CLASSIC Course Descriptions for 2003-2004

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Fall Course Descriptions
CourseTitleInstructorDescription
CLASSIC 5BUILDING ENGLISH VOCABULARY THROUGH GREEK & LATINSTAFFStudies in the formation and use of English words from Greek and Latin derivatives. Particularly useful for first-year students who wish to augment their vocabulary systematically. No prerequisites.
CLASSIC 36AEARLY GREECECLAXTON, C.This course is the first class in a series on ancient Greek Society and the focus will be upon political and cultural development. We will begin with the Greeks of the Bronze Age and will consider why this advanced civilization suddenly collapsed into ruins about 1200 B.C.E. We will then move on to an examination of the so-called \"Dark Age\" of Greece (1200-750 B.C.E.), during which many of the features that would later characterize the Greek city-state or polis would develop in their rudimentary forms. We will end with the early Archaic period (700-600 B.C.E.), a time of increased trade and colonization, and consequently, of greater contact with the civilizations of the eastern Mediterranean as well as other groups. Particular emphasis will be placed upon primary texts and we will read selections from Homer, Hesiod and the lyric poets as well as relevant selections from later authors who discussed these periods in Greece. Quizzes, midterm, one short paper, and final examination. No prerequisites. Non-majors are most welcome. Together with 36B and 36C, this course may be used to satisfy the Humanistic Inquiry Breadth requirement (IV). Same as History 36A.
CLASSIC 45ATHE GODSZISSOS, P.In this course we will examine a representative selection of ancient myths. The main goal is to develop a solid grasp of the material and to understand some of the ways in which the ancient Greeks and Romans used the medium of myth to interpret and deal with their world. Some of the topics we will discuss are: the creation of the universe, relations between gods and mortals, gender and sexuality, love, marriage, death and the afterlife. Classics 45A is the first part of a three-quarter sequence meant to survey the most important myths of the Greeks and Romans. Classics 45ABC fulfills the Humanistic Inquiry Breadth Requirement (IV).
CLASSIC 98GROUP STUDYSTAFF
CLASSIC 99SPEC STDS:CLASSICSSTAFF
CLASSIC 160WHOMER’S ODYSSEYSUTTON, D.This course will focus on Homer’s Odyssey. Students will read the epic in English translation, and discuss it as an illustration of the new values of the newly developing Greek city-state. Its hero Odysseus embodies the values of a rising middle class, and he seems deliberately devised as an alternative to Achilles, the aristocratic hero of the Iliad. Because the Odyssey depends so much on folklore and fantasy, it is also the first work of escapist literature in the Western tradition. This course may be taken to satisfy the upper-division writing requirement, and so a term paper and other writing assignments, as well as mid-term and final exams, are required. Prerequisite: completion of lower-division writing and junior standing.
CLASSIC 176SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT WORLDZISSOS, P.This course will examine the institution of slavery in the ancient world, with a particular emphasis on Roman slavery. We will examine the vast range of slave experience, from the brutality of rural \'chain-gangs\' and gladiatorial combat to the often comfortable existence of the urban domestic slave. An important goal will be to explore the social and economic basis of ancient slavery, as well as some of the ways in which it differs from more recent forms (e.g., ancient slavery was not race-based, and was sometimes voluntary). Grading will be based on in-class tests and a short paper. This course satisfies Breadth Requirement VII-B.
CLASSIC 200BEPIC TRADITIONZISSOS, P.
CLASSIC 220THEOCRITUSPANTELIA, M.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYCLAXTON, C.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYLAPE, S.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYPANTELIA, M.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYSINCLAIR, P.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYSUTTON, D.
CLASSIC 280INDEPENDENT STUDYZISSOS, P.
CLASSIC 299DISSERTATN RESEARCHSTAFF