Undergraduate

GREK 21900 Greek Orators: Aeschines and Demosthenes

(GREK 31900, FNDL 27603)

These two orators were fierce rivals in Athens; the luck of textual transmission allows us to read both of them smearing the other, and to explore what apparently passed for valid argument in the Athenian lawcourts. Demosthenes produced his finest work in attacking Aeschines; in this class we will explore both men’s writings in depth. 

GREK 20300 or equivalent

2021-22 Spring

GREK 20300 Intermediate Greek III: Homer

This course is a close reading of selections from Homer, with an emphasis on language, meter, and literary tropes.

GREK 20200

2021-22 Spring

GREK 20200 Intermediate Greek II: Sophocles

This course includes analysis and translation of the Greek text, discussion of Sophoclean language and dramatic technique, and relevant trends in fifth-century Athenian intellectual history. 

GREK 20100

2021-22 Winter

GREK 20100 Intermediate Greek I: Plato

We read Plato's text with a view to understanding both the grammatical constructions and the artistry of the language. We also give attention to the dramatic qualities of the dialogue. Grammatical exercises reinforce the learning of syntax.

GREK 10300

2021-22 Autumn

GREK 10300 Introduction to Attic Greek III

This course continues the study of basic Ancient Greek. Course work involves reading practice, presentational writing, and formal study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Ancient Greek text. Students who complete this course will be able to track ideas across at least a paragraph of text, and will be ready to move into the intermediate sequence.

GREK 10200

2021-22 Spring

GREK 10200 Introduction to Attic Greek II

This course continues the study of basic Ancient Greek. Course work involves reading practice, presentational writing, and formal study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Ancient Greek text. Students who complete this course will be able to understand complex sentences, and often to combine them into larger units of meaning.

GREK 10100

2021-22 Winter

GREK 10100 Introduction to Attic Greek I

This course introduces the basic rules of Ancient Greek. Course work involves reading practice, presentational writing, and formal study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Ancient Greek text. Students who complete this course will be able to understand simple sentences, and often to combine them into larger units of meaning.

2021-22 Autumn

LATN 26421 Augustine, De Civitate Dei

(CLCV 26421, CLAS 36421, BIBL 35301, HCHR 35301, RETH 35301, THEO 35301)

Augustine’s City of God is a major work of history, politics, and religion. Written after Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410, the work begins with an apology (justification) of the Empire’s turn to Christianity and expands to offer a sweeping and deeply theological account of human history and society in terms of earth-bound versus heaven-centered community. Augustine’s citizenship and politics entails living out membership in either fellowship while commingled on earth with the other. Augustine analyzes Roman history and politics as well as the new religion first encouraged and eventually imposed in the wake of Constantine’s conversion.
We shall read the entire work in translation, attending to historical observations, political stances, and religious views. Augustine made arguments of his own but saved huge swaths of Varro and other otherwise lost sources to fashion his historical critique of Rome, social analysis, and many ultimately fresh views on matters like human sexuality in paradise and in heaven.
The class will meet once a week. A supplementary Latin reading group will also convene once a week for close reading of important and demanding selections in the original. There will be some invited international guest speakers.

There will be a weekly Latin reading group (F. afternoon, 90 minutes) for classics and other students who want to tackle Augustine's Latin. 

Michael I. Allen, Willemien Otten
2021-22 Autumn

LATN 26000 Latin Paleography

(LATN 36000)

The course will emphasize the development of Latin handwriting, primarily as book scripts, from its origins to the waning of the Carolingian minuscule, ca. AD 1100. By mastering the foundational types of writing, the students will develop skills for reading all Latin-based scripts, including those used for vernacular languages and the subsequent Gothics and their derivatives down to the sixteenth century.

2021-22 Autumn

LATN 22100 Lucretius

(LATN 32100, FNDL 27601)

We will read selections of Lucretius' magisterial account of a universe composed of atoms. The focus of our inquiry is: how did Lucretius convert a seemingly dry philosophical doctrine about the physical composition of the universe into a gripping message of personal salvation? The selections include Lucretius' vision of an infinite universe, of heaven, and of the hell that humans have created for themselves on earth.

2021-22 Autumn
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