Course Schedule

CLAS 116B – Word Roots: Science and Medical Terminology

This course will focus on the history and structure of words including the use of Greek and Latin roots in the formation of technical terms in medicine and the sciences. Elements of word formation (prefixes, suffixes, and bases) will be intensively studied so that the words can by systematically analyzed and broken down into their component parts. Excellent preparation for standardized tests such as the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, and MCAT.

CLAS 150C1 – Pyramids and Mummies: The Pharaoh and Ancient Egyptian Society

Pyramids and Mummies focuses on the role of the pharaoh in ancient Egyptian Society and its portrayal in modern culture. It centers on the overarching question of how political rulers consolidate, exert, and maintain political power over their constituent populations. To do this, Pyramids and Mummies takes an interdisciplinary approach to Egyptian history, examining it from Natural Science, Social Science, Arts, and Humanities perspectives, assessing how Egyptian pharaohs utilized a diverse array of tactics to rule their kingdom. This course then moves from ancient to modern, analyzing the portrayal of ancient Egyptian kingship in the modern world, with a special focus on the ways in which issues of race, ethnicity, diversity, and equity are addressed in cinematic adaptations of ancient Egyptian culture and kingship. Upon completing this course, students will be able to critically analyze issues of political rule from a variety of disciplinary lenses, and synthesize these multifaceted strategies in clear, concise, and powerful written prose, and they will be able to address issues of race, equity, and inclusion in the reception and adaptation of ancient Egyptian culture.

CLAS 160B1 – Meet the Ancients: Gateway to Greece and Rome

Journey into the past to discover the worlds of the ancient Greeks and Romans. From democracy and republicanism to literature, philosophy and art, the contributions of these two cultures serve as the foundation for much of what has been described as ""western"" culture. This course explores who these peoples were, how these civilizations developed, what ideas and institutions they created, and why the Greeks and Romans matter today.

Through this exploration into the Greco-Roman world, this course builds connections between the multiple types of evidence that scholars draw upon to paint a picture of the ancient past. Close readings of texts provide a humanistic perspective on classical culture; archaeological data inform us about social scientific trends in demography and economics; environmental evidence from ice cores, botanical remains, and soil samples enable a natural science perspective on the past; and some of the world's most famous objects--from the Venus di Milo to Grecian vases--allow for artistic insights. In this course, students will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each disciplinary approach to understanding the past, and ultimately weave together multiple strands of evidence to create their signature assignment.

Upon completing "Meet the Ancients", students will not only have a better understanding of Greco-Roman history and culture, they will, above all, have a deeper understanding of the different perspectives used to approach ancient history and the skills to evaluate and synthesize diverse types of evidence.

CLAS 160D2 – Classical Mythology: Ancient Stories and What they Tell Us

The myths, legends, and folktales of the Greeks, Romans and the peoples of the ancient Near East have remained popular for thousands of years. Together we'll not only learn about these stories themselves, but also think about why these stories are so popular, where they came from, and what insights they give us into the various people and cultures who created and reinterpreted them across the millennia.

CLAS 205 – Ancient History: Roman History

This course offers a survey of Roman History from the prehistoric settlements in the area of the Seven Hills to the deterioration of the western Empire in the fifth century C.E. Special topics of interest include the material culture of the Roman world; the use of images in the pursuit of political agendas; classical notions of the divine; and concepts of gender, power, and identity. Popular representations of ancient Rome, specifically in film, will provide another area of consideration for comparison throughout the semester.

CLAS 301B – The Literature of the Ancient Romans: Latin Literature in English Translation

Classics 301B provides an introductory survey of Latin literature through English translations. The works to be studied include some of the earliest extant ones of the republican period down to those of the mid-empire: our authors span a period of over 300 years. We will read from a variety of genres, including comedy and tragedy, epic and lyric poetry, didactic literature, satire, historiography, the novel, letters, and philosophy. Latin writers appropriated all these genres- with the exception of satire, which apparently is a Roman innovation (satura quidem tota nostra est, Quintilian 10.1.93)-from the Greeks. In doing so they creatively and self-reflexively (Latin literature is extremely "meta") adapted their Greek source texts with a view to their own audiences and artistic purposes. The study of this literature provides a dynamic point of entry into the rich and diverse cultural world of the ancient Romans-the Roman empire was an extraordinarily complex experiment in multiethnic and polylingual exchange that is only now being rivaled by globalist movements. Latin literature is also critical to appreciation of subsequent European literatures and cultures.

CLAS 303 – Crime and Punishment in the Ancient World

This course explores the history of criminal justice systems in the ancient Mediterranean through close examination of select primary sources. Its primary focus is Greece and Rome, but it will also cover Pharaonic Egypt and the Ancient Near East. We shall move chronologically, geographically, and topically, treating a broad range of literary and archaeological evidence. Of central importance to the course will be the issue of boundaries: between right and wrong, imprisonment and freedom, individual and state. Law codes from Mesopotamia, tomb robbery in the Egyptian New Kingdom, the trial and execution of Socrates, police in the streets of Rome, execution by gladiator, spiritual and allegorical punishment: the course encompasses it all!

CLAS 305 – Greek and Roman Religion

Religious beliefs and cult practices in ancient Greece and Rome. All readings in English.

CLAS 313 – Health and Medicine in Classical Antiquity

The course examines the mythology and practice of medicine in Greek and Roman times from Asclepius to Hippocrates and Galen, medical instruments and procedures, the religious manifestation of healing in Greek and Roman sanctuaries, the votive dedications by patients and cured, midwifery and child care, public hygiene and diseases. The topics cover a large spectrum of the medical practice and public health in the ancient societies of Classical antiquity, as well as how ancient worldviews, including religion and religious practice, shaped health and medicine in Greek and Roman civilization.

CLAS 315 – Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

This course takes a site-based approach to the history, culture, and archaeology of ancient Greece. Throughout this class, you will journey to seven of Greece's most famous and historically influential archaeological sites. These sites will serve as a launching point for you to gain an understanding of Greece's historical trajectory, from the rise of Bronze Age citadels at sites like Mycenae to the creation of democracy in the Athenian Agora. You will also gain an understanding of some of Greece's fundamental cultural institutions: investigating athletics at the stadium of Olympia, religion at the Temple of Apollo of Delphi, and medicine at the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus.

CLAS 323 – Ancient Empires

During this class, we will be exploring the diverse nations of the Mediterranean that pursued the acquisition of empire in the ancient world: Pharaonic Egypt, Achaemenid Persia, 5th century Athens, 4th century Macedon, and Imperial Rome. More than only the respective "rise and fall" of each empire, we will examine how the rulers of each civilization depicted and justified their policies of conquest, how the pursuit of empire changed the cultures of these civilizations, and how each empire paved the way for the next. In the end, we will be learning how empires in general (mis)function, and how empires are justified to their participants, subjects, and enemies.

CLAS 329 – Art History of the Cinema

This course is based on research and practices about art, film, and popular culture in France, England, Germany, and particularly in America. The learning activities inspire students to critically analyzing and incorporating past and current art perspectives in the arts and their influence on cinema. It is expected that students demonstrate skillful analysis and the latter description of theoretical and pragmatic solutions related to ideologies, art movements, and technology involved with the development of cinematography, through learning about different cultures, including ancient Greece and Rome, as well as America, France, and Germany over the centuries.

CLAS 338 – Introduction to Roman Art and Archaeology

This course provides an overview of the culture of ancient Rome beginning about 1000 BCE and ending with the so-called "Fall of Rome". It looks at some of the key people who played a role in Rome, from the time of the kings through the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It will also focus on the city of Rome itself, as well as Rome's expansion through Italy, the Mediterranean, and beyond.

CLAS 342 – The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic Tradition

CLAS 342 is a General Education Exploring Perspectives (Humanist) course carrying the Writing and World Cultures and Societies attributes. We will build a community of inquiry into Homeric literature and society using tools like close reading to examine the Homeric characters within the Iliad and Odyssey with a view to what forces--social, divine, individualistic, artistic--inform their thoughts and actions. We will draw parallels and examine contrasts between our own societies and that of the characters within the Iliad and Odyssey, and we will be assisted in these critical analyses by the work of modern scholars who have attempted to understand the world of Homer using interpretive tools like close reading and literary analysis. Students will be invited to use their own experiences as interpretive lenses through which to understand the world of Homer; conversely, students will also be invited to use the world of Homer to understand their own.

CLAS 346 – Family Feuds: Re-Interpreting Greek Tragedy

In this course, students will examine ancient Greek tragedy both in its original context, and as it has been interpreted and re-interpreted in more modern times. They will combine historical, critical, and artistic perspectives to consider what tragedy was/is and what made/makes it moving, effective, and enduring. The course will spotlight one the great tragic themes, centering the stories of Agamemnon, Oedipus, or the Trojan War. Students will build upon their understanding of both ancient tragedy and modern receptions to conceptualize effective modern stagings and adaptations.

CLAS 401A – Early Christian Literature: Greek Texts

This course involves in depth study of early Christian texts together with related contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Students will engage in careful analysis of individual texts in the New Testament and from the first four centuries of the Common Era, focusing on questions of genre, authorship, and meaning. Alongside these, students will examine writings by contemporary Jewish, Greek, and Roman authors (e.g., Philo, Josephus, Seneca, and Plutarch) as illustrative of the wider literary and religious culture. For students who have completed GRK 201, an option for readings in ancient Greek will be available as part of the course.

CLAS 404B – History of Rome: The Empire through the Reign of Constantine the Great

The Empire through the reign of Constantine the Great.

CLAS 404C – Cleopatra: Power, Passion, Propaganda

This course focuses on Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE), the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and one of the best-known women in history and a key powerbroker during a period of important political change, one with enduring repercussions for the western world. She has been, however, deliberately memorialized as a "romantic" agent, a deployer of "feminine wiles", whose gender and political toolbox rightly doomed her efforts to failure. Students will interrogate the process of transforming a historical individual into an object lesson, a trope of femininity, and a cinematic legend, unpacking the messages crafted for a range of audiences and purposes by multiple creators, including Cleopatra herself. We begin with the historical background of the Hellenistic period, cosmopolitan and multicultural, focusing especially on the dynamism of women in the ideology of royal power and as image-makers in their own right, developing special forms for female authority and female patronage. A number of earlier Cleopatras establish context and particular precedents, creating official personae to engage effective interactions with fundamental groups; these include the resilient Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra II (r. 175-116 BCE) and Cleopatra Thea, token in a dynastic alliance who became Great Queen of Syria, dominating the Seleucid throne for a generation. Students will then sift through the evidence for Cleopatra VII, both the contentious (and largely hostile) material for her Mediterranean activities as well as the Egyptian record that may represent the specific efforts of the queen herself, utilizing then-ancient symbol and ritual to assert her legitimate imperial authority and structure her collaboration with major stakeholders in the Nile realm. The last section of the course looks to the lingering memory of Cleopatra long after her death, closely examining images in drama, art, and film to explore how the story of Cleopatra has been crafted and recrafted to represent different "truths" about sex, power, and identity.

CLAS 432 – Literary Translation as Classical Reception

This course examines the translation of classical (poetic) texts as a way of receiving these texts and rendering them accessible - and fresh - for new audiences. The course consists of five components: (1) an introduction to the field of Translation Studies; (2) diachronic study of some of the most influential writers on translation, i.e. from Cicero to 21st century theorists; (3) the translation and adaptation of Greek texts by Latin authors at the beginnings of Latin literature; (4) close study of selected Greek and Latin poetic texts against a selection of published translations of them in English; (5) translation practica.

CLAS 443 – Archaeology of Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece

This class will examine the archaeology of the Greek Mainland from the arrival of humans until the end of the Late Bronze Age, paying particular attention to the emergence and florescence of Europe's first states. In addition to learning the material record of the region, students will hone their skills in critical thinking by exploring the theoretical approaches that inform the way archaeologists reconstruct the past.

CLAS 465 – Greek Pottery: Craft and Society in Ancient Greece

This course surveys the development of ancient Greek pottery from c. 3000 to 400 BCE, with a focus on the period 1200-400 BCE (Mycenaean-Late Classical). Topics to be addressed include stylistic and typological developments, uses of ceramics within historical settings, iconography and meaning, materials and manufacturing techniques, organization of ceramic workshops, and potters and their social status. Key goals of the course include gaining an appreciation for the great importance of pottery in establishing and verifying the foundations of chronology in Greek archaeology as well as illuminating fundamental aspects of Greek society and culture. Opportunities for hands-on experiences in UA ceramics labs and museum collections will be available.

CLAS 472A – Ancient Philosophy

A philosophical introduction to the major works of Plato.

CLAS 472B – Ancient Philosophy

A philosophical introduction to the major works of Aristotle.

CLAS 491 – Preceptorship

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of instruction and practice in actual service in a department, program, or discipline. Requires faculty member approval, preceptor application on file with department.

CLAS 498H – Honors Thesis

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

CLAS 501A – Early Christian Literature: Greek Texts

This course involves in depth study of early Christian texts together with related contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Students will engage in careful analysis of individual texts in the New Testament and from the first four centuries of the Common Era, focusing on questions of genre, authorship, and meaning. Alongside these, students will examine writings by contemporary Jewish, Greek, and Roman authors (e.g., Philo, Josephus, Seneca, and Plutarch) as illustrative of the wider literary and religious culture. For students who have completed GRK 201, an option for readings in ancient Greek will be available as part of the course. Graduate level requirements included a extended research papers drawing on appropriate levels of training in language, literature, and knowledge of the ancient world.

CLAS 504C – Cleopatra: Power, Passion, Propaganda

This course focuses on Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE), the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and one of the best-known women in history and a key powerbroker during a period of important political change, one with enduring repercussions for the western world. She has been, however, deliberately memorialized as a "romantic" agent, a deployer of "feminine wiles", whose gender and political toolbox rightly doomed her efforts to failure. Students will interrogate the process of transforming a historical individual into an object lesson, a trope of femininity, and a cinematic legend, unpacking the messages crafted for a range of audiences and purposes by multiple creators, including Cleopatra herself. We begin with the historical background of the Hellenistic period, cosmopolitan and multicultural, focusing especially on the dynamism of women in the ideology of royal power and as image-makers in their own right, developing special forms for female authority and female patronage. A number of earlier Cleopatras establish context and particular precedents, creating official personae to engage effective interactions with fundamental groups; these include the resilient Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra II (r. 175-116 BCE) and Cleopatra Thea, token in a dynastic alliance who became Great Queen of Syria, dominating the Seleucid throne for a generation. Students will then sift through the evidence for Cleopatra VII, both the contentious (and largely hostile) material for her Mediterranean activities as well as the Egyptian record that may represent the specific efforts of the queen herself, utilizing then-ancient symbol and ritual to assert her legitimate imperial authority and structure her collaboration with major stakeholders in the Nile realm. The last section of the course looks to the lingering memory of Cleopatra long after her death, closely examining images in drama, art, and film to explore how the story of Cleopatra has been crafted and recrafted to represent different "truths" about sex, power, and identity.

Graduate-level requirements include two short in-class presentations on particular aspects of course material; weekly responses to the assigned reading, focusing on modern scholarship; and a 5000-word final paper, comparative in nature.

CLAS 532 – Literary Translation as Classical Reception

This course examines the translation of classical (poetic) texts as a way of receiving these texts and rendering them accessible - and fresh - for new audiences. The course consists of five components: (1) an introduction to the field of Translation Studies; (2) diachronic study of some of the most influential writers on translation, i.e. from Cicero to 21st century theorists; (3) the translation and adaptation of Greek texts by Latin authors at the beginnings of Latin literature; (4) close study of selected Greek and Latin poetic texts against a selection of published translations of them in English; (5) translation practica. Graduate level requirements include readings in both Greek & Latin, an oral report, and more extensive practica.

CLAS 543 – Archaeology of Neolithic and Bronze Age Greece

This class will examine the archaeology of the Greek Mainland from the arrival of humans until the end of the Late Bronze Age, paying particular attention to the emergence and florescence of Europe's first states. In addition to learning the material record of the region, students will hone their skills in critical thinking by exploring the theoretical approaches that inform the way archaeologists reconstruct the past.

CLAS 565 – Greek Pottery: Craft and Society in Ancient Greece

This course surveys the development of ancient Greek pottery from c. 3000 to 400 BCE, with a focus on the period 1200-400 BCE (Mycenaean-Late Classical). Topics to be addressed include stylistic and typological developments, uses of ceramics within historical settings, iconography and meaning, materials and manufacturing techniques, organization of ceramic workshops, and potters and their social status. Key goals of the course include gaining an appreciation for the great importance of pottery in establishing and verifying the foundations of chronology in Greek archaeology as well as illuminating fundamental aspects of Greek society and culture. Opportunities for hands-on experiences in UA ceramics labs and museum collections will be available. Graduate-level requirements include extensive readings and an in-depth paper.

CLAS 587 – Assessment in Second/Foreign Language Learning

The primary objective of this course is the development of language teachers' assessment literacy, which includes knowledge of key assessment principles and skill in creating or adopting assessment tools and procedures for the language classroom. Participants in this course will develop their knowledge and skills related to assessing all skill areas in the language classroom, including productive skills (writing, speaking), receptive skills (reading, listening), and assessing grammar and vocabulary. Grading and student evaluation will also be important topics of consideration and exploration in this course. Designed specifically for in-service (and pre-service) language teachers, the course combines theory with practice by covering essential principles of effective classroom assessment and the development of effective assessment tools for classroom use. Participants completing this course will become more assessment literate and better able to evaluate student performance in their classrooms fairly and effectively.

GRK 102 – Elementary Classical Greek II

The second semester of the introduction to the basic morphology, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of ancient Greek through reading and composition for students of the Bible and of classical authors.

GRK 202 – Intermediate Classical Greek II

Selections from classical Greek poetry.

GRK 424 – Advanced Greek: Homer

Close reading of selections from the Iliad and Odyssey in Greek and an introduction to the critical secondary literature.

GRK 524 – Advanced Greek: Homer

Close reading of selections from the Iliad and Odyssey in Greek and an introduction to the critical secondary literature. Graduate-level requirements include extensive reading and an in-depth paper.

LAT 101 – Elementary Latin I

An introduction to the basic morphology, syntax and vocabulary of Latin through reading and composition.

LAT 102 – Elementary Latin II

A second semester introduction to the basic morphology, syntax and vocabulary of Latin through reading and composition.

LAT 201 – Intermediate Latin I

Review of Latin grammar with readings from prose writers.

LAT 202 – Intermediate Latin II

Review of Latin grammar with readings from the poetry of Virgil's Aeneid.

LAT 413 – Augustan Literature

Readings from a major writer or writers of the Augustan age.

LAT 513 – Augustan Literature

Readings from a major writer or writers of the Augustan age. Graduate level requirements include extensive reading and a research paper.