printer friendly pageCLASSICS 150: Majors Seminar: Why Classics?
Required of Classics majors and minors in junior or senior year; students contemplating honors should take this course in junior year. Advanced skills course involving close reading, critical thinking, editing, and writing. In-class and take-home writing and revising exercises. Final paper topic may be on any subject related to Classics. Fulfills WIM requirement for Classics. Winter Quarter Topic: Why Classics? The question is pressing both politically and intellectually and we will explore its long history, from the culture wars in ancient Greece and Rome, to modern conflicts about ownership of classical monuments and ideals, to the choice of whether to major in Classics today. Critical analysis, discussion, reading (all in English) and writing about case studies (Parthenon, Hadrian's Wall, Pantheon, Thucydides, Tacitus, ancient drama, ancient and modern politics, textual transmission) exercising historical, literary and archaeological approaches.Students who enroll in this course will have the opportunity to apply for a spring break in Rome, Italy from March 23 - March 30.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Ceserani, G. (PI)
;
Macksoud, J. (PI)
CLASSICS 151: Ten Things: An Archaeology of Design (ARCHLGY 151)
Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Lugardo, J. (PI)
;
Shanks, M. (PI)
CLASSICS 153: Ancient Urbanism
Ancient Greek, ancient Roman, and historical Islamic cities succeeded one another in western Asia and around the Mediterranean Sea. This course compares and contrasts these three great urban traditions. Cities studied include Athens, Olynthos, Rome, Pompeii, Constantinople, Tunis, Damascus. Themes include the organization of political, religious and commercial space; concepts of public and private; gendered experiences of urban life; interconnections among cities; the long-term histories of ancient cities, some of which continue to shape life today. Students will learn about historical places and developments; strengthen critical thinking skills; practice oral and written analyses of urban space.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Trimble, J. (PI)
CLASSICS 154: Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Maritime Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean (ARCHLGY 145)
Why do we care about shipwrecks? What can sunken sites and abandoned ports tell us about our past? Focusing primarily on the archaeological record of shipwrecks and harbors, along with literary evidence and contemporary theory, this course examines how and why ancient mariners ventured across the "wine-dark seas" of the Mediterranean for travel, warfare, pilgrimage, and especially commerce. We will explore interdisciplinary approaches to the development of maritime contacts and communication from the Bronze Age through the end of Roman era. At the same time, we will engage with practical techniques of maritime archaeology, which allows us to explore the material record first hand.
Last offered: Winter 2023
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 155: Sicily and the Sea (ARCHLGY 140)
Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily has for millennia represented a cultural crossroads and hub for the movement of peoples, objects, and ideas. Much of the island's history is reflected in sites and artifacts of maritime life: ancient ports and shipwrecked cargos; traditions and tools of marine resource exploitation; and boats that moved sailors, traders, warriors, fishermen, and displaced peoples across the ages. This course focuses on theoretical and practical engagement with the field, laboratory, and digital methods used by archaeologists to record and understand Sicily's deep cultural heritage along and under the sea. It aims to prepare students for maritime archaeological work and is a prerequisite for participation in the overseas summer field school in Sicily.
Last offered: Spring 2023
CLASSICS 156: Design of Cities (ARCHLGY 156, CLASSICS 256)
Long-term, comparative and archaeological view of urban planning and design. Cities are the fastest changing components of the human landscape and are challenging our relationships with nature. They are the historical loci of innovation and change, are cultural hotspots, and present a tremendous challenge through growth, industrial development, the consumption of goods and materials. We will unpack such topics by tracking the genealogy of qualities of life in the ancient Near Eastern city states and those of Graeco-Roman antiquity, with reference also to prehistoric built environments and cities in the Indus Valley and through the Americas. The class takes an explicitly human-centered view of urban design and one that emphasizes long term processes.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
Instructors:
Shanks, M. (PI)
CLASSICS 158: Theories of the Image: Byzantium, Islam and the Latin West (ARTHIST 209C, ARTHIST 409, CLASSICS 258, REES 409)
This seminar explores the role of images in the three major powers of the medieval Mediterranean: the Umayyads, the Carolingians, and the Byzantines. For each the definition of an image- sura, imago, or eikon respectively-became an important means of establishing religious identity and a fault-line between distinct cultural traditions. This course troubles the identification of image with figural representation and presents instead a performative paradigm where chant or recitation are treated as images. As such, students will be able to see the connections between medieval image theory and contemporary art practices such as installation.
Last offered: Spring 2021
CLASSICS 160: Design Thinking for the Creative Humanities (CLASSICS 260)
This class introduces Design Thinking to students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Under a growth mindset of creative exploration and experiment, we will share a tool kit drawn from design thinking and the arts to develop our imaginative capacity to innovate. The standpoint is that creative imagination is not a property of the artistic or design genius but comprises skills and competencies that can be easily learned and adapted to all sorts of circumstances ¿ personal, organizational, business, community.
Last offered: Winter 2019
CLASSICS 161: Introduction to Greek Art I: The Archaic Period (ARTHIST 101)
The class considers the development of Greek art from 1000-480 and poses the question, how Greek was Greek art? In the beginning, as Greece emerges from 200 years of Dark Ages, their art is cautious, conservative and more abstract than life-like, closer to Calder than Michelangelo. While Homer describes the rippling muscles (and egos) of Bronze Age heroes, his fellow painters and sculptors prefer abstraction. This changes in the 7th century, when travel to and trade with the Near East transform Greek culture. What had been an insular society becomes cosmopolitan, enriched by the sophisticated artistic traditions of lands beyond the Aegean "frog pond." Imported Near Eastern bronzes and ivories awaken Greek artists to a wider range of subjects, techniques and ambitions. Later in the century, Greeks in Egypt learn to quarry and carve hard stone from Egyptian masters. Throughout the 6th century, Greek artists absorb what they had borrowed, compete with one another, defy their teachers, tes
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The class considers the development of Greek art from 1000-480 and poses the question, how Greek was Greek art? In the beginning, as Greece emerges from 200 years of Dark Ages, their art is cautious, conservative and more abstract than life-like, closer to Calder than Michelangelo. While Homer describes the rippling muscles (and egos) of Bronze Age heroes, his fellow painters and sculptors prefer abstraction. This changes in the 7th century, when travel to and trade with the Near East transform Greek culture. What had been an insular society becomes cosmopolitan, enriched by the sophisticated artistic traditions of lands beyond the Aegean "frog pond." Imported Near Eastern bronzes and ivories awaken Greek artists to a wider range of subjects, techniques and ambitions. Later in the century, Greeks in Egypt learn to quarry and carve hard stone from Egyptian masters. Throughout the 6th century, Greek artists absorb what they had borrowed, compete with one another, defy their teachers, test the tolerance of the gods and eventually produce works of art that speak with a Greek accent. By the end of the archaic period, images of gods and mortals bear little trace of alien influence or imprint, yet without the contributions of Egypt and the Near East, Greek art as we know it would have been unthinkable.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Maxmin, J. (PI)
CLASSICS 162: Introduction to Greek Art II: From the Parthenon to Scopas (ARTHIST 102)
The class begins with the art, architecture and political ideals of Periclean Athens, from the emergence of the city as the political and cultural center of Greece in 450 to its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404. It then considers how the Athenians (shell-shocked from war and three outbreaks of plague) and the rest of 4th century Greece rebuild their lives and the monuments that define them. Earlier 5th century traditions endure, with subtle changes, in the work of sculptors such as Kephisodotos. Less subtle are the outlook and output of his son Praxiteles. In collaboration with Phryne, his muse and mistress, Praxiteles challenged the canons and constraints of the past with the first female nude in the history of Greek sculpture. His gender-bending gods and men were equally audacious, their shiny surfaces reflecting Plato's discussion of Eros and androgyny. Scopas was also a man of his time, but pursued different interests. Drawn to the interior lives of men and woman, his torment
more »
The class begins with the art, architecture and political ideals of Periclean Athens, from the emergence of the city as the political and cultural center of Greece in 450 to its defeat in the Peloponnesian War in 404. It then considers how the Athenians (shell-shocked from war and three outbreaks of plague) and the rest of 4th century Greece rebuild their lives and the monuments that define them. Earlier 5th century traditions endure, with subtle changes, in the work of sculptors such as Kephisodotos. Less subtle are the outlook and output of his son Praxiteles. In collaboration with Phryne, his muse and mistress, Praxiteles challenged the canons and constraints of the past with the first female nude in the history of Greek sculpture. His gender-bending gods and men were equally audacious, their shiny surfaces reflecting Plato's discussion of Eros and androgyny. Scopas was also a man of his time, but pursued different interests. Drawn to the interior lives of men and woman, his tormented Trojan War heroes and victims are still scarred by memories of the Peloponnesian War, and a world away from the serene faces of the Parthenon. His Maenad, who has left this world for another, belongs to the same years as Euripides' Bacchae and, at the same time, anticipates the torsion and turbulence of Bernini and the Italian Baroque. The history and visual culture of these years remind us that we are not alone, that the Greeks grappled as we do with the inevitability and consequences of war, disease and inner daemons.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Maxmin, J. (PI)
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