printer friendly pageCLASSICS 35: The Good Life: An Introduction to Ancient Greek Ethical Philosophy
The ancient Greeks longed for happiness, but life often led to suffering and anxiety. In ancient Greece, the traditional value system focused on gaining honor, wealth, power, and success - external goods that could be taken away at any time. The Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle set forth ethical theories designed to alleviate suffering and anxiety. They rejected the traditional Greek value system, focusing on inner goodness rather than on external rewards. Developing inner goodness was the only way to live a happy and fulfilled life. In this class, we read Greek tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides that represent traditional Greek values. We examine the values, motivation, and choices of tragic characters who faced difficult ethical dilemmas - choices that led to misery and ruin. What were their tragic flaws? Could they have avoided their fates by adopting a different value system? We also examine the ethical theories of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. We analyze their discussions of justice, courage, friendship, love, and self-knowledge. Do these philosophical theories offer a valid way to live a happy life? Can we develop these virtues? If so, how do we do this? Do we need to have these virtues to live a happy life? Do the ancient philosophers offer useful solutions to ethical questions in our own day? Can their philosophies help us to become better and happier people?
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
CLASSICS 37: Humanities Core: Great Books, Big Ideas -- Europe, The Ancient World (DLCL 11, HUMCORE 11)
This course will journey through ancient literature from Homer to St. Augustine; it will introduce participants to some of its fascinating features and big ideas; and it will reflect on questions such as: What is a good life, a good society? Who is in and who is out and why? What is the meaning of honor, and should it be embraced or feared? Where does human subjectivity fit into a world of matter, cause and effect? When is rebellion justified? What happens when a way of life or thought is upended? Do we have any duties to the past? N.B. This is the first of three courses in the European track. These courses offer an unparalleled opportunity to study European history and culture, past and present. Take all three to experience a year-long intellectual community dedicated to exploring how ideas have shaped our world and future. Students who take
HUMCORE 11 and
HUMCORE 12Q will have preferential admission to
HUMCORE 13Q (a WR2 seminar).
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Krebs, C. (PI)
CLASSICS 39: Reinventing the Sophomore Experience
The sophomore year brings a number of choices that undergraduates have to make. This course is a chance to explore those choices thoughtfully, without resorting to negative clichés ('sophomore slump'). Students will diagnose and discuss the issues at stake, including academic plans, campus life, work-life balance, longer-term life goals. The challenges and opportunities of leadership is an important theme, both in an abstract sense and practically: students will, in the course of the autumn term, design an event which will be held in the winter or spring term. This residentially-based course is aimed at students who have preassigned to Toyon's RISE program, Reinventing the Sophomore Experience. One unit only. Letter-grade only.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Catsalis, M. (PI)
CLASSICS 40: Greek Philosophy (PHIL 100)
We shall cover the major developments in Greek philosophical thought, focusing on Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic schools (the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Skeptics). Topics include epistemology, metaphysics, psychology, ethics and political theory. No prereqs, not repeatable.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
CLASSICS 41: Herodotus
For Ancient History field of study majors; others by consent of instructor. Close reading technique. Historical background to the Greco-Persian Wars; ancient views of empire, culture, and geography; the wars and their aftermath; ancient ethnography and historiography, including the first narrative of ancient Egypt.
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
CLASSICS 42: Philosophy and Literature (COMPLIT 181, ENGLISH 81, FRENCH 181, GERMAN 181, ITALIAN 181, PHIL 81, SLAVIC 181)
What, if anything, does reading literature do for our lives? What can literature offer that other forms of writing cannot? Can fictions teach us anything? Can they make people more moral? Why do we take pleasure in tragic stories? This course introduces students to major problems at the intersection of philosophy and literature. It addresses key questions about the value of literature, philosophical puzzles about the nature of fiction and literary language, and ways that philosophy and literature interact. Readings span literature, film, and philosophical theories of art. Authors may include Sophocles, Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Proust, Woolf, Walton, Nietzsche, and Sartre. Students master close reading techniques and philosophical analysis, and write papers combining the two. This is the required gateway course for the Philosophy and Literature major tracks. Majors should register in their home department.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Holliday, J. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
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more instructors for CLASSICS 42 »
Instructors:
Anderson, R. (PI)
;
Holliday, J. (PI)
;
Landy, J. (PI)
;
Koul, R. (TA)
;
Madigan, T. (TA)
CLASSICS 43: Exploring the New Testament (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: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
CLASSICS 44: Epic! Life, death, and glory in the Iliad and Odyssey
The two epics attributed to the ancient Greek poet Homer enshrine a vivid world of experience centered on the deeds and misdeeds of warriors and divinities, kings and queens, in the last days and aftermath of the Trojan War. The course examines these remarkable poems in detail, with attention to their political, social, historical and artistic contexts, as well as to their reception in art, literature, film and music over the last two millennia. No prior knowledge of Homer or Greek literature necessary.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Martin, R. (PI)
CLASSICS 52: Introduction to Roman Archaeology (ARCHLGY 81)
(Formerly
CLASSART 81.) This course will introduce you to the material culture of the ancient Roman world, from spectacular imperial monuments in the city of Rome to cities and roads around the Mediterranean, from overarching environmental concerns to individual human burials, from elite houses and army forts to the the lives of slaves, freedmen and gladiators. Key themes will be change and continuity over time; the material, spatial and visual workings of power; how Roman society was materially changed by its conquests and how conquered peoples responded materially to Roman rule.
Last offered: Winter 2018
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum
CLASSICS 54: Introduction to World Architecture (ARTHIST 3)
This course offers an expansive introduction to architecture and urban design from the earliest human constructions to the mid-20th century. The examples range from the Americas to Europe and the Middle East and Asia. The business of architecture, its structure and materials, are addressed in each case, because designs have to leave the paper to achieve a presence in the world, and an overriding concern is to understand architecture as a sensible manifestation of particular cultures, whether societies or individuals. To the same ends, student writing assignments will involve the analysis of local space, whether a room or a building, and then the built environment at large.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Barry, F. (PI)
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