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(Formerly CLASSART 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.

Exploration of the nature of maps via an overview of premodern mapping practices, combining theory and history of maps. Hands-on research involving Stanford's rare and historical maps, and chance to create own maps.

(Formerly CLASSHIS 24N.) Preference to freshmen. Explore themes on the Roman Empire and its decline from the 1st through the 5th centuries C.E.. What was the political and military glue that held this diverse, multi-ethnic empire together? What were the bases of wealth and how was it distributed? What were the possibilities and limits of economic growth? How integrated was it in culture and religion? What were the causes and consequences of the conversion to Christianity? Why did the Empire fall in the West? How suitable is the analogy of the U.S. in the 21st century?

Ancient Greek and Roman literature and philosophy dealing with theology and ethics. What is a god, and why should gods care about you or me? Do you have a soul, and if so what might happen to it when you die? Should you try to be a good person, and if so, how? Learn viewing fundamental questions like these through the eyes of ancient Greek and Roman thinkers. We will read tragedies and epic poetry, wrestle with the philosophical arguments, and apply forms scientific reasoning developed more than 2,000 years ago. This course offers highly sophisticated perspectives on religious and ethical issues that are still vitally important today, as well as a firm grasp of the culture of classical antiquity and the means it offers of understanding the world and our place in it.

Preference to sophomores. How can we harness and exploit the power of computational modeling? What responsibilities are there in developing and using computer models? In this course we will analyze fundamental issues inherent to computational modeling such as uncertainty, predictability, error, and resolution. We will furthermore examine the social context of computational modeling including the public perception of computational models, how computer modeling impacts politics and policy, and how politics and policy, in turn, influence computer modeling.

Preference to freshmen. An examination of the meaning of freedom of the press, tied to but not bound by various Supreme Court rulings on the scope and purpose of the First Amendment's speech and press clauses. Discussions will include a look at the recent and rapid computerization of communication and what it portends for the future of a free press.

Preference to freshmen. The problem of performance including the performance of gender through the plays of Shakespeare. In-class performances by students of scenes from plays. The history of theatrical performance. Sources include filmed versions of plays, and readings on the history of gender, gender performance, and transvestite theater.

Preference to sophomores. Focus is on several of the best and lesser known plays of Shakespeare, on theatrical and other kinds of playing, and on ambiguities of both gender and playing gender.

How have writers on a global scale responded to a growing sense of environmental crisis? How do various literary genres and forms help writers convey a sense of urgency, evoke feelings of loss, or prompt a call to action? Students will encounter recent stories, songs, memoirs, essays, and poems by writers from around the world that engage with the relationship between humans and our precarious environment. Texts such as Cormac McCarthy¿s post-apocalyptic novel The Road, Inger Christensen¿s long poem alphabet, and Arundati Roy¿s fable ¿The Briefing¿ will allow us to see how race, class, and region impact experiences and depictions of a planet in crisis. These texts will also model options for students¿ own creative writing on nature, place, and crisis across genres. Assignments will include observational writing, experiments with genre shifts, and research and writing on the places we call home as members of a global community.