Courses

This course will focus on the stories about the gods and heroes of the Greeks as they appear in ancient literature and art. We will examine the relationship between myths and the cultural, religious, and political conditions of the society in which they took shape. Beginning with theories of myth and proceeding to the analysis of individual stories and cycles, the material will serve as a vehicle for improving your written communication skills. Assignments include preparatory writing and essays focusing on readings and discussions in class.

Full details for CLASS 1531 - FWS: Greek Myth

The Confessions is an autobiographical account of Augustine's discovery of god through his reading of philosophical texts and, eventually, the Bible. But since he regards his own story as an example of ordinary human development, he uses it as a way of thinking about human nature in general. This allows him to analyze some fundamental problems in life – sin, friendship, emotions, sex, faith and the existence of god – through his narrative. The course will follow Augustine's intense focus in this work on reading texts (since the decisive changes in his life all came from discovering books). We will learn how to interpret and analyze informal arguments and how to reconstruct theories sketched in the text and to set them out with clarity and concision.

Full details for CLASS 1562 - FWS: Augustine's Confessions

Ancient Rome was a village the size of Ithaca that grew into a world empire. In this course students will be introduced to some of its literature, art, and famous personalities in the classical period (2nd c. BCE – 2nd c. CE) and will read some of the greatest masterpieces of Latin literature. Special attention will be given to the late republic, Augustan, and Hadrianic periods, to Roman ethics, and to the rise of Christianity. No prior knowledge of the ancient world is necessary. All readings are in English.

Full details for CLASS 1615 - Introduction to Ancient Rome

Where do the words we use come from? This course examines the history and structure of the English vocabulary from its distant Indo-European roots to the latest in technical jargon and slang. Topics include formal and semantic change, taboo and euphemism, borrowing, new words from old, "learned" English loans from Greek and Latin, slang, and society.

Full details for CLASS 1699 - English Words: Histories and Mysteries

This introductory course surveys the archaeology of the ancient Greek and Roman Mediterranean. Each week, we will explore a different archaeological discovery that transformed scholars' understanding of the ancient world. From early excavations at sites such as Pompeii and Troy, to modern field projects across the Mediterranean, we will discover the rich cultures of ancient Greece and Rome while also exploring the history, methods, and major intellectual goals of archaeology.

Full details for CLASS 1702 - Great Discoveries in Greek and Roman Archaeology

Readings from simple Sanskrit poetry: the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Full details for CLASS 2351 - Intermediate Sanskrit I

Intended especially for first-year students. Students must apply in writing to chair, Department of Classics, 120 Goldwin Smith Hall. In this course, we will read and discuss a wide range of Greek literary and philosophical works as well as some modern critical and philosophical writings. Knowledge of Greek is not necessary: all texts are in English translation. What is necessary is a willingness to participate in seminar meetings each week and supplementary workshops with specially invited guests.  Our focus throughout is on close analysis of the texts, and the attempts the Greeks made to grapple with the world around them through literature. The course inquires into the intellectual development of a culture infused with traditional, mythological accounts of the cosmos. It asks how poetic forms such as epic and tragedy engage with philosophical discourse while creating intense emotional effects on audiences both during antiquity and beyond.  By the end of this course, you will have read a wide selection of Classical Greek literature and be able to perform close readings and comparative analysis of text and culture.  You will also hone your discussion and presentation skills in the seminar format, above all engaging with your peers in joint intellectual inquiry.   

Full details for CLASS 2603 - Initiation to Greek Culture

The stories of Greek Mythology have ignited the imaginations of writers and artists from antiquity to the present day, from the tragedy of Achilles to the adventures of Percy Jackson. This course surveys the most influential stories of Gods and Heroes in Greek myths, focusing on their place in ancient Greek and Roman literature, society and religion, but also tracing their course in intellectual and art history through the Renaissance to the present day.

Full details for CLASS 2604 - Greek Mythology

What can Aristotle, Archimedes, Hippocrates and other ancient scientists teach us about science as we know it today? In this course we will study the origins of scientific thought and experiment in mathematics, biology, medicine, astronomy and more in the ancient Mediterranean, comparing them to modern approaches as well as examples from classical China, the medieval Islamic world, Mesoamerica, and Africa. We will discuss questions about the philosophy of science and its socio-historical context and engage actively with ancient problem-solving methods.

Full details for CLASS 2643 - The Birth of Science: Discovering the World from Antiquity to Today

An introductory survey of ancient Greek philosophy from the so-called Presocratics (6th century BCE) through the Hellenistic period (1st century BCE) with special emphasis on the thought of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Full details for CLASS 2661 - Greek and Roman Philosophy

An introduction to ancient Greek history from the era of the Trojan War to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Topics include the rise and fall of the Greek city-state, the invention of politics, democracy, warfare, women and the family. Course readings are in classical texts and modern scholarship.

Full details for CLASS 2675 - Ancient Greece from Helen to Alexander

An introduction to basic themes of military history, e.g., battle, strategy, tactics, war and society, as well as classic works, e.g. Sun Tzu, Thucydides, Clausewitz, Jomini.  Recent theories in scholarship will also be emphasized.

Full details for CLASS 2687 - Introduction to Military History

Why are the most famous ancient Greek vases found in Italy? What was the "worlds' first computer" used for? What can a brick tell us about still standing Roman buildings? What is "classical" about all this and why should we care? This course on the art and archaeology of ancient Greece and Rome will address all these questions. Covering the time span from the

Full details for CLASS 2700 - Introduction to the Classical World in 24 Objects

With megacities, long-distance trade, and fluid identities, the Roman empire can seem uncannily close to our modern world. This course adopts a thematic approach to explore whether this is a valid parallel, based on archaeological evidence ranging from temples to farms, from wine containers to statues.

Full details for CLASS 2711 - Archaeology of the Roman World: Italy and the West

This course presents a cultural and historical perspective on ideas of agency, responsibility, and punishment through foundational texts of western law. We will primarily focus on three main areas of law: (1) slavery and (2) family (both governed by the Roman law of persons), and (3) civil wrongs (the law of delict or culpable harm). Through an examination of the legal sources (in translation) and the study of the reasoning of the Roman jurists, this course will examine the evolution of jurisprudence: the development of the laws concerning power over slaves and women, and changes in the laws concerning penalties for crimes. No specific prior knowledge needed.

Full details for CLASS 2806 - Roman Law

To be taken only in exceptional circumstances. Must be arranged by the student with his or her advisor and the faculty member who has agreed to direct the study. To be approved by the DUS.

Full details for CLASS 3391 - Independent Study in Sanskrit, Undergraduate Level

Selected readings in Sanskrit literary and philosophical texts.

Full details for CLASS 3395 - Advanced Sanskrit I

An introduction to the art, history, and literature of the Byzantine Empire, its neighbors, and successors, ca. 500-1500.

Full details for CLASS 3655 - The Byzantine Empire: Culture and Society

May be taken upon completion of one semester of work at the 3000-level. To be taken only in exceptional circumstances. Must be arranged by the student with his or her advisor and the faculty member who has agreed to direct the study. To be approved by the DUS.

Full details for CLASS 3686 - Independent Study in Classical Civilization, Undergraduate Level

Introduction and training in dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) and its applications in archaeology, art history, climate and environment through lab work and participation in ongoing research projects using ancient to modern wood samples from around the world. Supervised reading and laboratory/project work. Possibilities exists for summer fieldwork in the Mediterranean, Mexico, and New York State.

Full details for CLASS 3750 - Introduction to Dendrochronology

Topic: Augustine's philosophy of mind in De Trinitate

Full details for CLASS 4665 - Augustine

See "Honors" under Classics front matter.

Full details for CLASS 4721 - Honors: Senior Essay I

Several major and minor kingdoms situated around the Eastern Mediterranean basin flourished during the 14th -12th centuries BCE before a widespread violent collapse occurred around 1175. Thousands of cuneiform and other documents speak to two major socioeconomic processes of the age: the creation of the first international system in world history, and the collapse of that system after about two hundred years. Our seminar uses archaeological evidence, paleoclimate studies, and textual analysis (in translation) to address several related issues. We look at how networks of information, wealth accumulation, and political power were created and what role they played in globalization and destabilization. We consider whether the key players were aware of the coming collapse, what if any counter-measures were deployed, and how some polities were more resilient than others and created even greater networks post-collapse. We analyze a variety of related sources, with close attention paid to the Amarna Letters and other Egyptian texts from the Ramesside era. Several Bronze Age and Iron Age shipwrecks are examined for their evidence of maritime connectivity. And throughout the course students will become familiar with the history, economy, cult, laws and daily life of Ugarit (Tell Ras Shamra, Syria), a cosmopolitan coastal kingdom whose unparalleled archaeological and textual record affords a particularly close view of the transformative moments of the Late Bronze Age.

Full details for CLASS 4744 - Globalism and Collapse in the Late Bronze Age World

This seminar provides a higher-level general introduction to, and survey of, contemporary theories, methods, and approaches in the archaeology of the Mediterranean world. Rather than focusing on a specific geographical sub-region or chronological period, this course examines and critically assesses the practice and distinctive character of Mediterranean archaeology more broadly.

Full details for CLASS 4754 - Themes in Mediterranean Archaeology

Within the long roiling and much heralded 'crises of the humanities', Classics is experiencing a contemporary crisis of its own. These queries are not least shaped around the disciplines continuing cultural relevance and uneven enrollments, but also in its relationships with white supremacy—relationships of complicity as much as co-option. That Classics is in crisis, however, is not a new phenomenon. In this course, we trace queries and fractures of disciplinary method, scope, objects and epistemologies through the history of this thing we have come to know as "Classics".

Full details for CLASS 4803 - What Is Classics? Towards a Critical Disciplinary History

An introduction to the field of Dendrochronology and associated topics with an emphasis on their applications in the field of archaeology and related heritage-buildings fields. Course aimed at graduate level with a focus on critique of scholarship in the field and work on a project as part of the course.

Full details for CLASS 6755 - Archaeological Dendrochronology

Pedagogical instruction and course coordination. Requirement for all graduate student teachers of LATIN 1201-LATIN 1202 and first-year writing seminars.

Full details for CLASS 7345 - Graduate TA Training

An introduction to the study of classics, intended for graduate students. Discussions will be led by faculty in the field, and topics may include: preparing for exams, finding a research topic, applying for outside funding, publishing your work, attending conferences, and teaching Classics.

Full details for CLASS 7351 - Craft of Classics

Course will introduce graduate students to different aspects of ancient society including slavery, economics, law, and citizenship among other topics. 

Full details for CLASS 7634 - Topics in Ancient Society

Offers both an introduction to the different disciplines studying the non-literary sources for Roman history (epigraphy, archaeology, among others) and a discussion of important topics relevant to Roman social history (travel, voluntary associations, death and burial, etc.).

Full details for CLASS 7689 - Roman History: Approaches and Methods

Archaeology studies the past through its material remains. In doing so, it builds on wide-ranging theories and methods to develop its own disciplinary toolbox. This graduate seminar explores this toolbox, treating a topic of broad theoretical and/or methodological interest such as emerging topics in archaeological thought, the history of archaeological theory, key archaeological methods, themes that tie archaeology to the wider domain of the humanities and social sciences, or some combination of the above. The seminar is taught by various members of the Archaeology faculty, each of whom offers their own version of the seminar. The seminar is required for incoming CIAMS M.A. students, and needed for CIAMS membership for Ph.D. students.

Full details for CLASS 7700 - CIAMS Core Seminar in Archaeological Theory and Method

Several major and minor kingdoms situated around the Eastern Mediterranean basin flourished during the 14th -12th centuries BCE before a widespread violent collapse occurred around 1175. Thousands of cuneiform and other documents speak to two major socioeconomic processes of the age: the creation of the first international system in world history, and the collapse of that system after about two hundred years. Our seminar uses archaeological evidence, paleoclimate studies, and textual analysis (in translation) to address several related issues. We look at how networks of information, wealth accumulation, and political power were created and what role they played in globalization and destabilization. We consider whether the key players were aware of the coming collapse, what if any counter-measures were deployed, and how some polities were more resilient than others and created even greater networks post-collapse. We analyze a variety of related sources, with close attention paid to the Amarna Letters and other Egyptian texts from the Ramesside era. Several Bronze Age and Iron Age shipwrecks are examined for their evidence of maritime connectivity. And throughout the course students will become familiar with the history, economy, cult, laws and daily life of Ugarit (Tell Ras Shamra, Syria), a cosmopolitan coastal kingdom whose unparalleled archaeological and textual record affords a particularly close view of the transformative moments of the Late Bronze Age.

Full details for CLASS 7744 - Globalism and Collapse in the Late Bronze Age World

This seminar provides a higher-level general introduction to, and survey of, contemporary theories, methods, and approaches in the archaeology of the Mediterranean world. Rather than focusing on a specific geographical sub-region or chronological period, this course examines and critically assesses the practice and distinctive character of Mediterranean archaeology more broadly.

Full details for CLASS 7754 - Themes in Mediterranean Archaeology

Within the long roiling and much heralded 'crises of the humanities', Classics is experiencing a contemporary crisis of its own. These queries are not least shaped around the disciplines continuing cultural relevance and uneven enrollments, but also in its relationships with white supremacy—relationships of complicity as much as co-option. That Classics is in crisis, however, is not a new phenomenon. In this course, we trace queries and fractures of disciplinary method, scope, objects and epistemologies through the history of this thing we have come to know as "Classics".

Full details for CLASS 7803 - What Is Classics? Towards a Critical Disciplinary History

Introduction to Attic Greek. Designed to enable the student to read the ancient authors as soon as possible.

Full details for GREEK 1101 - Elementary Ancient Greek I

Combines reading of classical Greek prose texts (Lysias, Plato, Xenophon) with systematic review of forms presented in GREEK 1102, study of advanced grammar, vocabulary-building and sight-reading exercises.

Full details for GREEK 2101 - Intermediate Ancient Greek I

Undergraduate seminar in Greek. Topics: Fall - Herodotus; Spring - Euripides, Alcestis.

Full details for GREEK 3120 - Seminar in Greek

May be taken upon completion of one semester of work at the 3000-level. To be taken only in exceptional circumstances. Must be arranged by the student with his or her advisor and the faculty member who has agreed to direct the study. To be approved by the DUS.

Full details for GREEK 3185 - Independent Study in Greek, Undergraduate Level

Introduction to Ancient Greek. Designed to enable the student to read the ancient authors as soon as possible.

Full details for GREEK 5111 - Elementary Ancient Greek I

Combines reading of classical Greek prose texts (Lysias, Plato, Xenophon) with systematic review of forms presented in GREEK 5112, study of advanced grammar, vocabulary-building and sight-reading exercises.

Full details for GREEK 5121 - Intermediate Ancient Greek I

Topic: Fall, Herodotus; Spring, Euripides, Alcestis.

Full details for GREEK 5130 - Seminar in Greek

Topic: Hellenistic Poetry

Full details for GREEK 6101 - Advanced Readings in Greek Literature

Reading and translation of Greek Philosophical texts.

Full details for GREEK 7161 - Greek Philosophical Texts

Topic: Thucydides.

Full details for GREEK 7171 - Graduate Seminar in Greek

Introductory course designed to prepare students to start reading Latin prose at the end of a year. The class moves swiftly and includes extensive memorization of vocabulary and paradigms; study of Latin syntax; and written homework, quizzes, tests, and oral drills.

Full details for LATIN 1201 - Elementary Latin I

Provides a comprehensive but streamlined review of the forms and syntax typically covered in LATIN 1201 and LATIN 1202 or a comparable first-year Latin sequence. It begins with a quick review of the most basic grammar and continues at a more deliberate pace with second-term material (LATIN 1202). The final part of the course is devoted to the reading of unchanged selections from Classical Latin authors as a transition to the study of Latin literary texts in more advanced courses. For students who receive an A- or higher, the sequence is continued by LATIN 2201; those who receive a B+ or lower should continue with LATIN 1205.

Full details for LATIN 1204 - Latin in Review

Introduces students to reading original Latin text (fall, Livy's Rome; spring, Livy's ab urbe condita). Covers complex syntax and reviews the grammar presented in LATIN 1202, LATIN 1204.

Full details for LATIN 1205 - Intermediate Latin I

Fall: How can you achieve greatness? How do athletics and philosophy work together in life? Cicero reveals all in Tusculan Disputations 2.

Full details for LATIN 2201 - Latin Prose

Reading Cicero's letters - actively - is perhaps the best way to perfect one's Latin. This course aims at complete proficiency while learning about the practice and importance of letter-writing in ancient Rome.

Full details for LATIN 2206 - Roman Letters

Latin, like any language, is mastered only when one can speak it. Yet the goal of spoken Latin, unlike modern languages, is not necessarily conversational fluency. Rather, by formulating one's own thoughts into Latin and expressing them in real human-to-human interaction, one experiences the unique structural, grammatical, and syntactical features of Latin actively and not just passively, and this, in turn, leads to reading fluency. Students should come to this course with a solid grounding in Latin grammar, although no previous spoken Latin is presumed. 

Full details for LATIN 2207 - Conversational Latin I

Fall topic: Cicero's Pro Caelio and Pro Milone; Spring topic: African Writers.

Full details for LATIN 3220 - Rapid Reading in Latin

May be taken upon completion of one semester of work at the 3000-level. To be taken only in exceptional circumstances. Must be arranged by the student with his or her advisor and the faculty member who has agreed to direct the study. To be approved by the DUS.

Full details for LATIN 3286 - Independent Study in Latin, Undergraduate Level

Introductory course designed to prepare students to start reading Latin prose at the end of a year. The class moves swiftly and includes extensive memorization of vocabulary and paradigms; study of Latin syntax; and written homework, quizzes, tests, and oral drills.

Full details for LATIN 5211 - Elementary Latin I

Provides a comprehensive but streamlined review of the forms and syntax typically covered in LATIN 5211 and LATIN 5212 or a comparable first-year Latin sequence. It begins with a quick review of the most basic grammar and continues at a more deliberate pace with second-term material (LATIN 5212). The final part of the course is devoted to the reading of unchanged selections from Classical Latin authors as a transition to the study of Latin literary texts in more advanced courses.

Full details for LATIN 5214 - Latin in Review

Introduces students to reading original Latin text (fall, Livy's Rome; spring, Cicero's Letters). Covers complex syntax and reviews the grammar presented in LATIN 5212, LATIN 5214.

Full details for LATIN 5215 - Intermediate Latin I

Fall: How can you achieve greatness? How do athletics and philosophy work together in life? Cicero reveals all in Tusculan Disputations 2.

Full details for LATIN 5221 - Latin Prose

Reading Cicero's letters - actively - is perhaps the best way to perfect one's Latin. This course aims at complete proficiency while learning about the practice and importance of letter-writing in ancient Rome.

Full details for LATIN 5226 - Roman Letters

Latin, like any language, is mastered only when one can speak it. Yet the goal of spoken Latin, unlike modern languages, is not necessarily conversational fluency. Rather, by formulating one's own thoughts into Latin and expressing them in real human-to-human interaction, one experiences the unique structural, grammatical, and syntactical features of Latin actively and not just passively, and this, in turn, leads to reading fluency. Students should come to this course with a solid grounding in Latin grammar, although no previous spoken Latin is presumed.

Full details for LATIN 5227 - Conversational Latin I

Fall topic: Cicero's Pro-Caelio and Pro-Milone; Spring topic: African Writers.

Full details for LATIN 5230 - Rapid Reading in Latin

Focusing on the language itself, this course is a systematic treatment of the phonological, morphological and syntactic structure of Classical Latin intended to give prospective teachers of the language additional tools for explaining its forms and constructions to students in the elementary course. It has three parts: (1) Why certain apparent irregularities of individual forms and paradigms are really regular, (2) Hints on how to present various paradigms and constructions to beginners and (3) Practice in teaching parts of Latin morphology and syntax to a class of beginners. NB additional coaching in Latin pedagogy is provided in CLASS 7345, "Graduate TA Training".

Full details for LATIN 7201 - Latin for Teachers of Latin

This course is an introduction to and survey of Latin scripts from Roman antiquity through the early Renaissance, with an emphasis on the identification, localization, and reading of scripts. Class meetings will combine practical study of Latin scripts through medieval manuscripts in the Kroch library, facsimiles, and online digital reproductions with instruction in the cultural-historical background to manuscript production, library practices, and bibliographical resources. Students will also be introduced to basic techniques for codicological description and the principles of textual criticism.

Full details for LATIN 7222 - Latin Paleography

Reading and translation of Latin philosophical texts.

Full details for LATIN 7262 - Latin Philosophical Texts