CLAS

This course seeks to explore the cultural and social history of the city of Thessaloniki in northern Greece from antiquity to the present. As a city of diverse populations, Thessaloniki constituted a melting pot of cultures and a hub for economic activities for a major part of its history. The course will be discussion-based and bring into dialogue textual and material evidence that illustrates various topics of the history of Thessaloniki. Among those topics, we will examine Thessaloniki’s foundation, its relationship with other cities in the Hellenistic world, the formation of (ethnic) identity in Macedonia, its Christianization, its archaeological landscape, the multicultural civic identity and the construction of other (Greek, Jewish, Roman, Slavic, Ottoman), immigration movements, economy and commerce. We will explore a spectrum of historical themes, but our focus will range:  We will delve into the intricate stories of personalities, monuments, and objects. Yet, our ultimate aim will be to step back and analyze broader phenomena in their longue durée.

War and its fallout have been a central part of the human experience, sparking the fascination of poets and audiences alike. Along with war comes the concept of peace, both in life and in poetry. In this course, we will use poetry and poetic texts to explore different possibilities for understanding the fundamental tension that exists between the quasi-universal notion that “no one is so foolish as to choose war over peace” (Herodotus, 1.87), and the fact that war has been our constant companion. Along the way, we will examine how poets across a spectrum of cultures, eras, and genres have given life to rich expressions of hope, fear, and everything in between, and ask ourselves how these poets succeed in illuminating these parts of the human experience, and to what effect. Homer and Vergil will be our guides through the first part of the quarter, but in the second half we will explore poetries of war and peace from around the world, up to the present.

Ancient Greek Philosophy was remarkable for the creation of three main types of philosophy after Aristotle: Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Skepticism. Marx admired this trio as a highlight of Greek philosophy. Differing fundamentally from each other, Epicureanism relies on the evidence of the senses and proposes pleasure as the goal of life; Stoicism values morality as a way of attaining union with god; the Skeptics reject both. Each type of philosophy responded dynamically to the others and kept evolving by continually adapting to diverse social circumstances, both Greek and Roman. Each also had a lasting influence on the development of later European philosophy. We will trace their significance by reading texts in English translation; no Greek or Latin is required.

The comedies of Aristophanes are as uproarious, biting, and ribald today as they were more than 2,400 years ago. But they also offer a unique window onto the societal norms, expectations, and concerns as well as the more mundane experiences of Athenians in the fifth century BCE. This course will examine closely a number of Aristophanes' extant plays (in translation) in order to address topics such as the performative, ritual, and political contexts of Attic comedy, the constituency of audiences, the relationship of comedy to satire, the use of dramatic stereotypes, freedom of speech, and the limits of dissent. Please note that this course is rated Mature for adult themes and language.

Constantinople (modern Istanbul) was founded in 324 AD to be the capital of the eastern Roman empire. It did this until 1453, when it became the capital of the emerging Ottoman empire, a function that it served until 1922. No city in history has, for so long, served continually as the capital of two successive empires that, in their various incarnations, stradled Europe, Asia, and Africa and played a major role in shaping global politics and world culture. In this course, students will learn about these two parallel histories and cultures through a series of paired thematic units: Foundations; Imperial Cultures; Religious Cultures; and Hagia Sophia (a monument that continues to be a flashpoint for competing claims to the past and modern identities). One week in the middle will be devoted to Transitions, namely to the period around the siege of 1453, before which many Turks lived under east Roman rule and after which most Romans (Greeks) lived under Ottoman rule. The instructors will foster creative dialogue between these two cultures by focusing, in each unit, on exemplary monuments and primary written sources. Students will explore how public authority was claimed and contested, and how each phase of the city’s history appropriated or sidelined the legacy of its own past.

How appropriate or useful is the application of the idea of “race” to practices in ancient Greece and Rome? What revelations about the classical or modern and contemporary worlds does the idea of “race” afford? Race has long been considered a modern phenomenon, traceable in such practices as the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Recent scholarship has identified race (or racialization, at least) in the European Medieval period and the Renaissance. In this class, we will evaluate the scholarship of race in classical antiquity and the texts and artifacts upon which it relies.

How have archaeologists approached the study of gendered practices, and can their work contribute to theoretical and methodological discussions of gender across the social sciences and humanities? How can we use material objects and things to examine or explain gendered identities, especially in the deep past? In this course, students will engage with a range of research, from different disciplinary perspectives, to explore how gender is situated in archaeological theory and praxis and its political implications. Through multiple case studies, the course will interrogate how archaeologists study, analyze, and interpret material remains to examine gendered ideologies and material practices and their intersections with other social constructs: class, sex, race, ethnicity. Coverage is cross-cultural and aims to expose students to the diversity and variability of gendered and sexual experiences of different people across time and space. Topics include but are not limited to: embodiment and expression, gender roles, sexuality, parenthood and childhood, masculinity, biopolitics, and feminist theory.

If the current resurgence of interest in ethnic studies is a direct reflection of a contemporary upsurge in ethnic conflict throughout the world, it remains the case that notions of peoplehood and belonging have been of periodic importance throughout history. This course will study the various expressions of Greek identity within shifting political, social and cultural contexts from prehistory to the present day, though with a strong emphasis on classical antiquity. Particular attention will be given to theoretical issues such as anthropological definitions of ethnicity, the difference between ethnic and cultural identities, methods for studying ethnicity in historical societies, and the intersection of ethnicity with politics.

A big change occurred in Greek thought between the time of Homer and that of Socrates, or roughly between the eighth and fifth centuries BCE. This has been celebrated as a turn from myth to philosophy and science. It was also an attempt by humans to take charge of their lives. The course will focus on the leaders of this movement: the Pre-Socratics, the Sophists, and the legendary founder of scientific medicine, Hippocrates. The Presocratic devised new ways of explaining the world as a whole; the Sophists discovered ways in which humans could shape their lives in relation to one another; and the followers of Hippocrates sought to give humans control over their bodies. For the Pre-Socratics, we have only tantalizing fragments; and we will attempt to make sense of them. We will also read a tragedy, Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, which shows a god taking the side of humans;  writings of the sophists and attacks on them; and the earliest Greek medical writings.  The course will be taught in English translation. For those who know ancient Greek, optional reading classes will be offered.

This class on Sophocles’ Antigone will be held in lockstep with the upcoming production of the play at the Court Theatre, which will allow us to think about the construction of the play and its performance, both in its original setting and each time it is adapted and staged. We will attend rehearsals and talk to the director, crew and performers of the play as the play takes shape. We will also attend the production. Readings will include Antigone by Sophocles, as well as adaptions and theory on the play.