printer friendly pageCLASSICS 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 139: Refugees, Race and the Greco-Roman World (ASNAMST 139, CSRE 139)
Who is a refugee and who gets to decide? How does race impact who is welcomed into a new community and who is turned away? And what does the Greco-Roman world have to do this? This course will explore these questions by surveying different forms of forced displacement in and beyond antiquity through the lens of Critical Race Theory and Critical Refugee Studies. We will examine how forcibly displaced people were portrayed and treated in ancient Greece and Rome and investigate how racialization contributed to xenophobic immigration policies as well as imperial agendas. We will then evaluate the impact of ancient discourses of forced displacement on the modern world, with a focus on American immigration policies. Understanding that refugees are not objects of investigation, but are powerful knowledge producers, we will also engage with works created by refugees throughout the course.
Last offered: Spring 2023
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
CLASSICS 140: Byzantine Greek (CLASSICS 240A)
Class will survey and read various Byzantine texts. Some knowledge of Greek, either Ancient or Modern, is required. Exact selection of texts will depend on the interests and needs of the students.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1-3
Instructors:
Porta, F. (PI)
CLASSICS 141: Ancient Greek Religion (CLASSICS 241, RELIGST 141X)
Survey of the religious practices of the ancient Greeks. Readings will be both from original sources and from modern scholarship. There are no prerequisites. Knowledge of ancient Greek will be useful, but not required. Undergrads should give one short oral presentation and write one short paper. Grad students should give two presentations and write a longer paper.
Last offered: Autumn 2022
CLASSICS 141C: "Erotic" Roman Art from Pompeii and Herculaneum (ARCHLGY 141)
This course explores controversial artworks and artifacts from Pompeii and Herculaneum which have been historically deemed as "erotic" and "pornographic," from wall paintings displaying sexual intercourse to ornaments in the shape of winged phalluses. Students learn about the early excavations of this material, the invention of the word "pornography," and the history of the "Secret Cabinet" in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, where items deemed too sensitive for the public eye were locked away for decades in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through this, we consider and engage with our own changing societal values surrounding such themes and objects. Students also learn and engage with multiple methodological and theoretical approaches that have been used to analyze "erotic" wall paintings and artifacts, including but not limited to psychoanalysis, "male gaze" theory, queer theory, and master-slave narratives.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
Instructors:
Crosson, S. (PI)
CLASSICS 142: Reading Greek and Roman Slavery (CLASSICS 242)
This course offers an optional side-bar to Narratives of Enslavement (
CLASSICS 145/245) for graduate and advanced undergraduate students seeking additional reading of original Greek and Latin texts. Selections will come, inter alia, from Aristotle's Politics; [Demosthenes'] Against Neaera; Paul's Letter to Philemon; Columella, De re rustica; Pliny's Letters; the anonymous Life of Aesop; as well as Greek and Latin legal documents and inscriptions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Parker, G. (PI)
CLASSICS 143: The Use of Classical Antiquity in Modern China (CHINA 151, CHINA 251)
This course examines the roles played by classical antiquity--Greek, Roman, and Chinese--in China's modernization process. Central topics of discussion include: the relationship between tradition and modernity, the relationship between China and the West, the politics and techniques of appropriation in the reception of classical heritage, and the evolving and highly contentious nature of the differences among various approaches to classical antiquity. Tackling the most fundamental questions that have confronted an ancient civilization from the turn of the twentieth century to the present, the course investigates how "classics" and "classical tradition" acquire different meanings and functions in changed contexts, and serves as a convenient introduction to key moments and figures in modern Chinese cultural and intellectual history.
Last offered: Spring 2023
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 145: Narratives of Enslavement (AFRICAAM 145, CLASSICS 245, COMPLIT 145C)
Widely dispersed narratives by and about enslaved persons are our focus. We'll explore the concept of 'slave narrative' by comparing texts from the ancient Mediterranean, the Cape of Good Hope, West Africa and the United States. We'll consider famous autobiographies alongside less familiar material such as court trial records. What are the affordances, what are the limits of such narratives as historical evidence? What notions of enslaved experience emerge? How close can we come to understanding the experiences of the enslaved? How different do such experiences seem when compared across time and space? Note: graduates and advanced undergraduates wishing to read original Greek and Latin texts should register for Reading Greek and Roman Slavery (
Classics 142/242) in addition.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Parker, G. (PI)
CLASSICS 147R: Building Heaven and Hell (CEE 147, RELIGST 147)
How did early Greeks, Romans, Jews, and Christians imagine space? How did they construct heaven and hell and the afterlife through their written texts? Can we take written images of the earthly and heavenly Jerusalem and her temple, such as those found in Ezekiel, the Book of Revelation and the Apocalypse of Paul and transform them into three-dimensional space? Can we visualize Homer's Hades or Dante's Inferno? We are going to try! We will meet in the architecture studio and build out of foam board and hot glue. A number of themes will emerge through the course: the interpretive move in rendering a once real space as a literary icon, the relationship between text and imagined space, the connection between space and ritual, and how to construct an image of a society from whom it imagines in hell. Learn more about the course here: https://youtu.be/J9q8CCQ9NkA
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 149: Democracy Ancient and Modern: From Politics to Political Theory (CLASSICS 249, PHIL 176J, PHIL 276J, POLISCI 231A, POLISCI 331A)
Modern political theorists, from Hobbes and Rousseau, to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, to Sheldon Wolin and Robert Dahl, have turned to the classical Greek theory and practice of politics, both for inspiration and as a critical target. The last 30 years has seen renewed interest in Athenian democracy among both historians and theorists, and closer interaction between empiricists concerned with 'what really happened, and why' and theorists concerned with the possibilities and limits of citizen self-government as a normatively favored approach to political organization. The course examines the current state of scholarship on the practice of politics in ancient city-states, including but not limited to democratic Athens; the relationship between practice and theory in antiquity (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and others); the uses to which ancient theory and practice have been and are being put by modern political theorists; and experiments in democratic practice (citizen assemblies, deli
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Modern political theorists, from Hobbes and Rousseau, to Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss, to Sheldon Wolin and Robert Dahl, have turned to the classical Greek theory and practice of politics, both for inspiration and as a critical target. The last 30 years has seen renewed interest in Athenian democracy among both historians and theorists, and closer interaction between empiricists concerned with 'what really happened, and why' and theorists concerned with the possibilities and limits of citizen self-government as a normatively favored approach to political organization. The course examines the current state of scholarship on the practice of politics in ancient city-states, including but not limited to democratic Athens; the relationship between practice and theory in antiquity (Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and others); the uses to which ancient theory and practice have been and are being put by modern political theorists; and experiments in democratic practice (citizen assemblies, deliberative councils, lotteries) inspired by ancient precedents. Suggested Prerequisites: Origins of Political Thought OR The Greeks OR other coursework on ancient political theory or practice. (For undergraduate students: suggest but do not require that you have taken either Origins of Political Thought, or The Greeks, or some other course that gives you some introduction to Greek political history or thought. )
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Ober, J. (PI)
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