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CLASSICS 3G: Beginning Greek

Vocabulary and syntax of the classical language. Prerequisite: CLASSICS 2G or equivalent placement. CLASSICS 3G fulfills University language requirement.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: Language
Instructors: ; Tennant, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 3L: Beginning Latin

Vocabulary and syntax of the classical language. Prerequisite: CLASSICS 2L or equivalent placement. CLASSICS 3L fulfills the University language requirement.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: Language
Instructors: ; Ten-Hove, L. (PI)

CLASSICS 12N: Income and wealth inequality from the Stone Age to the present (HISTORY 12N)

Rising inequality is a defining feature of our time. How long has economic inequality existed, and when, how and why has the gap between haves and have-nots widened or narrowed over the course of history? This seminar takes a very long-term view of these questions. It is designed to help you appreciate dynamics and complexities that are often obscured by partisan controversies and short-term perspectives, and to provide solid historical background for a better understanding of a growing societal concern.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Scheidel, W. (PI)

CLASSICS 13G: Intermediate Greek: Homer's Odyssey

This course serves as an introduction to Homeric Greek and to Homer's Odyssey specifically. We will be reading selections from the Odyssey in the original Greek to develop an understanding of the syntax, vocabulary, and dialect of Homeric Greek. Students will also be introduced to a wide variety of tools and resources, both digital and print, to aid them in working with and working through Homeric Greek. In addition, we will read the whole of the Odyssey in English via multiple translations, which will allow us to broaden our discussions to questions of narrative structure and characterization, as well as questions about the practice and process of translation. Classics majors and minors must take course for letter grade. Classics majors and minors may repeat for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: Language | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Porta, F. (PI)

CLASSICS 13L: Intermediate Latin: Virgil (Aeneid)

In this class you will practice with and reinforce the advanced vocabulary, forms, and syntax of classical Latin that you have previously acquired by closely reading selections from Books 8, 10, 11, and 12 of Vergil's Aeneid. While the emphasis of this course is on developing fluency in reading and analyzing the Latin texts, you will have opportunities to discuss and research the biographical, political, and literary issues raised by the readings. A primary focus of your inquiry will be the connection between art and propaganda as you examine how Vergil either contributes to or subverts the vision of Rome's imperial destiny and civilizing mission. In addition you will read the remainder of Books 7 through 12 in English and become familiar with the general outline of the second half of Vergil's epic. Your knowledge of the content and syntax of the readings will be assessed by several short quizzes. You will also sit for mid-quarter and end-quarter tests. Each of you will give a brief presentation on a topic relating to the life or poetry of Vergil, the historical background of his era or his influence on literature, art or music. Classics majors and minors must take course for letter grade. Classics majors and minors may repeat for degree credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Spr | Units: 5 | UG Reqs: Language | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Klopacz, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 18N: The Artist in Ancient Greek Society (ARTHIST 100N)

Given the importance of art to all aspects of their lives, the Greeks had reason to respect their artists. Yet potters, painters and even sculptors possessed little social standing. Why did the Greeks value the work of craftsmen but not the men themselves? Why did Herodotus dismiss those who worked with their hands as "mechanics?" What prompted Homer to claim that "there is no greater glory for a man than what he achieves with his own hands," provided that he was throwing a discus and not a vase on a wheel? Painted pottery was essential to the religious and secular lives of the Greeks. Libations to the gods and to the dead required vessels from which to pour them. Economic prosperity depended on the export of wine and oil in durable clay containers. At home, depictions of gods and heroes on vases reinforced Greek values and helped parents to educate their children. Vases depicting Dionysian excess were produced for elite symposia, from which those who potted and painted them were excluded. Sculptors were less lowly but still regarded as "mechanics," with soft bodies and soft minds (Xenophon), "indifferent to higher things" (Plutarch). The seminar addresses such issues as we work to acknowledge our own privilege and biases. Students will read and discuss texts, write response papers and present slide lectures on aspects of the artist's profession.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Maxmin, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 20N: Technologies of Civilization: Writing, Number and Money

The technological keys to the growth of civilization that enabled the creation of complex societies and enhanced human cognition. The role of cognition in shaping history and the role of history in shaping cognition. Global perspective, emphasizing the Western tradition and its ancient Greek roots.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Netz, R. (PI)

CLASSICS 21Q: Eight Great Archaeological Sites in Europe (ARCHLGY 21Q)

Preference to sophomores. Focus is on excavation, features and finds, arguments over interpretation, and the place of each site in understanding the archaeological history of Europe. Goal is to introduce the latest archaeological and anthropological thought, and raise key questions about ancient society. The archaeological perspective foregrounds interdisciplinary study: geophysics articulated with art history, source criticism with analytic modeling, statistics interpretation. A web site with resources about each site, including plans, photographs, video, and publications, is the basis for exploring.
Terms: Win, Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, Writing 2
Instructors: ; Shanks, M. (PI)

CLASSICS 36: Gender and Power in Ancient Rome

Interactions of gender and power in ancient Roman politics, religion, spectacles, and daily life. Masculinity and femininity in founding legends and public rituals; the ambiguous status of Vestal Virgins; gendered behavior in the Roman Forum; the spatial logic of prostitution; sexual characterizations of good vs. bad emperors in ancient texts; gender and time in Roman houses; inversions of gender and space in early Christian martyr narratives. Readings include modern gender theory as well as ancient Roman texts and material culture.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Trimble, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 43: Exploring the New Testament (HISTORY 111B, JEWISHST 86, RELIGST 86)

To explore the historical context of the earliest Christians, students will read most of the New Testament as well as many documents that didn't make the final cut. Non-Christian texts, Roman art, and surviving archeological remains will better situate Christianity within the ancient world. Students will read from the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing divine temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse an ancient marriage guide, and engage with recent scholarship in archeology, literary criticism, and history.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

CLASSICS 45: Ancients and Moderns: Africa and South Asia in World Literature (AFRICAAM 46S)

How might we make sense of culturally significant texts and text equivalents? We'll compare different answers to abiding human questions, such as: Where do we come from? Why do origins matter? What role do different media (written, spoken, otherwise performed, or visual) play in conveying a sense of the past from one generation to another? In what ways is our access to such cultural productions framed by colonial histories, with their discrepant experiences and perspectives? Readings include the Ramayana; the Bhagavad-Gita; Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart; and Chimamanda Adichie, `The headstrong historian'. This course is part of the Humanities Core sequence.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3

CLASSICS 84: The Romans (HISTORY 102A)

How did a tiny village create a huge empire and shape the world, and why did it fail? Roman history, imperialism, politics, social life, economic growth, and religious change. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required; enroll in sections on Coursework.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-SI

CLASSICS 103G: Advanced Greek: Euripides

Euripides' Bacchae stages a unique homecoming: the god of wine and theater himself, Dionysus, confronts his mortal family in disguise, bringing chaos, ecstasy, and horror to Thebes. Dionysus' human cousin Pentheus serves as his foil and?eventually?sacrificial victim in a lush exploration of the unstable binaries between reason and madness, restraint and freedom, masculine and feminine, Greek and non-Greek, human and divine. This course will focus on reading the play in its original Greek, with additional context and discussion around fifth century theater, mystery cult, and reception of the Bacchae from Byzantine tragedy to Dionysus in '69 to Donna Tartt's The Secret History. Classics majors and minors must take the course for a letter grade. It may be repeated for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Classics majors and minors must take for a letter grade and may repeat for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: Language | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Ten-Hove, L. (PI)

CLASSICS 103L: Advanced Latin: Tacitus

In this course we will read Book 4 of Tacitus' "Annals", one of the most compelling and crucial pieces in this famed historian's bleak depiction of the Roman empire. We will focus on the portrait of the emperor Tiberius, which has long exemplified how to understand political power in psychological terms, and has been the model since for innumerable tyrannical figures in literature and arts. How did Tacitus the historian achieve such powerful, long-lasting influence? Close attention to language, style and narrative techniques. Classics majors and minors must take for a letter grade and may repeat for credit with advance approval from the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: Language, WAY-A-II | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Ceserani, G. (PI)

CLASSICS 104B: Latin Syntax II (CLASSICS 204B)

Intensive review of Latin syntax. See CLASSICS 206A/B for supplemental courses. Students should take both syntax and semantics in the same quarters. Prerequisite for undergraduates: three years of Latin. First-year graduate students register for CLASSICS 204B.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Devine, A. (PI)

CLASSICS 106: Theories of The State, Violence, Nationalism, and Social Order (CLASSICS 306)

This seminar aims to provide a combination of broad overview and intense engagement with specific texts in theoretical discussions relevant to state formation, empire, war and violence, social control, and related issues. Such a course must by nature be highly selective in topics and readings given the broad historical, theoretical, and interdisciplinary scope of such a combination of topics (or of any one of them). We will read a selection of classical texts in historical sociology, social and legal theory, and anthropology, as well as more recent major contributions on relevant topics. The goal of the course is to engage in discussions and reflection that will stimulate further exploration in contemporary legal, social, and political theory to inform dissertations and other research initiatives.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Cohen, D. (PI)

CLASSICS 136: The Greek Invention of Mathematics

How was mathematics invented? A survey of the main creative ideas of ancient Greek mathematics. Among the issues explored are the axiomatic system of Euclid's Elements, the origins of the calculus in Greek measurements of solids and surfaces, and Archimedes' creation of mathematical physics. We will provide proofs of ancient theorems, and also learn how such theorems are even known today thanks to the recovery of ancient manuscripts.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Netz, R. (PI); Liu, H. (TA)

CLASSICS 193: Archaeology and Environmental Aesthetics (ARCHLGY 193A, CLASSICS 293)

What do archaeologists have to say about long-term human relationships with the environment? How might archaeology inform our understanding of current concerns with agency and climate change? In this seminar we will explore the key concepts and concerns of a transdisciplinary field of environmental aesthetics. Taking in recent debates about the ontology and temporality of building archaeological knowledge, we will critically interrogate concepts such as land and landscape, nature and culture, dwelling and lifeworld, as a means of developing an archaeology beyond a science-humanities dualism that engages actively with the challenge of changing relationships with the environment.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Shanks, M. (PI)

CLASSICS 203G: Greek Core III: Aeschylus and Euripides

In this course, students will translate and analyze two ancient Greek tragedies: Aeschylus' Suppliants (c. 463 BCE) and Euripides' Medea (431 BCE). As the only extant tragedy from Greek antiquity featuring characters who explicitly reflect on their black skin color, Suppliants destabilizes a monolithic definition of alterity as fifty black Egyptian Greek women transform from frightened maidens into astute performers. In line with their interrogation of foreignness in the Suppliants, students will examine Euripides' characterization of Medea. Namely, after Medea learns that her husband will marry another woman, she kills her own children and leaves a foreign country with her safety intact. Altogether, students will increase their knowledge of Greek grammar and syntax and become familiar with essential aspects of Greek tragedy in primary and secondary sources.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Derbew, S. (PI)

CLASSICS 204B: Latin Syntax II (CLASSICS 104B)

Intensive review of Latin syntax. See CLASSICS 206A/B for supplemental courses. Students should take both syntax and semantics in the same quarters. Prerequisite for undergraduates: three years of Latin. First-year graduate students register for CLASSICS 204B.
Terms: Spr | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Devine, A. (PI)

CLASSICS 206B: The Semantics of Grammar II

Some theoretical linguistics for Classics students, particularly Latin teachers. Concentrates on the meaning of the inflectional categories. 206A: Sets and functions, Tense, Aspect, Argument Structure, Location. 206B: Quantification, Plurality, Modification, Negation, Modality
Terms: Spr | Units: 2
Instructors: ; Devine, A. (PI)

CLASSICS 220: Pedagogy Workshop for Graduate Teachers

The primary goal of this course is to prepare graduate students for teaching Humanities-centered courses, both at Stanford and at other institutions. Instruction will emphasize the pedagogy of courses typical to Classics departments (and similar), including Greek and Latin Language Instruction, large lecture courses, and small seminars on specific topics. Secondary goals of the course are to prepare students for pedagogy-related aspects of the academic job market (e.g., preparing a teaching portfolio), and to introduce pedagogy-facing career options inside and outside the academy. Course discussions will range broadly from the ethical and philosophical facets of Humanities education, to various practical and logistical issues specific in graduate-level teaching. Readings, class visits, and in-class "microteaching" demonstrations will supplement discussions and other coursework. The only requirement for enrolled students is full and engaged participation each week. This course is intended solely for PhD students in the Stanford Department of Classics.
Terms: Spr | Units: 1-3 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Tennant, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 293: Archaeology and Environmental Aesthetics (ARCHLGY 193A, CLASSICS 193)

What do archaeologists have to say about long-term human relationships with the environment? How might archaeology inform our understanding of current concerns with agency and climate change? In this seminar we will explore the key concepts and concerns of a transdisciplinary field of environmental aesthetics. Taking in recent debates about the ontology and temporality of building archaeological knowledge, we will critically interrogate concepts such as land and landscape, nature and culture, dwelling and lifeworld, as a means of developing an archaeology beyond a science-humanities dualism that engages actively with the challenge of changing relationships with the environment.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Shanks, M. (PI)

CLASSICS 297: Dissertation Proposal Preparation

This course is to be taken twice during the third year of the Classics PhD program. It takes the form of a tutorial based on weekly meetings, leading to the writing of the dissertation prospectus. To register, a student obtain permission from the prospective faculty advisor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-10 | Repeatable for credit (up to 99 units total)

CLASSICS 298: Directed Reading in Classics (Graduate Students)

This course is offered for students requiring specialized training in an area not covered by existing courses. To register, a student must obtain permission from the Classics Department and the faculty member who is willing to supervise the reading. This course can be repeated for credit, not to exceed 20 units total.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit (up to 20 units total)

CLASSICS 306: Theories of The State, Violence, Nationalism, and Social Order (CLASSICS 106)

This seminar aims to provide a combination of broad overview and intense engagement with specific texts in theoretical discussions relevant to state formation, empire, war and violence, social control, and related issues. Such a course must by nature be highly selective in topics and readings given the broad historical, theoretical, and interdisciplinary scope of such a combination of topics (or of any one of them). We will read a selection of classical texts in historical sociology, social and legal theory, and anthropology, as well as more recent major contributions on relevant topics. The goal of the course is to engage in discussions and reflection that will stimulate further exploration in contemporary legal, social, and political theory to inform dissertations and other research initiatives.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Cohen, D. (PI)

CLASSICS 320: Philosophy of Culture and Politics in 4th century Athens (CLASSICS 108)

Why were cultural practices and institutions key in political debates in Athens? We will explore democratic and authoritarian cultural models. A thorough discussion of some of the less-read Platonic works, including his last work, the Laws, in light of other 4th century BCE thinkers on cultural matters. Of interest to students of Philosophy, Theater and Performance Studies, Political Science, as well as Classics.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Peponi, A. (PI)

CLASSICS 370: Topics in Roman Art and Visual Culture

Ancient Roman visual culture both reflected and actively shaped political, social, cultural and economic situations. Artworks, imagery and things seen played roles in constructing experience, intervening in human relationships, representing meaning, and framing possibility in particular ways. This seminar explores some of the most exciting recent work on Roman art and visual culture. Topics may include viewing and reception, materiality and object relations, framing, and others.
Terms: Spr | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Trimble, J. (PI)

CLASSICS 399: Graduate Research in Classics

For graduate students only. Individual research by arrangement with in-department instructors. To register, a student must obtain permission from the faculty member who is willing to supervise the research.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-10 | Repeatable for credit
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