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.

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.

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.

This course will focus on the origins of words and their historical semantic development (i.e. their change in meaning over time). Linguistic terms and processes will be discussed (where appropriate) to aid in an understanding of the English language's evolution. Elements of word formation (prefixes, suffixes, and bases), primarily from Latin and Greek, will be studied intensively, so that words can be systematically analyzed and broken down into their component parts. Words will also be studied in context (with the quotations in the Ayers text and with short readings from Edgar Allan Poe, H.G. Wells, McCrum's Story of English, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, etc.). Students will be expected to keep a word journal throughout the course in which they analyze words encountered in their general daily reading.