Autumn

CLAS 42323 Readings of Homer: Ancient, Medieval, and Now

This seminar approaches Homeric studies as a sub-discipline in Classics that has created a breadth of methodologies and hermeneutical approaches, both new and old, that are central to the evolution of Classical Studies and literary theory more generally. The seminar deals with different readings of Homer—scholarly and otherwise—from the ancient scholia to the present day. On the modern side, we will engage with the history of Homeric scholarship (oral theory, narratology, neoanalysis) as well as new directions in modern scholarship (affect studies, cognitive theory). On the premodern side, the seminar will focus on interpretations that applied rhetorical theory, Neoplatonic philosophy, and ancient scholarship, to ensure Homer’s enduring canonical status among Platonists and Christians. The seminar will include substantial reading of original texts, and will result in an extended research paper, to be completed in the Winter term. 

CLCV 29500 Senior Seminar

The Senior Seminar takes place over two quarters (autumn and winter) and students register for it as a single course in one of those two quarters. The Senior Seminar is a requirement for all Classics majors, whether they are writing a BA paper or not.

2023-24 Autumn

CLAS 37320 Greek Archaeology in 20 Objects

(CLCV 27320)

This course centers the objects of the ancient Greek world, from prehistory to the Hellenistic period, as avenues for exploring the practice, history, and motivations of the discipline of Greek archaeology. From the mundane to the spectacular, we will closely consider twenty things – pots, statues, coins, knives, bones, inscriptions, among others – whose compelling if fragmentary biographies and itineraries reveal how archaeologists reconstruct and explain ancient social lives. Discussions will interrogate histories of object analysis, identification, and interpretation; schemes of periodization and categorization; theories of gender, class, economy, politics, and religion; developments in technologies and aesthetics; the intersections of artifact discovery and museum or market acquisitions; and the making of Greek archaeology within the wider discipline.

2023-24 Autumn

CLCV 27320 Greek Archaeology in 20 Objects

(CLAS 37320)

This course centers the objects of the ancient Greek world, from prehistory to the Hellenistic period, as avenues for exploring the practice, history, and motivations of the discipline of Greek archaeology. From the mundane to the spectacular, we will closely consider twenty things – pots, statues, coins, knives, bones, inscriptions, among others – whose compelling if fragmentary biographies and itineraries reveal how archaeologists reconstruct and explain ancient social lives. Discussions will interrogate histories of object analysis, identification, and interpretation; schemes of periodization and categorization; theories of gender, class, economy, politics, and religion; developments in technologies and aesthetics; the intersections of artifact discovery and museum or market acquisitions; and the making of Greek archaeology within the wider discipline.  

2023-24 Autumn

CLAS 32323 The family in the Greek and Roman world

(CLCV 22323, NELC 22323)

This course examines how family was conceptualized and manifested in the Greek and Roman world. In this class, we will begin by examining key terms related to family (household, kinship, ancestors, descendants) and scholarly approaches to familial studies under the light of different theoretical perspectives. Through the examination of written sources (literary texts, inscriptions, and papyri) and archaeological evidence, we will adopt a thematic approach exploring the ways in which family intersected with several fields of public and domestic life, such as law, adoption, heirship, religion, rituals, education, politics, and public honors.

2023-24 Autumn

CLCV 22323 The family in the Greek and Roman world

(CLAS 32323, NELC 32323)

This course examines how family was conceptualized and manifested in the Greek and Roman world. In this class, we will begin by examining key terms related to family (household, kinship, ancestors, descendants) and scholarly approaches to familial studies under the light of different theoretical perspectives. Through the examination of written sources (literary texts, inscriptions, and papyri) and archaeological evidence, we will adopt a thematic approach exploring the ways in which family intersected with several fields of public and domestic life, such as law, adoption, heirship, religion, rituals, education, politics, and public honors. 

2023-24 Autumn

CLAS 32123 Digital Humanities for the Ancient World

(CLCV 22123, DIGS 2/32123, NELC 2/32123, ECON 2/32123, CMSC 22123)

This course offers a hands-on introduction to the field of digital humanities with a special focus on ancient Greek and Roman antiquity. We will explore concepts and methods such as digital presentation of text with markup languages, text analysis with programmatic manipulation, map visualization, 3D modeling, and network analysis. Throughout the course, we will take a critical view of the existing online digital resources for Greek and Roman antiquity. The course will include weekly readings and assignments and conclude with a final research project.

No advanced computer skills are required. However, students are required to bring their own laptops to class.  

2023-24 Autumn

CLCV 22123 Digital Humanities for the Ancient World

(CLAS 32123, DIGS 2/32123, NELC 2/32123, ECON 2/32123, CMSC 22123)

This course offers a hands-on introduction to the field of digital humanities with a special focus on ancient Greek and Roman antiquity. We will explore concepts and methods such as digital presentation of text with markup languages, text analysis with programmatic manipulation, map visualization, 3D modeling, and network analysis. Throughout the course, we will take a critical view of the existing online digital resources for Greek and Roman antiquity. The course will include weekly readings and assignments and conclude with a final research project.

 

No advanced computer skills are required. However, students are required to bring their own laptops to class.

2023-24 Autumn

GREK 32700 Greek Survey 1: Poetry

This course will cover the long life of ancient Greek poetry, touching on many genres in their first forms: epic and hymns, poetry that is theogonic, iambic, elegiac, lyric, epinician, tragic, comedic, dithyrambic and some poems that are practically unclassifiable. We will seek to discuss key moments, passages, and poems that give us entry to larger literary questions and themes. We will pay particular attention to details of genre, dialect, and meter, while also being attentive to the history of scholarship that attends on these traditions. We will read a lot of Greek.  

2023-24 Autumn

GREK 24523/34523 The Ecumenical Church Councils and the Making of Christian Doctrine

(HCHR 34523)

The Church Councils of late antiquity (fourth-seventh centuries) were huge conferences of bishops, priests, monks, secular officials, and emperors, who met to decide on the rules that would govern the Church and the doctrines that all Christians had to believe. They combined philosophical debate, criminal trials, committee meetings, and Senate procedure. Some were rowdy and acrimonious, while others were meticulously organized in advance, usually by the court. Some remain obscure, while others are the most thoroughly documented events in all ancient history and reveal in detail how the later Roman government operated. In this course we will read, in Greek, a number of fascinating narratives and official acts stemming from the most important Councils, including Nicaea I (325), Ephesos I (431), and Chalcedon (451). We will also discuss the Councils from a historical perspective to understand the complex negotiations that gave rise to Christian doctrine and canon law.

2023-24 Autumn
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