21 - 30 of 166 results for: CLASSICS

(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?

(Formerly CLASSHIS 13N.) This seminar traces the evolution of resource inequality from the Stone Age to the present. Only this long-term perspective reveals the forces that drive inequality and allows us to address two key questions: what causes inequality, and what factors have been capable of reducing it, at least for a while? We are going to confront challenging arguments: that inequality has been closely tied up with overall economic and human development, and that over the long course of history, war, revolution and pestilence were the most effective equalizers of income and wealth. This class will help you appreciate contexts and complexities that are usually obscured by partisan polemics and short-term thinking. Seminar participants will be directly involved in the instructor's current research project on the history of inequality.

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.

(Formerly CLASSGEN 18.) The heroic and divine in the literature, mythology, and culture of archaic Greece. Interdisciplinary approach to the study of individuals and society. Illustrated lectures. Readings in translation of Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and the poets of lyric and tragedy. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required during regular academic quarters (Aut, Win, Spr)

(Formerly CLASSGEN 34.) How the Olympic Games developed and how they were organized. Many other Greek festivals featured sport and dance competitions, including some for women, and showcased the citizen athlete as a civic ideal. Roman athletics in contrast saw the growth of large-scale spectator sports and professional athletes. Some toured like media stars; others regularly risked death in gladiatorial contests and chariot-racing. We will also explore how large-scale games were funded and how they fostered the development of sports medicine. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required; enroll in sections on coursework.

(Formerly CLASSGEN 35.) This course investigates key ethical philosophies in classical Greece. After reading several Greek tragedies (representing traditional Greek values), we examine the Greek philosophers' rejection of this tradition and their radically new ethical theories. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle offered different ethical theories, but they shared basic conceptions of goodness and happiness. They argues that we could "become like gods" by achieving philosophic wisdom. What kind of wisdom is this? How does it make us ethically good and supremely happy people?

(Formerly CLASSGEN 119.) 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.