Undergraduate

Accelerated Introduction to Classical Latin introduces students to the fundamentals of classical Latin through a sequence of two courses. By the end of this first course, students will have encountered nearly all the most commonly used Latin grammar and a large collection of Latin vocabulary. They will also develop their reading proficiency by engaging longer, more complex, and more interesting sentences and passages of Latin, including selections from authentic texts. Through these readings, students will touch upon various aspects of the Roman world, engaging not only with the history of the city, but also with the society, culture, politics, and religion of its people. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for LATN 112. 

Immerse yourself in the Latin poetry written by various authors from ancient Rome through the long tradition and reception of Latin literature. This course involves reading (a) substantial selection(s) from (an) important moment(s) in this literary history (e.g. Vergil's Aeneid, Ovid’s Metamorphoses). In addition to translation, regular discussion will focus on the relationship between language and literary art, the legacy of the work or works under consideration, and the study of grammar and vocabulary as necessary. 

Immerse yourself in the Latin prose written by various authors from ancient Rome through the long tradition and reception of Latin literature. Readings this quarter concentrate on (a) substantial selection(s) of Roman prose (e.g. the epistles of Seneca or Pliny, the histories of Livy or Sallust). This class focuses on the literary and historical context of the text(s) in question, as well as the rhetorical and stylistic qualities of Latin prose. Review of grammar and the development of vocabulary will occur as necessary. 

Immerse yourself in the Latin prose and poetry written by various authors from ancient Rome through the long tradition and reception of Latin literature. Readings this quarter involve increasingly longer selections of Roman prose and poetry (e.g. Cicero, Catullus), with an aim to review grammar and improve reading proficiency. Discussion in class will focus on the literary, historical, and cultural contexts necessary to appreciate the authors and texts. In addition to review, more advanced grammar will occasionally be introduced and vocabulary will be surveyed as necessary. 

Introduction to Classical Latin introduces students to the fundamentals of the Latin language through which students may access the works of Vergil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, and Ovid (among countless others). This course represents the third and final step in the sequence. Course work continues to involve the reading and writing of Latin, alongside the further development of vocabulary, the formal study of grammar, and the critical appreciation of composition and style. Students engage with increasingly longer selections from authentic texts as the course progresses. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for intermediate coursework beginning with LATN 201. 

Introduction to Classical Latin introduces students to the fundamentals of the Latin language through which students may access the works of Vergil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, and Ovid (among countless others). This course represents the second step. Course work continues to involve the reading and writing of Latin, alongside the further development of vocabulary and the formal study of grammar. Students will increase their reading proficiency as they engage with longer, more complex, and more interesting sentences and passages, including selections from authentic texts. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for LATN 103. 

Introduction to Classical Latin introduces students to the fundamentals of the Latin language through which students may access the works of Vergil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, and Ovid (among countless others). This course represents the first step. Course work involves the reading and writing of Latin, alongside the development of vocabulary and the formal study of grammar. Students encounter authentic texts throughout the course. Successful completion of this course will prepare students for LATN 102. 

What has the story of Persephone meant to different people at different times? Is there a “story” of Persephone, or are there many stories—and if the latter, how can we make sense of this diversity of material? How can we use narratives and rituals connected with Persephone to study mythology and religion in antiquity more broadly? How have scholars and artists in the modern period interpreted Persephone? What options are available to us, as students and scholars of the ancient world, for thinking about Persephone, and what significance does Persephone have for us today?

This course combines close-reading of ancient literary texts with an introduction to the study of mythology. Students will read such texts as “The Homeric Hymn to Demeter” while also being introduced to traditions of interpretation of the Persephone myth from antiquity to the present. The myth of Persephone acts as a case study for larger methodological questions: how we study mythologies of the past, and how they continue to shape our thinking today.

The figure of the outlaw looms large in the political and literary imaginations of the Roman and American empires. But what is an outlaw? What does it mean for the law that some people are outside of it? What, if anything, makes violence within the law different from violence without it? How does the rhetoric of legality and criminality implicate ideas of gender and ethnicity? We will explore these questions (among others) using methods from ancient history, literary criticism, and political theory, as we range from historical scholarship and ancient novels to modern films and musical albums. All readings will be in English. No prior training in Roman history required.

Is solitude a good thing? In this course, we will explore how the poets and philosophers of archaic and classical Greece thought about aloneness, particularly the powers and perils of solitude for the individual and the community. We will read portions of Homer’s Iliad, Hesiod’s Theogony, Sophocles’ Philoctetes, and the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, together with excerpts of ancient philosophy, with an aim of thinking through the relationship between individual and community, which is fraught with tension in so many time periods and cultures. We will also reconsider our understanding of the ancient Greeks as primarily “public” in their motivations and values, in light of the array of possibilities offered by solitude in many of these texts.