center on the major historical figure of this period, Cato the Elder, and his contributions to Latin linguistic, literary, political and social developments. Assignments will involve transforming one of Plautus’ comedies for contemporary performance, and updating archaic Latin texts by transforming them into the style of the classical period.
ANCIENT GREEK FALL SEMESTER, 2009
GREK 101 Elementary Ancient Greek I (4 credits) L. Doherty: MWF 2:00-2:50 +W1:00-1:50
A study of basic grammar, development of reading facility, and an introduction to Athenian life and culture in the fifth century B.C. Meets four hours weekly. (A student who has had two units of Greek in high school may register for GREK 101 for purposes of review, but not for credit.)
GREK 201/488b Intermediate Ancient Greek (4 credits) L. Doherty: MWF 12-12:50 + F 1-1:50
Prerequisite: Grade of C in GREK 102 or equivalent. This course completes the introductory sequence in ancient Greek, rounding out the presentation of basic grammar while building vocabulary and reading skills. Fulfills the language requirement in the College of Arts & Humanities.
GREK 403/603 Greek Tragedy (3 credits) E. Stehle: Tues 5:00-7:40
This is a language course in ancient Greek. Prerequisite: Grade of C in Greek 301 or permission of instructor.
An introduction to Greek tragedy for students at the advanced level, with grammar review as necessary and strategies for overcoming the difficulties of reading complex poetry in Greek. We will read one entire tragedy and, time permitting, selections from another (with longer reading assignments at the graduate level).
MODERN GREEK FALL SEMESTER, 2009
GREK 111 Elementary Modern Greek I (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: MWF 12:00-12:50.
An introduction to the language and culture of modern Greece. Students learn about modern Greece as they begin to acquire the basic tools of the language and communicate and function in simple, everyday situations as well as read, write, and understand simple texts and dialogues. This course contributes to the fulfillment of the foreign language requirement of the College of Arts and Humanities.
GREK 211 Intermediate Modern Greek I (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: MW 2:00-3:15.
Prerequisite: Grade of C in Elementary Modern Greek II (GREK 112) or permission of the instructor. This course continues to develop communicative competence and self-assurance in all areas of the language with an increasing emphasis on vocabulary enrichment and writing. The cultural landscape of Greece is explored through the use of readings as well as audio-visual material. This course contributes to the fulfillment of the foreign language requirement of the College of Arts and Humanities.
CLASSICS COURSES SUMMER TERM, 2009
SUMMER SESSIONS I-II
CLAS 170 Greek and Roman Mythology (3 credits) Staff. CLAS 170 will be offered in both summer sessions, with day and evening sections in each session. For a description of CLAS 170, see page 4 above.
Summer Session 1 (June 1-July 10)
Sec. 0101: H. Day: MTuWTh 10:00-11:40 AM
Sec. 0102 J. Edwards: M & Th 5:00-8:20 PM
Summer Session 2 (July 13-August 21)
Sec. 0201 C. Malerich: MTuWTh 10:00-11:40 AM
Sec. 0202 B. Magee: M & Th 5:00-8:20 PM
CLAS 470 Approaches to Greek Mythology (3 credits) (Summer Session 1) G. Staley Mon & Thu 6:00-9:15 PM.
Prerequisite: CLAS170 or permission of department. Ancient and modern approaches to understanding Greek myth as expression of human experience, including interpretations drawn from psychology, anthropology, and comparative mythology.
LATN 120 Intensive Elementary Latin (4 credits) (Summer Session 1) S. Proffitt: MTuWThF 10:00-11:45.
Prerequisite: permission of department. Not open for credit to students with credit for LATN 102. An accelerated study of basic Latin grammar, aimed at developing reading facility, and introducing students to Roman life and culture in the classical period. Meets four hours weekly. Covers the material presented in both Latin 101 and 102. Recommended for graduate students as well as for highly motivated undergraduates.
Maryland-in-Rome. Beginning fall semester 2009, University of Maryland undergraduates will now be able to do a Semester Study in Rome, taking courses in Latin, Greek, Classics, History, and Art History and Archaeology at the American University in Rome (AUR), the oldest independent, four-year, degree-granting American institution of higher learning in that city. The AUR is located on the top of the Janiculum hill overlooking the Tiber and the site of the ancient city. The program is being administered by the Study Abroad in the Office of International Programs at College Park. For more information, go to:
http://www.international.umd.edu/studyabroad/7431
Other opportunities to study abroad include our January winter term study tour in Italy or our summer study tours in Paris and Greece.
In addition to our own study abroad programs, students may take advantage of other opportunities to study abroad: for example, in Rome, at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies, or in Athens, at the College Year in Athens, and at the American College in Thessaloniki. Through the School of Architecture there are also opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to study at Stabiae, Italy, in the Bay of Naples area.
The Department sponsors a chapter of Eta Sigma Phi, the national undergraduate Honor Society in Classics, and annually awards the Avery Prize to a Latin student of special merit, and the Steyer Undergraduate Scholarship to an outstanding classics concentrator. To honor the memory of Sylvia Gerber, who taught Latin for many years in the Washington, DC public schools, her son Louis has recently provided our department with funding to support the training of Latin teachers and Latin pedagogical studies. The sons of Elena Toma and Antonio DeLuca have similarly honored them by contributing to undergraduate scholarships and other departmental programs; the Italian Cultural Society has also supported our students.
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Classics Related Courses In Other Departments
ARCH 422 History of Greek Architecture; (3 credits) R. Vann: TuTh 12:30-1:45.
Prerequisite: ARCH221 or permission of department. Survey of Greek architecture from 750-100 BC.
ARTH 200 Art of the Western World to 1300 (3 credits) M. Venit: MW 11:00-11:50 + Discussion Section. Painting, sculpture and architecture from prehistoric times to the Renaissance. CORE History and Theory of Arts ( HA) course.
ARTH 708: Seminar in Ancient Art and Archaeology: Alexander and After: The Visual Culture of the Hellenistic World
(3 credits) M. Venit. W 3:00-5:40. For all non-art history and archaeology majors, permission of the instructor is required. The conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt by Alexander the Great was at once the culmination of a series of cataclysmic events and the impetus for a rearranged world order. As early as the subjugation of the Greek city-states by his father Philip II, the political system that had governed Greece was subverted, and with the ‘successors’ of Alexander carving vast empires out of the captured lands, the center of political, economic, and intellectual power shifted toward the East and Egypt. In the latter part of the Hellenistic period, the rise of Rome brought a new player into the mix and one that further challenged the existing order.
Concurrent with these events, the visual culture that had marked the old Greek world was topsy-turvy turned. New subjects entered the sculptural repertoire, which now exalted portraiture and raised creatures — e.g., satyrs, fauns, and nymphs— and other previously unheralded figures — e.g., the aged, the working man, the warrior, and personifications — to monumental status. Architecture embraced dramatically new modes of expression and mosaics evolved as a new form of architectural decoration. In figurative representation, Classical stoicism gave way (at times) to unbridled emotion, and intellectualism and antiquarianism and unabashed eroticism invaded artistic production.
This seminar seeks to bring these two parallel occurrences into conversation with one another.
For background reading:
• Boardman, John, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray. Greece and the Hellenistic World, pp. 310–400.
• Pollitt, J.J. Art in the Hellenistic Age
• Boardman, John. The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity
COMM 450 Ancient and Medieval Rhetorical Theory (3 credits) R. Gaines. MW 2:00-3:15.
Prerequisites and other limitations on enrollment: Grade of C or higher in COMM 250 and for COMM majors only. (Contact Robert Gaines for permission to enroll if you are not a COMM major.) A survey of rhetorical theory in the ancient and medieval periods. Emphasis is placed on the theoretical problems that gave rise to its development within both periods. Authors include Isocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Hermogenes, Martianus Capella, Aurelius, Augustine, Alberic of Monte Cassino, Geoffrey of Vinsauf and Robert of Basevorn.
ENGL 201 Literature of the Western World I: Ancient and Medieval (3 credits) Staff: TuTh 9:30-10:45; MWF 10; MWF 11.
Readings of authors, works, and genres, largely continental, in the early Western literary tradition. Readings such as selections from the Bible, Homer, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Sappho, Virgil, Ovid, Seneca, Augustine, Dante, medieval romance. CORE Literature (HL) Course.
HIST 110 The Ancient World (3 credits) A. Eckstein. TuTh 11-11:50 + discussion sections.
Interpretation of select literature (in translation) and art of the ancient Mediterranean world with a view to illuminating the antecedents of modern culture; religion and myth in the ancient near East; Greek philosophical, scientific and literary invention; and the Roman tradition in politics and administration. CORE Humanities (HO) Course. USP Distributive Studies Area A: Cultural and Historical Course.
HIST 324 Classical Greece. (3 credits). K. Holum. TuTh 2:00-3:15.
This course treats the history and culture of the Greek city-states in the archaic and classical periods. Studied in depth are: the "World of Achilles and Odysseus" represented in Homeric poetry; the rise of the city-state, the Persian wars and conflict between Athens and Sparta; and Athenian culture in the age of the Sophists and Socrates."
HIST330 Europe in the Making: The Early Medieval West (A.D. 300-1000) (3 credits) J. Wasilewski TuTh 9:30-10:45.
From one empire to another: Rome to Charlemagne. This period is approached as a crucible in which classical, Christian, and Germanic elements merged, yielding new experimental syntheses. This course will deal with issues of authority, cultural trends, and the formation of group solidarity.
HIST619I Special Topics in History. Proseminar in Ancient Mediterranean History (3 credits). K. Holum Tu 7-9:30 pm (Arranged).
HONR238L Honors Seminar: Engineering in Ancient Empires; (3 credits) Social or Political History (SH) Course. D. Sullivan. TuTh 3:30-4:45. Open only to students in Honors.
PHIL310 Ancient Philosophy; (3 credits) R. Singpurwalla. TuTh 2:00-2:50 + discussion section.
Prerequisite: six credit hours in philosophy or classics.In this course we will study works by Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic philosophers- the Epicureans, Stoics, and Skeptics. Topics will include the ultimate nature of reality (metaphysics), our ability to understand that reality (epistemology), and what kind of life is best for a human being (ethics). Students can expect to come
away from the course with a basic understanding of the major schools of thought in ancient Greek philosophy and with sufficient background to take upper-level courses on a single figure or single text of the classical or Hellenistic period.
PHIL 412 The Philosophy of Plato; (3 credits) R. Singpurwalla. TuTh 9:30-10:45.
Prerequisite: nine credit hours in philosophy. The aim of this course is to examine Plato’s philosophy as presented in his early dialogues. We will read Apology, Crito, Euthyphro, Laches, Lysis, Protagoras, and Gorgias. Our primary purpose will be to understand and critically examine the views and arguments presented in these texts, but we will also address other issues, such as whether Plato holds a consistent position in these dialogues, his purpose in writing in the dialogue form, and what we can know about the historical Socrates from reading Plato.
CLASSICS COURSES WINTER TERM, 2010
CLAS 170 Greek and Roman Mythology (3 credits) Staff: MTuWThF 9-12. For a description of CLAS 170, see above.
CLAS 308/499 Classics in Context: Italy (3 credits) Staff. TBD. The Classics Department regularly offers a three-week study abroad course with visits to Rome and the bay of Naples area including Pompeii. Watch the Study Abroad website at http://www.inform.umd.edu/studyabroad/ for next year's announcement.
Students seeking to pursue a coordinated program of study in classics (short of majoring in classics) may be permitted to enroll in a program of study leading to the award of a minor in one of three areas: Latin Language and Literature; Greek Language and Literature; and Classical Mythology [in English]. Each minor program requires a set of selected CLAS, GREK, or LATN courses; the first two require at least some work in Latin or Greek at the 300 level or above. Minors offer students an opportunity to pursue a coherent program of study outside the major and gain an additional form of recognition for their academic achievements. For additional information on earning a minor in Classics, or to apply for admission to any one of the three programs, students should contact the undergraduate advisor in the Department of Classics, Professor Steven Rutledge (2407B Marie Mount Hall, e-mail: shr@umd.edu).
Students who wish to major in classics through the study of one of the ancient languages as well as through English may choose the Classical Humanities major. This program requires 12 credits in either Greek or Latin, 18 credits in CLAS courses, and 12-14 credits in supporting courses (normally upper-level courses in Art History, Archaeology, Architecture, Government, History, Linguistics, or Philosophy). Note: Students are encouraged to substitute 300- and 400-level courses in LATN and GREK for some of the 18 required hours in CLAS. 100- and 200-level courses in GREK may be included among the supporting credits if the student's 12 language credits are taken in Latin, and 100- and 200-level courses in LATN may be included among the supporting credits if the student's 12 language credits are taken in GREK. The Classical Humanities major is not recommended for students considering pursuing graduate study in Classics; such students should choose one of the following major tracks:
The Latin major requires thirty credits of Latin at the 200-level or higher, at least 12 of which must be at the 400-level or higher, plus nine to twelve credits of supporting courses at any level in CLAS, GREK, or related fields such as HIST and ARTH.
The Greek major requires thirty credits of Greek at the 200-level or higher, at least 12 of which must be at the 400-level or higher, plus nine to twelve credits of supporting courses at any level in CLAS, LATN, or related fields such as HIST and ARTH.
The combined major in Latin and Greek requires eighteen credits of either Latin or Greek and 12 hours of the other classical language, plus nine hours of supporting courses in CLAS or related fields. Students with no previous training in the second language may count introductory level courses as part of the 12-hour requirement.
CLASSICS COURSES SPRING SEMESTER 2009
CLAS 170 Greek and Roman Mythology (3 credits)
Secs. 0101-0108: E. Stehle (MW 10:00-10:50 + Discussion Section); Secs. 0201-0207: (MW 11:00-11:50 + Discussion Section).
Heroes, Monsters, Adventures and Quests, Goddesses and Gods: the syllabus of a course in Classical mythology almost sounds like the description of a computer game. Yet for the Greeks and Romans these myths were the sacred stories that recorded their history, explained their world, and supported their sense of identity as a people. Classics 170 explores the many roles of myth in Classical culture and the perennial fascination that these stories have held ever since. Taught in English,no prerequisites.
CORE Literature (HL) Course.
NOTE: CLAS 170 will also be offered in the 2009 Winter Term (MTuWThF 9-12), and in both summer sessions, 2009, with day and evening sections in each session.
CLAS 271 Latin Literature in Translation (3 credits). K. Tuite: MWF 12:00-12:50.
What does Ciceronian oratory have to do with the Lewinsky scandal? How do we define and recognize obscenity and pornography? Are we truly “a nation in decline”? What do contemporary politicians, the media and Hollywood have in common with Roman writers living two millennia earlier? These are just a few of the questions we shall explore together as we read selections of Roman writers in translation from the early 2nd century BCE through the second century CE. Authors to be read include Plautus, Cicero, Vergil, Petronius, and Tacitus, to name just a few. Students take away a knowledge of Roman society (and of their own) and also expand their capacity for critical thought through opportunities for self-expression in writing and discussion. No knowledge of Latin required. CORE Literature (HL) Course.
CLAS 309E Special Topics in Classical Literature: Ancient Economy (3 credits) K. Tuite MWF 2:00-2:50.
Students taking this course should have had a 100 or 200 level course in classics or ancient history. This course will examine the particulars and operations of the Greek and Roman economies. In addition to theoretical approaches to the ancient economy, course topics include: the domestic economy, agriculture, the market trade, manufacture, banking, coinage, women in the economy, and slavery.
CLAS 331 Roman Religion from Jupiter to Jesus (3 credits) S. Rutledge: MW 3:30-4:45.
The course surveys the major institutions of Roman state and private religion, the divers religions practiced in the Roman Empire, and examines Judaism and the rise of the early Christian community in the Roman Empire and Roman reaction to it. We will explore questions like the following. Why did Romans - Pagan and Christian - have such a fervent belief in Rome’s divine sanction to rule the world? Were Roman orgies just a part of Roman religious practice? What was the Pontifex Maximus before the Pope took over his title? How did the early Christian community recognize itself as Christian? Students will be assessed based on two or three exams and several writing assignment. CORE Diversity (D) Course.
CLAS 470 Approaches to Greek Mythology (3 credits) G. Staley: TuTh 11:00-12:15
Prerequisite: CLAS170 or permission of department. Ancient and modern approaches to understanding Greek myth as expression of human experience, including interpretations drawn from psychology, anthropology, and comparative mythology.
LATIN COURSES IN SPRING SEMESTER, 2009
LATN 101 Elementary Latin I (4 credits) J. Rocchio: MWF 10-10:50 + F 9-9:50
A study of the basic grammar, development of reading facility, and an introduction to Roman life and culture in the classical period. A student who has completed two years of Latin in high school may register for LATN 101 for the purposes of review, but ordinarily not for credit. Meets four hours weekly.
LATN 102 Elementary Latin II (4 credits) S. Rutledge: MWF 10:00-10:50, F 9-9:50.
Prerequisite: LATN 101, or two years of Latin in high school, or by permission of the department. Continuing study of basic grammar, development of reading facility, and introduction to Roman life in the classical period. Meets four hours weekly.
LATN 201 Intermediate Latin (4 credits) G. Staley: TuTh 2:00-3:50
Prerequisite: LATN 102 or 120, or three years of Latin in high school, or by permission of the department. Review of basic grammar; study of more advanced grammatical material; introduction to major Latin prose authors and poets through readings from Cicero, Caesar, Petronius, Pliny, Catullus and Horace. Meets four hours weekly. Successful completion fulfills the foreign language requirement in the College of Arts and Humanities. CORE Humanities (HO) Course.
LATN 302 Ovid (3 credits) J. Hallett: Th: 5-7:40
Prerequisite: LATN 201 or permission of the instructor. This course will consider the distinctive literary artistry, special linguistic qualities, socio-cultural significance, lyric metrics, and earlier Greek and Latin literary influences on the works of the poets Catullus (84-54 BCE) and Horace (65-8 BCE).
LATN 405/688L Lucretius (3 credits) E. Stehle: M 5:00-7:40 PM.
Prerequisite: Latin 301, 302, 303 or 351, or permission of the instructor. Selections from De Rerum Natura. We will study the language, poetry, and philosophy of Lucretius.
LATN 424/624 Silver Age of Latin (3 credits) G. Staley : T 5:00-7:40 PM
Prerequisite: Latin 301, 302, 303, or 351, or permission of the instructor. An investigation of both the evolving Latin language and the major literary figures and genres in prose and poetry of the period from A.D. 14 through the mid-second century. Emphasis on the role of Nero and Seneca in literary developments.
ANCIENT GREEK SPRING SEMESTER, 2009
GREK 102 Elementary Ancient Greek II (4 credits)C. Malerich: MWF11:00-11:50 +W12:00-12:50
Prerequisite: Greek 101. (A student who has had two units of Greek in high school may register for GREK 102 for purposes of review, but not for credit.) A study of basic grammar, development of reading facility, and an introduction to Athenian life and culture in the fifth century B.C. Meets four hours weekly.
GREK 301/488C Scenes from Athenian Life: Readings in Attic Authors (3 credits) K. Tuite: MW 3:30-4:45.
Prerequisite: GREK 201 (or the equivalent) or permission of instructor. Greek 301 takes up from the end of Greek 201. It will review and deepen understanding of grammar and introduce Greek literary genres as we read words by Athenian authors. We will begin with a speech delivered by the defendant in a court case, one that describes Greek domestic life, then read a dialogue by Plato. If there is time at the end of the course we will read something chosen by the class.
GREK 415/604 Homer (3 credits) H. Lee: W: 5-7:40
Prerequisite: permission of instructor and advanced work in classical Greek (texts will be read in the original ancient Greek). The extensive and intensive reading of Homer, with concentration on the Iliad. Discussion of the language, meter, artistic qualities, and thought of the poems, and of modern views concerning their origin and literary qualities. Students are requested to read the entire Iliad in English (the translations of Lattimore, Fagles, and Lombardo are recommended) before or at the beginning of the semester.
MODERN GREEK SPRING SEMESTER, 2009
GREK 112 Elementary Modern Greek II (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: MWF 12-12:50
Prerequisite: GREK 111 (formerly FOLA 108G) or equivalent. This course is part of our introductory sequence into the language and culture of modern Greece. As in GREK 111, offered in the Fall, students learn to communicate effectively in the four language areas: speaking, listening, reading, writing. The course contributes to the fulfillment of the foreign language requirement of the College of Arts and Humanities.
GREK 212 Intermediate Modern Greek II (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: MW 2-3:15
Prerequisite: GREK 211 or permission of instructor. Prerequisite: GREK 211, or permission of instructor. This course continues the development of fluency in spoken and written communication. Listening and reading comprehension and vocabulary enrichment are further strengthened through selected readings (short articles from popular journals as well as samples of prose and poetry) along with audiovisual material. Successful completion of this course fulfils the foreign language requirement of the College of Arts and Humanities.
GREK 311 Modern Greek Readings and Conversation (3 credits) M. Pittas-Herschbach: MWF 10-10:50.
Prerequisite: GREK 212 and permission of instructor.This course is designed for students who have completed the Intermediate sequence (GREK211 and GREK 212) or who have reached this level through other means. Course objectives include improvement of conversational skills and the development of confidence and fluency in the expression of ideas and arguments on a variety of topics through selected readings and material from Non-Print Media.
Classics Related Courses In Other Departments
ARTH300 Egyptian Art and Archaeology (3 credits) M. Venit TuTh 11:00-12:15
Formerly ARTH400. Sites and monuments of painting, sculpture, architecture, and the minor arts of ancient Egypt from earliest times through the Roman conquest. Emphasis on the pharaonic period.
ENGL478R Selected Topics in English and American Literature before 1800: The Reception of Antiquity and the Idea of the Past; G. Passannante MW 2:00pm- 3:15
ENGL487: Foundations of Rhetoric (3 credits) V. Valiavitcharska: MW 11:00-12:15.
This course has a twofold goal: 1) to familiarize you with some of the best-known texts from the Graeco-Roman tradition, claiming to define the nature, substance, tools, and function of rhetoric, as well as with the appropriations and modifications of that tradition in the twentieth century, and 2) to apply those concepts in practical rhetorical analysis. We will read selections from the Older Sophists, Plato, Aristotle, and Isocrates and will discuss the emergence of rhetoric as a discipline, in the light of an existing tradition of training students to become fluent speakers as a way of training them for civic leadership. We will then consider the pedagogical modifications of that tradition in selections from Hermogenes (and pseudo-Hermogenes), Cicero, and Quintilian and the definition of a rhetor as a “good person speaking well,” that is, a person capable of ethical, civic, and philosophical deliberation on a number of private and public issues and of expressing them cogently and forcefully. We will also discuss the presence and modifications of the classical rhetorical tradition in the texts of twentieth-century rhetoricians I. A. Richards, Kenneth Burke, and Chaim Perelman and their penchant for defining rhetoric as a mode of analysis rather than production of discourse. At every step we will try to use the rhetorical theory we read as a practical analytical tool of both classical Greek and contemporary texts, and will discuss its applicability in both the analysis and production of contemporary texts.
HIST 110 The Ancient World (3 credits) K. Holum: MW 11-11:50 + discussion sections.
Interpretation of select literature (in translation) and art of the ancient Mediterranean world with a view to illuminating the antecedents of modern culture; religion and myth in the ancient near East; Greek philosophical, scientific and literary invention; and the Roman tradition in politics and administration. CORE Humanities (HO) Course.
HIST619W Special Topics in History: Polybius and The Rise of Rome to World Power (3 credits) A. Eckstein: Th 3:30-6:00.
The course will discuss Polybius as a historian, a moralist, and an analyst of interstate relations and the nature of hegemony and empire.
HONR 229O Ancient Rome in Historical Fiction: Narratives, Sources and Screen Adaptations (3 credits) J. Hallett: Tu 3:30-5:30 pm; Th 3:30-4:30.
Open to Honors students only. In this seminar we will study the I, Claudius BBC-TV series, and compare this 1976 “small screen” cinematic treatment to Robert Graves’ novels on which it was based—I, Claudius and Claudius the God. We will also compare both the TV series and the novels to the ancient primary sources on which Graves mainly relied: Tacitus’ Annals, Suetonius’ Lives of the Twelve Caesars, and the histories of Cassius Dio. In considering how the small screen representation of Claudius compares to those of both Graves and our ancient primary sources, we will focus on a number of topics. Chief among them are Claudius’ ancient and modern image as a physically and mentally challenged individual and his role as a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Yet another is the impact of his story on two twentieth century audiences, that of Graves in the 1930’s and that of the BBC-TV series in the 1970’s. The class is scheduled to allow us time to view episodes from the BBC series as well as other films, and to discuss them in the same week. No knowledge of Greek or Latin required (Three short papers and a final group project)
PHIL414 The Philosophy of Aristotle (3 credits) R. Singpurwalla: MW 2:00-3:15.
Prerequisite: three courses in philosophy. A critical study of selected portions of Aristotle's writings.
PHIL828 Seminar in the History of Philosophy: Plato's Republic; (3 credits) R. Singpurwalla M. 5:00pm- 7:30.